We need a paradigm shift – a change in the way we operate on this Earth. What’s the point of having more women in leadership roles if they serve to perpetuate the same status quo behaviors of patriarchy, extraction, and exploitation of the Earth? We need a different vision of what life could look like. A new lens. As you read this, all I ask is that you stick with me until the end, and let your imagination stir with the possibilities of an ecofeminist future.
The history of oppression of women, queerness, and the Earth is linked and in my opinion, the reason we have a climate crisis to begin with. I passionately believe that the future is female, in the sense that typically “feminine” qualities (that exist within everyone) are the only way we will have a future. We need societies that are more grounded in compassion, cooperation, resourcefulness, creativity, listening, patience, and nurturing. For recent history, we’ve had systems grounded in the worst parts of masculinity (conquering, entitlement, rivalry, vengeance, unbridled ambition), and that has led to mass inequality, harm, suffering, and destruction of natural systems. Just think of the environmental and humanitarian cost of war.
A conscious connection with the Earth is required for us to transform our societies to be more equitable, regenerative, and beautiful. And that requires us to be more open to embracing the power of the feminine.
Why does this matter to the climate movement? Some may argue that it doesn’t matter how we got here, we just need to “fix it”. But without understanding the underlying worldviews and beliefs that put us in this position, how can we expect to move forward? We must consciously choose new ways of being.
It’s my view that in order to truly have a regenerative future that enables humans to thrive (likely a couple generations from now as our current actions have locked in catastrophic effects for the rest of our lifetimes), we HAVE to completely reorient how we think about our relationship to the Earth. And the parallels between patriarchal-dominated views of women and Earth are too stark to not talk about.
This article is a journey, and we’re going to walk together through the history that might—and should—anger us, in order to accept it and move on with a vision of what could be. If you’ve read this far, read to the end. And if anything in here is triggering, take some deep breaths and note what’s coming up, but keep reading.
Let’s level set on some terms that will be used here:
- Ecofeminism is a branch of feminism that sees environmentalism, and the relationship between women and the Earth, as foundational to both theory and lived practice of feminism
- Queer ecology disrupts the notion that heterosexuality is the default nature for all beings on Earth (spoiler alert, it absolutely is not)
- Queer ecofeminism adds a lens of queer theory framework and rejects the dualism of “natural vs. unnatural” to connect the oppression of human sexuality with the oppression of nature
“All around the world, women and girls are making enormous contributions to the work of healing our planet… Look around and you will see climate leadership that is more characteristically feminine and more faithfully feminist, rooted in compassion, connection, creativity, and collaboration. To address our climate emergency, we must rapidly, radically reshape society… [This moment] calls for a feminist climate renaissance.”
– All we can save by Dr. Ayana elizabeth johnson and Dr. katharine k. wilkinson
Why do we need ecofeminism at this moment in time?
In my eyes, love is the guiding principle for an ecofeminist future. A love of the Earth, a love of humanity, and a love and appreciation of the interdependence of all living beings.
Anyone who is even remotely in touch with nature understands that humans depend on the cycles of the Earth for survival. Our agricultural system depends on nature to produce the food we need to survive—no matter how much agribusiness tries to outsmart the Earth, ultimately, our survival hinges on us working in concert with the seasons. We cannot survive without clean water. As the ocean warms, we risk losing photosynthetic plankton that literally provide half the oxygen on Earth that we breathe and would die without.
But if you look at the way our world is oriented currently you see that men, who for centuries have created the systems we exist in, took and continue to take the Earth for granted. They exploit resources (natural and human) with abandon. They purposefully obliterate life for the pursuit of capital gains. They pollute without consequence, poisoning the water and soil and air, and in turn alllllll of us.
However, the conscious expression of masculinity does not behave this way. The conscious expression of the masculine is protective, not destructive. But when we have systems predicated on the oppression of the feminine, the masculine doesn’t have the checks and balances it needs for a healthy expression. We’ve endured a battering ram of masculinity running our politics and businesses for centuries. We need to transform that energy to be more like a container that provides the space and protection for the inherent creativity of the divine feminine to initiate and grow.
We need balance, yin and yang, light and dark. But to get there, we have to become awakened to the power of the feminine, and to create and allow the conditions it needs to flourish within ALL of us.
