Environment is a Feminist Issue

“In traditional agriculture, the soil is the mother. She’s the mother who gives, to whom you must give back.” This quote by Dr.Vandana Shiva – a pioneering ecofeminist and environmental activist encapsulates the driving philosophy behind ecofeminism. Nature’s ability to birth and nurture invaluable organisms within her womb is often exploited by ‘mankind – extracting rather than giving, consuming rather than returning. This philosophy propounds on the rights of both women and the natural ecological environment by paralleling the sustainable characteristics of both women and nature. This pursuit of combining, re-examining and augmenting the feminist and environmental movements gave rise to the feminist environmental philosophy or ecofeminism.

To provide a short timeline of the ecofeminist movement, one must trace back their steps to history. From the Chipko Movement in India in the early 1970s where women stood firmly against trees to prevent deforestation, the Greenbelt Revolution in Kenya that developed in the same decade, to women’s participation in anti-nuclear and pro-environment movements in the 1980s, environmental concerns have been brought to light through proactive women participation. This suggests that women’s ethics are more closely related to the environment than those of men. The United Nations Environment Program succinctly delineates the core of the ecofeminist philosophy – ‘Around the world, environmental conditions impact the lives of women and men in different ways as a result of existing inequalities. Gender roles often create differences in the way men and women are enabled or prevented from acting as agents of environmental change.’[1]

The two core tenets of ecofeminism as stated by Carolyn Merchant in her book ‘The Death of Nature’ are (a) the domination of women and the domination of nature are structurally linked and (b) the recognition and celebration of the values and activities traditionally associated with women including child-birth and various kinds of nurturing.[2] Keeping in mind these fundamental tenets, we must contextualize this movement in the industrialized and post-industrialized era.

‘Both women’s movement and the ecological movement are sharply critical of the cost of competition, aggression, and domination arising from market economy modus operandi in nature and society.’[3] The rampant rise of capitalism around the world has been a direct source of exploitation under the ecofeminist realm. Capitalism has negatively impacted both. ‘The reclaiming by ecofeminists of the pairing of women and nature expressed refusal to base society and community on the power hierarchies of a capitalist patriarchy whose ‘invisible hand’ operated as if it owned not just the means of production but those of destruction and reproduction as well.’[4] Capitalism fueled by scientific revolution has disproportionately entangled women and environment and led to their consequent subjugation. Matters concerned with land rights and water rights, forestry, women and members of subjugated groups and classes within society suffer disproportionately from ecological damage. ‘And even when the oppressed are not its worst victims, environmental malfeasance is a product of masculinist, colonial, and capitalist assumptions and practices.’[5]

Carolyn Merchant’s work, as mentioned earlier, has provided an ‘empirical and theoretical genealogy of the forms of oppression of women and the environment so characteristic of capitalism. She made the case that oppression of women and environment are linked textually, ideologically, and empirically in the same historical development, namely what she termed as The Death of Nature.’[6]

Contextualizing ecofeminism within India, Dr Vandana Shiva holds that colonialism is broadly responsible for the ‘destruction of nature and women’s work and underlines how what might be considered development by many doesn’t benefit women and nature in the way that it “perpetuates domination and centralisation through patriarchal control.”’[7]

By placing a gendered lens on climate change, the ecofeminist movement binds two seemingly disparate schools of thought under a single umbrella. Furthermore, it has the effect of addressing the global audience through a strong appeal to pathos. Karen Warren, a contemporary philosopher, known for her work in the field of ecofeminism, conceptualises it using her interpretation. To her, ecofeminism is ‘a practical philosophy that she hopes will inspire and enable real moral and social change.’[8] Appeal to change fundamentally forms the objective of the ecofeminist movement. The underlying evocative effect of ecofeminism is connected to the emotions of love and purity as held by a mother towards her child and what ought to be held by the global citizens towards their environment. By correlating the progress of women with that of nature, an additional incentive is provided to women and other supporters of feminism to channelize their energy towards a healthier and more sustainable ecological landscape.

Like every other theory or philosophical concept, ecofeminism had its share of backlash. This backlash was primarily concerned with the fact that the lives and status of all women are not the same and cannot be generalized to further the argument of ecofeminism. The relation between other aspects of feminism such as racism, classism and ableism and ecological destruction hasn’t been established under ecofeminism. This was one of the primary reasons as to why somewhere around the mid-1990s, ecofeminism was relegated to a marginal position by the academia. Furthermore, ‘because of its predominantly white middle-class ethos and uptake was seen as irretrievably marred by essentialism about women and by regional-, class-, ethnocentrism.’[9]

Many critics have also pointed out the paradoxical philosophy underlying ecofeminism. In Rosemary Fonseca’s piece titled ‘Ecofeminism is Not What You Think’, she argues that ecofeminism differentiates between the feminine and masculine qualities. This division forms the fundamental aspect of patriarchy. ‘By presenting men as conquerors and women as gentle givers, it undoubtedly creates a divide between men and women, contradicting the feminist movement of equality.’[10]

Despite the critiques on ecofeminism, its prevalence still thrives in the modern contemporary landscape. The intriguing complementary nature between women and environmental damage has persuaded several scholars to continue their research on ecofeminism. From its roots in the Greek philosophy and mythology wherein Gaia – the Greek goddess who was the personification or rather the incarnation of mother Earth or the mother of all life, ecofeminism can be incorporated to propel the focus of the world today towards a regenerative economy. ‘Earth’s Democracy’ as coined by Dr Vandana Shiva could be enlivened in its most real sense by rightfully allowing all the organisms – both human and non-human to exercise their fundamental rights to live with dignity and freedom. The productivity and efficiency of the world’s economy could be drastically improved by inculcating the ethical philosophy of ecofeminism. The extractive mechanism of increasing a country’s GDP could be replaced by thought and action of giving back generously to Mother Earth what she generously gave you. After all, ‘In nature’s economy, the currency is not money, it’s life.’[11]

[1] “UNEP – UN Environment Programme”. UNEP – UN Environment Programme, 2020,

[2] Thompson, Charis. “Back to Nature?: Resurrecting Ecofeminism after Poststructuralist and Third‐Wave Feminisms.” Isis, vol. 97, no. 3, 2006, pp. 505–512.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Thompson, Charis. “Back to Nature?: Resurrecting Ecofeminism after Poststructuralist and Third‐Wave Feminisms.” Isis, vol. 97, no. 3, 2006, pp. 505–512. JSTOR,

[5] Cuomo, Chris. “On Ecofeminist Philosophy.” Ethics and the Environment, vol. 7, no. 2, 2002, pp. 1–11. JSTOR,

[6] Thompson, Charis. “Back to Nature?: Resurrecting Ecofeminism after Poststructuralist and Third‐Wave Feminisms.” Isis, vol. 97, no. 3, 2006, pp. 505–512.

[7] Shiva, Vandana. Earth Democracy: Justice, Sustainability, And Peace. North Atlantic Books, 2015.

[8] Cuomo, Chris. “On Ecofeminist Philosophy.” Ethics and the Environment, vol. 7, no. 2, 2002, pp. 1–11. JSTOR,

[9] Thompson, Charis. “Back to Nature?: Resurrecting Ecofeminism after Poststructuralist and Third‐Wave Feminisms.” Isis, vol. 97, no. 3, 2006, pp. 505–512. JSTOR,

[10] “Is Ecofeminism Relevant Today? | Feminism In India”. Feminism In India, 2020,

[11] Shiva, Vandana. Earth Democracy: Justice, Sustainability, And Peace. North Atlantic Books, 2015.