Ecofeminism

Feminism is the movement to end sexist oppression rooted in the patriarchy. The Patriarchy is a social construct that generally gives men power over women and perpetuates harmful gender roles.

Ecofeminism, or Environmental Feminism, is the idea that feminist and environmental issues are connected and must be combatted together. Many philosophers have observed links between these issues and movements. Feminism works towards ending male domination over women, while environmentalism works to end human domination over the planet. Because both problems are rooted in domination and both movements work towards ending the unjust power dynamics, feminism and environmentalism are connected.¹ Although Ecofeminism did not originally consider other factors like race or class, many people since then have expanded on this idea and applied it to the overall environmental justice movement.²

Women and the Environment

Because of gender roles perpetuated by the patriarchy, women can be affected by environmental issues differently than men. Environmental issues sometimes make women’s jobs more difficult, threaten women’s heath, or increase violence against women. When climate change depletes the resources that women are expected to provide, or reduces the need for their job, it can lead to increased domestic violence or force them into dangerous occupations such as prostitution.²

Other occupations women are especially affected by are plastics and textile industries. For example, these factories expose employees to many chemicals, some of which are carcinogens. Many women then develop breast cancer as a result, as they are more at risk to this disease than men.¹⁹

Women are also less likely to survive extreme weather events and natural disasters caused by climate change. Because women typically have less access to resources like transportation, it is more difficult to evacuate in dangerous environmental disasters like hurricanes or earthquakes.¹⁹

Access to Education

Women do not have equal accessibility to education or careers because of discrimination and the pressure of gender roles. In many developing countries, girls are forced to leave school for safety or health reasons. For example, sometimes girls do not have access to the resources or supplies they need for menstruation at school. Girls are also forced out of school because they are expected to help at home or marry to start a family.³

Our planet’s resources are threatened by the exponential growth of our population. Studies have shown that increasing literacy rates among women can decrease Fertility Rate, or the average number of children each woman has. This is because education increases job opportunities and gives women more options than to start large families very young. Education is also linked to raised income levels, improved nutrition quality, and high child survival rates. Ultimately, when education is made more accessible to women, our population will likely stabilize instead of overwhelming our planet and resources.²

What Can I Do?

There are many ways to help women overcome environmental issues. Here are some examples:

• Believe and support women who are facing violence or abuse.

• Support programs that empower women and provide educational or career opportunities by donating or attending events.

• Deconstruct harmful gender roles and power imbalances in your own relationships with others such as family members, friends, coworkers.

• Support initiatives to improve representation of women in policy-making positions and climate discussions.

• Increase women's financial responsibility, property rights, and access to healthcare.