What Is Ecofeminism? Understanding The Intersection Of Gender & The Environment

We're all familiar with the concepts of environmentalism and feminism. But there's a branch of these two ideologies that actually combines them both—called ecofeminism.

Ecofeminism is an ideology and movement that sees climate change, gender equality, and social injustice more broadly as intrinsically related issues, all tied to masculine dominance in society. Specifically, ecofeminism holds that most environmental issues can be traced back to the global prioritization of qualities deemed masculine (particularly the ones some would regard as toxic, like aggression and domination) and those in power who embody those attributes.

Ecofeminism also calls attention to the fact that women are disproportionately affected by environmental issues. According to one report from the United Nations, because women worldwide typically hold less monetary wealth and rely on the natural environment more, they are more likely to be displaced by climate change and have to travel farther for resources, like water, as dry seasons extend. Research shows women are also more greatly affected by radiation than men. One study has even suggested some men may have internalized aversions toward environmentalism, as it could be perceived as feminine.

There are several sub-branches of this movement, including vegetarian ecofeminism, spiritual ecofeminism, and materialist ecofeminism. But at their root, they all assert that masculine dominance has led to a disconnect between nature and culture, which has adversely affected marginalized groups as well as nature itself.

Feminism, in all its waves, has experienced evolutions and resurgences since it formally began in the mid-1800s. As climate change awareness and subsequent activism rose in recent decades, feminists began to identify the ways in which the movement for gender equality and the movement for environmental protection are related. The term "ecofeminism" was coined by French feminist Françoise d'Eaubonne in 1974. According to her, the disenfranchisement and oppression of women, people of color, and the poor are intrinsically linked to the degradation of the natural world, as both arose as a result of patriarchal dominance.

Over the years, many more have explored the sentiment behind ecofeminism—and begun advocating for it. Women such as Vandana Shiva, founder of the Research Foundation for Science, Technology, and Ecology, and Carolyn Merchant, author of Death of Nature: Women, Ecology, and the Scientific Revolution, are just two prominent names within this movement since its inception. Some other names of note include Val Blumwood, Greta Gaard, and Susan Griffin, just to name a few.

It's been nearly 50 years since ecofeminism was formally introduced. Nowadays, even where the word itself is not used, the principles of ecofeminism are interwoven into the modern-day climate change movement among those who actively advocate for equitable change for people and the environment.

Patriarchal dominance, which presupposes masculine attributes are more valuable, has led to the degradation of nature (land and animals), along with the marginalization of groups, including but not limited to women, children, and people of color. Capitalism further propels this oppression, as it places value on productivity by any means, and subsequently does not value many attributes considered feminine, including nature itself.

"Carolyn Merchant basically says ecofeminism is calling for an ethic of care and an ethic where decisions are made equitably," professor and ecofeminist scholar Heidi Hutner, Ph.D., explains to mbg. "When we poison the Earth, we are poisoned, and it all comes from this history of patriarchal domination where whoever holds the most power has this right to dominate, control, and exploit everyone else."

Ecofeminism advocates for overhauling this entire masculine system of domination and exploitation—and replacing it with an ethic of care, an approach to morality grounded in feminine characteristics of care and nurturing. This approach focuses on human benevolence and acting in a way that prioritizes care for others.

Under ecofeminism, all forms of oppression are not acceptable. For environmentalism to be all-encompassing, it has to consider all people. Women, people of color, and the LGBTQ community all face particular issues—and when these issues overlap, their effects become compounded.

"If you are a person, a community, a family, or even a country that's already facing many threats, whether that's around health, inequity, whatever the case may be, climate change layers on and makes all of those threats more intense," Katharine Wilkinson, author and vice president of Project Drawdown, tells mbg. "In a patriarchal system, women and girls—particularly women and girls who are poor, women and girls of color, indigenous women and girls—are already on uneven footing. Layer on climate change, and those existing vulnerabilities become heightened."

Hutner adds, "With all environmental injustice, ultimately, POC suffer the most. Particularly women of color."

Nearly half of the heat-related deaths in New York from 2000 to 2012 were Black people, for example, and communities of color breathe 38% more polluted air than white folks1 on average. But those voices are often left out of the conversation and not considered with regard to policy, legislation, and environmental improvements. And yet, the environmental movement grows increasingly white.

"Part of the reason we need intersectionality is because white environmentalism, like white feminism, just doesn't work. It's not effective. We need compassion, connection, creativity, collaboration," Wilkinson says.

Environmentalism can't just be about protecting a white suburb from a new development, for example. It has to address clean water and air in Black communities, pipelines in Native lands, and so on.

In order to make a real, positive impact in both the cases of environmental degradation and the oppression of marginalized groups, ecofeminism says we have to understand their links to patriarchal society. Feminism must consider ecological concerns and vice versa. "It is really critical that we understand the gender dynamics around climate impacts," Wilkinson adds, "because we need to have strategies and approaches through adaptation and resilience that respond to those inequities."

As ecofeminists push for an inclusive care ethic, there's also an emphasis on the importance of having diverse leadership at the forefront of the movement. In particular, the people who are most affected by environmental destruction—women, particularly indigenous women and other women of color—are the ones who are best equipped to address it and identify the right solutions.

"If what we're talking about is transformation of our economy and society, it's going to take transformational leadership to get us there. And that looks like leadership that's more characteristically feminine," Wilkinson says. "When you are close to the problem, you're necessarily close to the solutions."

The biggest criticism of ecofeminism comes back to the idea of essentialism, or "a belief that things have set characteristics." Some people believe equating women with nature reinforces the dichotomy of gender norms that feminism sought to avoid.

"Val Plumwood writes about this idea of binary structures and talks about how they're problematic—and part of this patriarchal structure that's not working," Hutner adds. "It's the idea that we need to break down all these binaries: man/woman; black/white, etc."

Nowadays, as more people begin to assert that we each have our own combination of feminine and masculine qualities, whether we are male or female, this criticism has lost some of its steam.

Ecofeminism aims to both empower the disenfranchised and restore the health of nature on this planet. Hutner has a great deal of information on the topic available on her website if you're interested in exploring more, in addition to the other ecofeminist writers listed previously.

And of course, there are tons of things all of us can do in our everyday lives to live more consciously and compassionately, from what we eat to empowering the women in our lives.