Ecofeminism: Why Environmentalism Demands a Feminist Revolution

We call her Mother Nature. And then we treat her exactly as we would our mother. Be honest about it- what is our relationship with our mothers? We profess undying love for her. We talk about how much she sacrificed for us. Twice a year, on Mothers’ Day and her birthday, we post a photograph of her as a young woman and gather the likes and comments. We give her a hug when we are in the mood to and tell her how lucky we are to have her. But in reality, we take her for granted. We expect her to always be there for us. We trust that she will clean up our messes. We expect her to forgive us no matter what we do and put things right again. After all, isn’t that what mother are supposed to do?!

Our relationship with Mother Nature is no different. We treat Nature as a resource to be exploited. We claim to love her, but all we want is for her to keep giving, even if we don’t do enough to ensure her survival.

For centuries, there has been little difference between the forces of patriarchy which take women for granted and exploit their invisible labour, and the forces of capitalism which are responsible for the over exploitation of our natural resources. Society views both women and nature through the lens of domination- land was meant to be fenced, drilled and tamed, just like women’s bodies and labour were meant to be controlled and institutionalised. Even the language used by capitalistic/ colonial societies uses gender metaphors to describe land- explorers set out to find “virgin territories”, and settlers “exploit” the resources. 

“It almost sets up the adversarial relationship that we see today in between people and the land, people and nature, that I think is at the root of many of our environmental ills.”
– Robin Wall Kimmerer¹

Ecofeminism emerged to challenge this mindset. It argues that gender oppression and environmental destruction are not separate issues, but instead emerge from the same system of domination. At the heart of ecofeminism is the belief that patriarchal societies view both women and the natural world are viewed as passive, infinite resources to be owned, exploited and exhausted. Ecofeminism argues that it would be impossible to save the natural world without simultaneously dismantling patriarchal power.

The term “ecofeminism” was coined in 1974 by French feminist Françoise d’Eaubonne, who called upon women to lead an ecological revolution to save the planet from destruction. During the early days of ecofeminism (now called cultural ecofeminism), it was argued that women are naturally closer to the earth due to their biology and their role as nurturers. In time, however, this biological determination was rejected, and modern ecofeminism emphasizes that women are closer to nature because their socially mandated roles of caregiving, cooking and housekeeping makes leave them move vulnerable to environmental degradation. This social ecofeminism critiques capitalism and argues that market-driven economies exploit both the unpaid labour of women and natural resources for profit. 

“Drawing on the insights of ecology, feminism, and socialism, ecofeminism’s basic premise is that the ideology which authorizes oppressions such as those based on race, class, gender, sexuality, physical abilities, and species is the same ideology which sanctions the oppression of nature.”
– Greta Gaard²

Today, as feminism takes a more intersectional approach and looks at how gender intersects with race, class and geography, ecofeminism also looks at how environmental degradation disproportionately affects women from marginalized communities and from developing countries. Ecofeminism, today, explicitly links gender justice with decolonialisation, anti-racism, anti-capitalism and Indigenous perspectives, and understands that the exploitation of natural resources relies on multiple, overlapping hierarchies of human oppression.

Ecofeminism rejects the view that the climate crisis can be fixed with technical interventions like carbon offsetting, geo-engineering or other market-based solutions. Instead, ecofeminism argues that true sustainability can only be achieved once society starts valuing the labour of women and the vitality of the natural world. Most of the prominent campaigns against the wanton destruction have all been lead by women from the marginalised communities who would be most affected by the destruction. Whether it is the women who hugged trees as a part of the Chipko Movement³ , the women who planted trees in Kenya as a part of the Green Belt⁴ Movement, or the women who challenged the dumping of toxic waste into the Love Canal⁵– each was rooted in care, reciprocity, and equality. These women resisted in order to protect their heritage, and their actions were rooted in an abiding love for the natural world.

Ecofeminism provides a vital lens for understanding modern global crises. It proves that environmental degradation is not just a technical problem, but a social justice issue. True ecological healing cannot happen without dismantling the systems of domination that oppress human beings. By advocating for a worldview based on care, reciprocity, and equality, ecofeminism offers a path toward a more sustainable and just future.

“We are either going to have a future where women lead the way to make peace with the Earth or we are not going to have a human future at all.”
– Vandana Shiva

1. Robin Wall Kimmerer is a botanist and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. In her writings, she bridges the gap between Indigenous wisdom and Western science, and emphasises reciprocity as the most sustainable way of life.
2.  Greta Gaard is an ecofeminist scholar and activist who emphasizes the intersection of environmental justice, animal liberation, and queer ecology.
3. Chipko Movement of 1973 is regarded as the first major ecofeminist movement. Women from Uttarakhand hugged trees to prevent commercial logging in the forests on which they depended for sustenance. 
4. Green Belt Movement was founded by Wangari Maathai in Kenya in 1977. The organizations mobilizes women from rural communities to plant trees to combat deforestation, promote biodiversity, and secure access to firewood and clean water.
5. Love Canal was one of the earliest ecofeminist protests in a developed nation. On discovering that their neighbourhood was build on a pile of toxic waste, which was causing increase miscarriages and birth defects, a group of women organised themselves to protest against this. The protest, which highlighted the linages between oppression of women and environmental degradation eventually led to the creation of a wider anti-toxins lobby.