A sexual orientation centered on the seduction of nature has caught the eyes of social media users, mocking people for falling in love with trees.
The term “ecosexual” refers to the state in which nature is sexually attractive, whether it is feeling at one with the “energy” of nature or physically caressing it.
A sexual health coach on TikTok describe “ecosexuality” as an umbrella term for people who “treat nature as a sensual partner.”
But stories like that of the Toronto woman who embarked on an “erotic” relationship with an oak tree and an excerpt from the British television show Naked Attraction in which an actor describes himself as ecosexual have sparked reactions on the networks such as “Society is doomed” and “Why aren’t people like that locked up?” Or get treatment?
Sonja Semyonova, 45, pictured here with the tree, has always felt alone but says her new relationship with the tree has filled a void
The ecosexuality tag on TikTok has been viewed more than 470,000 times, with videos showing people freezing cold in streams, stroking lemons and rubbing against trees.
The term was coined by former sexuality literate Annie Sprinkle, who in 2008 “married” the earth in a green wedding ceremony. His ecosexuality involved removing the term “mother” from Mother Earth and replacing it with Lover Earth.
Other weddings followed: a blue wedding with the sky, a purple wedding with the moon, a white wedding with snow and many others. Each time, Sprinkle vowed to love, honor and cherish a different part of nature.
Stefanie Weiss, intimacy counselor, said that she feels her ecosexuality more acutely when she goes to the beach.
She said: “When I go there, my whole body feels happy from the first moment my feet touch the warm sand. Feeling the sun on my skin, the smell of salt or coconut oil and the feeling of little waves nipping at my ankles is a kind of eco-sex.
“Even if there is no human lover present, it brings me an undeniable erotic charge. This is my relationship with the land, and it never leaves me wanting.
But this relatively new sexual orientation raises many skeptics.
A doula and doctoral student on TikTok said: ‘(Sprinkle) talks about this as a sensual love story. And I appreciate that because it removes this gendered idea of the earth as Mother turned Lover.
“And at the same time, I think it can still fall into the tropes of fetishization and objectification.”
Other users on X (formerly Twitter) were less balanced in their reactions to the Naked Attraction clip.
A wrote: ‘Ecosexuality is just another word for “exhibitionist”‘.
Another said: ‘#Ecosexuality is a term for those who like to insert compost into their orifices. It’s very niche!’
And a third wrote: ‘On this one, I completely agree. Ecosexuality isn’t a sexuality, it’s just weird.
Annie Sprinkle (left) and her partner Beth Stephens (right) are self-proclaimed ecosexuals and have had marriages on earth.
People who consider themselves ecosexual may deny the hypothesis that they “like to have sex with trees,” but Sonja Semyonova, 45, called her relationship with an oak tree “erotic.”
Sonja moved to Vancouver Island in Canada in the winter of 2020 and took daily walks during lockdown.
During her walks, Sonja passed a large oak tree near her home and she began having “erotic” experiences in the summer of 2021.
She describes the tree as having all the qualities she looks for in a person: stability, protection and support.
Sonja said: “I walked a path by the tree five days a week all winter. I noticed a connection with the tree.
“I would lie against that. There was an eroticism about something so big and so old that held me back.
Sonja notes that she does not engage in physical acts with the tree and that the feelings she gets from nature are not necessarily the same as human sexuality.
She said: “A big misconception is that ecosexuality means sex between people and nature, it’s a different way of exploring eroticism.
“Watching the changing seasons is an erotic act for me. You come out of death in winter and then everything comes back to life in spring and friends.
“There are similarities between sex with people and the eroticism ecosexuals feel with nature, but they are not the same.”
According to people like Ms. Semionova who consider themselves ecosexual, if more people accepted the allure and seduction of nature, it would be easier to address global environmental crises.
She said: “I believe we could benefit from having a more symbiotic relationship with nature, this relationship could certainly be erotic.”