“Men, too, have imagined nonhuman nature as female for millennia…Apollo chases Daphne through the forest; to free her from his predation, Peneus the river god turns Daphne into a laurel tree. In the 16th century, Francis Bacon adopted rape imagery to illustrate men’s power over nature. And in the 19th century, Charles Darwin placed women lower than men and closer to nature in evolutionary hierarchy, thereby justifying women’s inferior social status and subjugation…To not be a man is to be a piece of nature ripe for the taking.
It should not be surprising, then, that a growing body of research links gender reactionaries to climate denialism. The authors of a 2013 paper, for instance, noticed that the mostly male population of climate skeptics in Sweden saw climate activism as a threat to a modern industrial society that mirrors their form of masculinity, one that is entitled to the exploitation of nature. Fueled by the adoration of an economic system that glorifies exploitation and domination, male reactionaries view climate activism and general care for the planet as the feminization of their world.”
– Assad Abderemane from this article
The beauty and tragedy of portraying nature and Earth as feminine
We call her Mother Earth. Women’s menstruation cycles are 28 days, the same as the moon. Women and nature are the creators of life, divine, sacred, equal parts fierce and nurturing. Women and nature are often revered for their beauty over all else. Women and nature have been muses for the arts for centuries.
But men historically have felt entitled to their perceived ownership of both women and nature. They’ve created a persisting narrative that women and the natural world are supposed to be subservient to men, bend to their will, give and give and give without being nurtured in return.
It leads me to think, if we didn’t feminize the Earth, would our male-dominated systems of power and capital try harder to honor it? If the Earth was portrayed as traditionally masculine—powerful, vengeful, roaring, ruthless—would men have thought more deeply about the consequences their actions had?
Because nature is NOT inherently feminine. The natural world is ruthless. Plus, we’ve now tipped the balance of nature so drastically that the Earth is reacting with destruction, in response to the destruction the masculine has waged.
“Once in a lifetime” storms destroy entire regions multiple times per year. Fires choke out the sun and gobble up forests and homes without remorse. Hurricanes are now more powerful than our scales are to measure their magnitude. Droughts parch the earth and excessive heat strangles anything trying to grow. Torrential rains cause landslides that bury homes and literally shift mountains.
But let’s talk about how the perception of the Earth and Indigenous cultures as feminine have been subject to oppression throughout history so that we can understand the roots of what we are trying to change. This makes me angry—and it’s okay if it makes you feel all sorts of emotions. There’s journal prompts at the end of this article if that’s helpful. The important thing is that we find a way to make peace with this history, move on, and create new ways of being.
Women and Earth – the shared history of oppression, exploitation, and violence
Time for a little history lesson! We will get back to what this all means for climate action in a moment. There is so much more that could be said about the ecological and social effects of all of these time periods, and there are so many sides to these stories that we have no record of. Keep in mind that our knowledge of history was written and passed down by the powerful, domineering forces. We learned a very one-sided story.
Also note, when I speak of war I am thinking not just of male-on-male violence. I am also thinking of the massive environmental consequences of the production of weapons and mass destruction, and the violence waged by men on women and children (raping and pillaging being an expected outcome), whose stories we rarely hear.
Neolithic Era: ~10,000 – 4,000 BCE
While we don’t know exactly what they believed, we can surmise that in general societies in this time lived in close kinship with the Earth. The spiritual and religious beliefs generally were that spirit/divinity was flowing throughout all of nature, and sexuality and reproduction were tied to the Earth’s fertility. They worshipped totems of plants, animals, ancestors, and forces of nature like the sun, moon and stars. Some clay figurines remain of a “Mother Goddess”, and worshipping that could have been linked to the fertility of people and the Earth as this was the timeframe where cultivated agricultural systems became more common.
Sidenote: In Sapiens, Harari makes the interesting point that the rise of cultivated agriculture might be the start of this destructive cycle we’re in. If you stay in one place and grow an excess of food, you need to protect it.
Ancient Greek and Roman religions were polytheistic, embracing both feminine and masculine versions of gods, with each representing different aspects of life and nature. Greek women could become priestesses, bestowing them with respect and official authority. Roman polytheism was less about morality structures and more about paying tribute to forces beyond our control through ritual and worship.
During the end of this timeframe, there was a shift from matriarchal to patriarchal structures and values.
Rise of Christianity + Holy Roman Empire: 1st – 4th century CE
This era saw a rise in the concept of man “being made in God’s image”, understood as having an innate power or dominance over Earth. It set humans apart from nature, making man the center of creation (reminding me of how humans erroneously thought that the Earth was the center of our solar system).
