Livestock Management, Masculine Care and Cognitive Ecology: An Ecomasculine Approach to John Connell’s The Farmer’s Son

Abstract

Ecological masculinism has been considered as a parallel movement to ecofeminism. It intends to investigate the role played by men in spatially coexisting with nature. Furthermore, it meditates on envisioning how men belonging to various categorical masculinities, nurture the natural environment in augmenting atmospheric stability. As a domain, ecological masculinism eschews the hegemonic approach towards nature by establishing a symbiotic relationship with biotic and abiotic components in an ecosystem. In compliance with the literary sphere, this movement embodies certain malestream norms which appeal to ecological specifications such as the insightful practice of Earthcare, ensuring ecological integrity, and regenerating natural resources. This paper examines John Connell’s The Farmer’s Son: Calving Season on a Family Farm (2019), an eco-autobiographical memoir as a frame of reference to spotlight certain eco-masculine intertextualities such as animal husbandry, glocal sustainability and psycho-cognitive objectives. This paper employs the theoretical frameworks of Karla Elliott’s Caring Masculinities and Susan Signe Morrison’s Waste-ern Tradition in mapping the eco-masculine praxis embedded in the prototypic conceptualisation of ‘eco-man’s husbandry’, through the rational quotients of livestock management, masculine care and cognitive ecology.