A sexual orientation that centers on the seductiveness of nature has caught the attention of social media users, mocking people who have reportedly fallen in love with trees.
The term ‘ecosexual’ is the state of finding nature sexually attractive, whether that means feeling at one with nature’s ‘energy’, or physically caressing nature.
A sexual health coach on TikTok described ‘ecosexuality’ as an umbrella term for people who ‘treat nature as a sensual partner’.
But stories like the Toronto woman who began an “erotic” relationship with an oak tree and a clip from the British TV show Naked Attraction in which a cast member calls herself an ecosexual have drawn social media responses like “Society is doomed” and ” Why aren’t these kinds of people locked up? Or be treated?’
Sonja Semyonova, 45, pictured here with the tree, has always felt lonely, 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 of people taking ice-cold dips in creeks, fondling lemons and rubbing themselves against trees.
The term was coined by former sex educator Annie Sprinkle, who “married” the Earth in a green wedding ceremony in 2008. Her ecosexuality involved removing the term “mother” from Mother Earth and changing it to Lover Earth.
Other weddings followed: a blue wedding with the sky, a purple wedding with the moon, a white wedding with the snow and many more. Each time, Sprinkle promised to love, honor and cherish a different part of nature.
Stefanie Weiss, an intimacy consultant, said that she feels her ecosexuality is most acutely evident when she goes to the beach.
She said: ‘When I go, my whole body feels happy from the first moment my feet touch the hot sand. Feeling the sun on my skin, the smell of salt or coconut oil and the feeling of small waves squeezing my ankles: this is a kind of Eco-Sex.
‘Even though there is no human lover present, this carries an undeniable erotic charge for me. That is my relationship with the earth, and it never lets me down.’
But the relatively new sexual orientation has many skeptics.
A doula and PhD student on TikTok said: ‘(Sprinkle) says it is a sensual love affair. And I appreciate that because it removes this gendered idea of the earth as mother in lover.
“And at the same time, I think it can still fall into the style of fetishization and objectification.”
Other X users (formerly Twitter) were less balanced in their responses 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 stuff compost into their orifices. It’s very niche!’
And a third wrote: ‘I completely agree with this. Ecosexuality is not sexuality, it’s just weird.’
Annie Sprinkle (left) and partner Beth Stephens (right) are self-proclaimed ecosexuals and have officiated weddings in the world
People who consider themselves ecosexual may deny this the assumption that they ‘like having sex with trees’, but Sonja Semyonova, 45, has described her relationship with an oak tree as ‘erotic’.
Sonja moved to Vancouver Island, Canada, in the winter of 2020 and took daily walks during the lockdown.
During her walks, Sonja walked past a large oak tree near her house and in the summer of 2021 she started having ‘erotic’ experiences.
She describes the tree as having all the qualities she has looked for in a person: stability, protection and support.
Sonja says: ‘All winter long I walked a path along the tree five days a week. I noticed a connection with the tree.
‘I’d lie to it. There was an eroticism where something so big and so old held me back.’
Sonja notes that she does not engage in physical acts with the tree and says 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 humans and nature, it’s another way to explore the erotic.
‘Watching the seasons change is an erotic act for me. You go from dead in the winter and then everything comes alive in the spring and mates.
‘There are similarities between sex with people and the eroticism that ecosexuals feel with nature, but they are not the same.’
According to people like Semyonova, who consider themselves ecosexual, it would be easier to tackle global environmental crises if more people embraced the appeal and seduction of nature.
She said: ‘I believe we could benefit from a more symbiotic relationship with nature, that relationship could certainly be erotic.’