The rise of Christianity saw the spread of the Biblical creation story: where Adam was made in a male God’s likeness, Eve was created from his rib and made to be a companion, then was “weak” and gave into temptation of a serpent, thereby bringing sin into the world. Isn’t it interesting that the origin of the concept of “sin” was blamed on a woman who simply ate from “the tree of knowledge”? And that there is no feminine counterpart to God, there is just God (male) the Holy Spirit (non-gendered) and the Son Jesus (male) even though in this Earthly plane the feminine is synonomous with creation and bringing forth life? If humans were made in divine likeness, would it not be more evident that a Goddess is the creator of all life? Food for thought.
Around this time as well, practice of asceticism started to form, where one devotes their life to contemplative ideals and practices extreme self-denial of pleasure for religious reasons. There was a rise in opposition to non-procreative sex, and laws and religions started to tout the subordination of women, animals, the body, nature, and the erotic in all forms.
Crusades, Spanish Inquisition, burnings of “witches” & gays: 10th – 19th centuries CE
Throughout this time are an abundance of examples of how women, Earth-based, and matriarchal cultures were subjugated, oppressed, and had to endure horrific evils at the hands of religious men.
The Crusades were a series of violent military campaigns organized by Catholic and Christian Western powers in order to take the Holy Land, Jerusalem, from Muslim control (this conflict is tragically still unfolding today in Palestine, with a massive death toll for women and children). But these crusades were not just about religion, they were also about trade. There was a rise in merchants and powerful forces being able to fund and profit off of war (now centuries later we’re dealing with the military industrial complex).
This set the stage for more religious wars in the coming centuries.
The Spanish Inquisition started in 1478 by Ferdinand and Isabella to maintain Catholic orthodoxy and direct control of the Spanish monarchy in their kingdoms abroad. They also sought to exploit the natural resources of these other cultures to enrich themselves. This continued in various forms for 400 years, until it was definitively abolished by Isabella II as recently as 1834—which was after the inventions of the typewriter (1829) and microphone (1827). The Spanish Inquisition’s religious motivation was also vehemently opposed North American Indigenous culture’s tolerance of homosexuality and gender expression (such as two-spirit people).
When Spanish Conquistadors would come to a new place, they would issue a decree in languages that were not understood by the native peoples. One record of a decree given by Pedrarias Davila contained the following message:
“I assure you that with the help of God I will enter powerfully against you, and I will make war on you in every place and in every way that I can…I will take your persons and your women and your children, and I will make them slaves…I will do you all the evils and harms which I can, just as to vassals who do not obey and do not want to receive their lord…And I declare that the deaths and harms which arise from this will be your fault, and not that of their highnesses, nor mine, nor of the gentlemen who have come with me here.”
Additionally, this time period saw a massive amount women and queer men burned at the stake for any number of offenses. These could include: being an unmarried and/or financially independent woman, living in kinship with nature, homosexual behaviors, heresy, or women murdering their husbands/mistresses. While there is not an official number, estimates are that hundreds of thousands of people, mostly women, were burned. Homosexual men were strangled and burned tied in bundles of sticks called “f*ggots”. And between the 1500s and 1600s, burnings of women for witchcraft became more common, although witchcraft was incredibly vague, hard to prove, and likely used to justify the murder of independent, non-subservient, or Earthly women.
Colonization, racism, nationalism: 18th – 21st centuries
Nationalism and colonialism were used to further the economic and religious (read: patriarchal) interests of dominant countries. They would—and still do—use this structure to exploit labor and natural resources. They would deem Indigenous cultures who lived in kinship with the Earth (inherently seen as more feminine, and therefore able to be dominated) as “savages” who needed “civilizing” through violence. They would fetishize and sexually assault Indigenous women, a behavior that is still common today.
Colonization had many stated reasons, but they all served the same purpose: to exploit the resources and labor of “developing” countries so that rich countries could profit even more. This was and is upheld through violence in multiple forms.
Modern day:
The legacies of colonialism continue. Just look at the child labor happening all over the world to produce our chocolate and cobalt for electronics. Not only does this mass-scale extraction of resources harm the Earth, but it disproportionately also harms women and children.
