'Ecosexual' University of Michigan Professor Writes About 'Talking Erotically to Plants'

University of Michigan Professor Sarah Ensor published an academic journal article this month that argues that humans should establish erotic relationships with plants.

Originally highlighted by the Twitter account New Real Peer Review, Ensor’s journal article explores the field of “ecosexuality,” a term which means the sexual relationship between humans and plants. Advocates in the field argue that the Earth needs to be treated with love. In addition to reducing harmful environmental practices, ecosexuals believe that humans should physically make love to the Earth.

Ensor, an English professor at the University of Michigan, begins by citing the “Ecosex Manifesto,” which was penned by UC Santa Cruz Professor Elizabeth Stephens. Breitbart News originally reported on Stephens and her “ecosex” movement in September. Then, Stephens was promoting her documentary in which she and others lick trees, roll around in mud, and engage in sexual acts with elements of nature.

Ensor begins her article by citing Stephens’ manifesto. “[Ecosexuals] make love with the earth… We shamelessly hug trees, massage the earth with our feet, and talk erotically to plants,” Stephens wrote.

Now, Professor Ensor is carrying on the nonsensical tradition started by Stephens. In her journal article, she argues that environmental spaces must welcome queer and “polymorphous” sexual identities. According to Sigmund Freud, “polymorphous sexuality” refers to the ability to receive sexual gratification from activities that aren’t traditionally considered to be sexual.

Likewise, when queer ecocritic Catriona Sandilands suggests that in order for “environmentalism … to go beyond ‘just saying no,’ … spaces for exploration must be allowed to flourish and proliferate” and, relatedly, that “[p]olymorphous sexualities and multiple natures are … at the heart of green resistances,” she does not clarify how these approaches would actually play out in practice.

The article, which is titled “The Ecopoetics of Contact: Touching, Cruising, Gleaning,” was published in April by the Oxford University Press.

If Ensor’s work is any indication, the ecosexuality movement is growing in America. Stay tuned to Breitbart News for more updates on professors making out with trees.