In recent history we’ve also witnessed the extreme opposition of dominant forces to “deviant” sexual behavior which has been characterized as unnatural, as well as the disempowerment of women’s connection to nature and their bodies.
Let’s talk for a second about “unnatural” sexuality. It’s a blatant lie. Queer ecology shows us there are sooooooo so many examples of queerness throughout nature, from plants to mushrooms to other species of animals, and of course humans. In fact, homosexual monogamy is not the norm.
- Mushrooms have thousands of genders
- Hermaphroditic fish exist, and there is a species where their groups of fish are all are female but one is male and if the male is killed/removed a female will transition to male within weeks
- Many species of animals have sex for pleasure, not just procreation
- 1,500+ species of animals exhibit homosexuality or “deviant” gender expression, such as gay penguins or male seahorses being the gender to give birth
- We’ve seen queer tendencies in humans in many forms throughout cultures across centuries
While women are experiencing more liberation and freedom around the globe, the quest for equality is far from over. From unequal social pressures (see: America Ferrara’s emotional monologue in Barbie), to unequal pay which is worse for BIPOC women, to the rates of violence against women (perpetrated overwhelmingly by men), to issues within the medical system, to fewer examples or experiences of women in power, especially women who don’t force themselves to lead within the patriarchal status quo, and so many other examples.
Male-dominated systems of power and religion have exploited, oppressed, and dominated women, queerness, and nature for centuries, and now we are facing the consequences both ecologically and socially: climate change and enduring structures of sexism, homophobia, violence, and colonialism/racism.
We need balance, and the Earth is demanding it. But even our climate solutions fall short without ecofeminism.
Climate solutions are subconsciously gendered
Think of the conversation of the solutions to the climate crisis. Carbon capture technology, renewable energy, green building codes and development, water desalination plants, hydroponics, controlling nature—masculine. They provide avenues for capitalism and patriarchy to continue dominating our systems. They get funding. They get praise. Do I think some of them are useful? For sure. Do I think these alone are the solution? Absolutely not.
There are other solutions. Dramatically reducing energy demand, slowing down, returning to relationship with the Earth, regeneration, honoring and living by Indigenous knowledge, community care, decentralization of agriculture, de-commodification of necessities, circular economies, decoupling capital from survival—feminine. “Impossible”. And yet, absolutely necessary if we want to have any chance of living on a habitable planet for the rest of our species’ existence.
We need to imagine a more ecofeminist future for the planet
Who, historically, have been advocates for environmental justice? Women and people of color, especially Indigenous groups. Ecofeminism and queer ecofeminism can help us rethink our relationship to ourselves, our communities, and the natural world. We need to imagine a different future that is not informed by the dominant narratives that have been loud and forceful for the past 10,000 years.
The genocide happening in Palestine is a glaring example of how the legacy of male-dominated religion, patriarchy, and colonial capitalism persist. Remember how it was mentioned in our brief history lesson? These massive civilian deaths and casualties are seen as acceptable, ecocide and purposeful destruction of ecosystems is glorified, and they’re not concerned in the slightest about the insane carbon emissions and toxicity from weapons and military strikes… All for a “religious” war that is simply a mask for capitalism. (Hint: it’s all about fossil fuels)
The stories we’ve been told and the futures we’ve been shown are almost all centered on exploitative, extractive, capitalistic fever dreams of the future. Just look at what’s glorified in the media.
If we truly want a better, just, sustainable future, this CANNOT continue to be the blueprint. We MUST center a queer ecofeminist perspective when discussing climate solutions and pathways forward. This allows us to envision a world where we return to living in alignment with nature and everyone, yes including heterosexual men, is free to express their authentic self without oppression.
What would an ecofeminist perspective of the future + climate action look like?
I invite you to reflect on this and journal about it! Let your imagination run free. I’ve included some journal prompts here, and some ideas of what this imagined future could look like.
Journal Prompts:
- Free write about your own associations with a male-dominated climate narrative vs. a female or queer-led narrative. What are the similarities and differences? Which narratives do you personally feel drawn to?
- How does learning about the history of nature and women’s oppression make you feel? What other examples can you think of? Face some shadows here if needed.
- If we could create new systems of society (politics, business, power dynamics, etc.) what would you keep? What would you get rid of? What would you create?
- When you think about nature, what words do you associate with it? How do you feel?
- When you think about women in power, what do you envision? What are you afraid of? What are you excited for?
- What feelings and imagery comes up when you think of men in power? How would you shift this if you could?
- Do you feel connected to nature? How can you deepen your connection?
- Do you feel connected to your feminine expression? What comes up for you when you think about expressing your feminine side? What are you afraid of? And what do you wish for?
Here are a few ideas for us to consider and dream about.
What would the world look like if we had…
A deeper connection with nature: Imagine if all of our cities had ample green space, street trees, outdoor seating, green roofs, community gardens. It would help our nervous systems recalibrate, we would be less stressed and able to respond rather than react. We could easily see and learn from natural cycles of death, rebirth, and transformation. We would more clearly see that everything we need to survive is provided by nature, and that there is an abundance of food. If we transformed our food systems to be decentralized, perennial, and based in permaculture, we could see the inherent abundance of natural systems, and de-couple the production of food from money.
Heart-led leadership, centering femme & BIPOC perspectives: People decry the notion of all-female leadership, as if we didn’t just endure centuries where the only figureheads in politics and leadership were men. If we had more feminine leadership, decisions could be made from compassion not competition. There would not be war, or at the very least, not the same kind of war. Women are much more hesitant to kill another person’s child, and have spent centuries developing a deeper emotional intelligence that could enable more skilled conflict resolution. Indigenous beliefs are centered on relationship and stewardship with the wellbeing of 7 generations in mind. Imagine how different things could look if we had leadership guided by that code of conduct.
Compassion and liberation as driving forces in society, rather than profit and power: We could live in a society focused on ensuring everyone has their basic needs (food, water, shelter, safety) met by the collective. We could embrace individuality, having true personal freedom, but still provide structure to ensure that expression doesn’t cause harm to others. Liberation is freedom, and none of us are truly free until we’re all free. Just take our prison system: currently our policies that perpetuate poverty and scarcity cause the conditions for violence and crime as many people are in survival mode. Then we use their free labor to produce profit for major corporations. But if we had compassion as a driving force and made sure everyone’s basic needs were met, we would see a reduction in crime. If we had a lens of compassion and rehabilitation as the goal of the justice system, people could actually heal and re-enter society in a beneficial way.
Respect of intuition rather than only prioritizing logic & reason: The outcome of this could look like more tolerance for uncertainty and momentum towards a future that works in the best interests of all, which we will need in the uncertainty climate change. If we respected intuition in leadership, we could adapt and prepare for disaster and change, rather than reacting from fear after it happens. But in order to listen to our intuition we have to be able to slow down, tap into the feelings and emotions of our bodies, and learn the difference between intuitive pings, anxiety, and fear. And to do that, we need to dismantle the manufactured urgency of corporatism so that we can have the time to develop a true relationship with ourselves.
Divinity of all beings—human and more than human: Imagine if we *actually* saw all life as sacred. The lives of all humans, animals, plants, and fungi. We barely respect the divinity of human life right now. But we could have a world based on reverence for life in all it’s forms, and reciprocity. Plants and photosynthetic plankton produce the oxygen we need to breathe, how can we repay them with what they need to thrive? Animals provide food and fiber for us, how might we best care for them throughout their lives so they feel honored and are able to live to their fullest expression?
Shared wisdom and remembrance: The history we’ve been told has largely been written by the conquerers. What wisdom has been lost? What have we forgotten about humanity? Indigenous cultures all over the world hold traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) that teaches us how to live in reciprocity with the lands around us. To give as much as we take. And it shares with us the wisdom of plants and animals, and the remembrance that the wellbeing of all living creatures is linked. How many other ways are there of creating a society that meets our needs that might also create greater harmony? How many other systems could exist to resolve conflict, share resources, and create prosperity?
An invitation and acceptance of change rather than avoidance: Women are so used to change, our bodies go through massive changes (compared to men) throughout our lifetimes. Our bodies change significantly, and we adapt and revere these changes as beautiful for how they initiate us into new phases of life. Women, nonbinary, and queer people have also had to adapt and change over and over again in order to survive oppression. The patriarchy resists change, it resists the loss of power, it refuses to hand over the torch. What would it look like if we all were able to hold space for and embrace change as a catalyst to be revered, rather than something to fear?
Thanks for reading this far 🙂
Further Reading on Ecofeminism:
Towards a Queer Ecofeminism, by Greta Gaard
Women, Sexuality, and Environmental Justice in American History, by Nancy C. Unger
