In the midst of the turmoil of the environmentalist movement in the 1970s, the term "ecological feminism" appeared in the work "Feminism or Death", by the French philosopher and writer Françoise D'Eaubonne. For her, the patriarchy and the ideal of masculinity at the time were direct consequences of the population explosion on Earth and the constant destruction of nature headed by men, in charge of governments or private initiatives.
Over time, the idea gained momentum as feminists around the world understood that women are the most affected ones by climate change. After all, they accumulate functions at home and in the world of work, taking care of the family and the community, despite of being still underrepresented in ‘spaces of power’, where the guarantee of a habitable and healthy planet should be the highest commitment.
No wonder more and more women’s voices are emerging in defense of the environment. According to data from the United Nations (UN), 80% of people displaced by environmental disasters and problems related to climate change are female.
RECOGNITION
The output document from the Paris Agreement, signed in 2015 with the purpose of mitigating the Earth's temperature rise, has recognized the need for a "gender-adaptive" approach to adjusting to climate change, based on "the best scientific knowledge available".
And the numbers of some outstanding events help us to understand how gender issues are related to climate change. In Bangladesh, for example, the number of women killed by Cyclone "Gorki" in 1991 was nine times greater than the number of men. In Australia, twice as many women had to flee to seek safety during the devastating bushfires of 2009. In Kenya, they were the last to receive food in a drought occurrence in 2016, which left more than two million starving.
Women and nature are exploited since the arrival of Europeans in the Amazon
The role of women in the fight for environmental preservation is even more prominent in historically oppressed and peripheral regions, such as the Global South, where Latin America and the Amazon are located. Researcher Júlia Maneschy, from Centro Universitário do Estado do Pará, recalls that colonialism had tuck its claws into the freedom of women in the region since the first Europeans landed in what was then called the "New World".
"Colonized women were seen as an alternative version of the white European woman. Even when they managed to change their social status, they continued to be seen as bestialized and hypersexualized. This perception is still present in relation to sexuality, considering that Latin, black and indigenous women are seen as bodies to be penetrated and violated, devoid of inherent rights and dignity", she says.
REPRESENTATION
This view is also present in the book "Images of Female Earth: America and its Women", by historian Mary Del Priore. "America is a woman. At least that's how it appears in iconographies between the 16th and 18th centuries: the opulent belly, the long hair tied with shells and feathers, the muscular legs, bare breasts. This representation conceived by Europeans translated a discourse that tried to impose itself as a social conception of the new world: America – a beautiful and dangerous woman, had to be defeated and tamed in order to be exploited" – says the author in one of the book's excerpts.
Non-governmental organizations amplify "political voices"
Researcher Júlia Maneschy, from Centro Universitário do Estado do Pará, understands that the idea of women who must be domesticated remains alive until today and outlines how patriarchy operates in Latin American countries, still seen as a backyard of the world, backward and dependent of the so-called developed countries.
"I can see that the animalization of these same bodies, regarded as bodies devoid of gender or rights, is also preserved, as a means of justifying their violation. Women and nature, like plants and animals, have always walked side by side and similar is also the way they are perceived, as objects. Not endowing them inherent dignity and rights helps the violence against them be maintained", she points out.
She mentions the sociologist Violeta Refkalefsky Loureiro when she recalls that the isolation of the Amazon has led the region to conditions of subalternity in comparison to the rest of the country. Therefore, if women, in general, are excluded from important discussions, Amazonians are even more so, because the region is kept out from decisions at the national level by other dominating locations. "In addition to the fact that the region is heavily exploited, these women are the ones who suffer the most from the undue exploitation of minerals, where a significant increase in sexual violence against women may be witnessed in the region as well as issues of deforestation or the implementation of large projects like the Belo Monte hydroelectric power plant, for example", she refers.
COLLECTIVES
Despite the harshness of the confrontations to which women are subjected in the Amazon, Júlia argues they knew how to respond accordingly, creating political voices to be represented through their own organizations. She recalls that the first Amazonian associations of indigenous women emerged in the 1980s, namely, the Association of Indigenous Women of the Upper Rio Negro (Amarn), the Association of Indigenous Women of Taracuá, Rio Uaupés and Tiquié (Amitrut) and the Coordination of Indigenous Peoples of the Brazilian Amazon (Coiab), which, in 2002, created the Department of Indigenous Women within the organization.
"Those women, recognizing the need to advocate for their interests, came together in associations and organizations to gain more political strength and to have their voices heard. Unity brings significant power to the feminist movement, and these women knew how to utilize this tool to become more present in political, social, or economic discussions involving their people, culture, habits, and, especially, their territory," says Júlia.
Today, women are in charge of important positions in the federal government and directly committed to the subject, such as Ministers Marina Silva, in the Environment Ministry, Sônia Guajajara, responsible for Indigenous Peoples, and Joênia Wapichana, the President of the Fundação Nacional dos Povos Indígenas [National Foundation of Indigenous Peoples]. All of them were born in the Amazon region.
Ecofeminism is connected to the struggles of quilombola women
Researcher Ellen Silva, from the Federal University of Pará, points out that it is not accurate to label quilombola women as strictly ecofeminists.
This is because the existence of quilombos predates the ecofeminist concept. However, her research has identified ideas that intersect between these two worlds.
Ellen herself resides in the Tambaí-Açu territory, in the municipality of Mocajuba, Pará, and recalls a history of local struggles by quilombola women against environmental destruction. According to her, the passionate defense of rivers and the right to water, territory, and quality food in the region are demonstrations of women’s representativeness in environmental causes.
"(A point) to be considered in approaching the struggle of quilombola women with ecofeminism is what refers to the fight for their right to produce other economy alternatives, other effectively sustainable agriculture, based on what was and remains learned from the practice of the communities themselves and traditional peoples, such as the actions of quilombola women in managing to preserve, care for and improve seeds, making them guardians of this process. Cultivating is a cultural practice of traditional peoples and communities. In this line, ecofeminism, by defending other forms of producing life, based on the principles of agroecology and solidarity economy practiced by popular social movements, approaches the struggles of quilombola women", says Ellen, highlighting how important this is from the perspective of generating jobs and income and also of autonomy for these women, conquered through sustainable practices. "Nature is our food, work and survival", she emphasizes.
Farmer women are responsible for up to 80% of the world's food production
Data from the organization "Save the Children" reveals that women account for over 40% of the agricultural workforce and are responsible for up to 80% of food production.
The United Nations estimates that if women and men had equal access to resources, the former could increase the productivity of the farms they manage by 20% to 30%, potentially elevating total agricultural production in developing countries by 2.5% to 4%.
Approximately 70% of the 1.3 billion people living in poverty worldwide are women, reinforcing ecofeminism as a driving force for expanding food security. Women are also the heads of households in 40% of the poorest urban homes. In rural areas, they predominate in the global workforce of food production but control less than 10% of the land.
Researcher Ellen Silva, from Universidade Federal do Pará, believes that ecofeminism needs to be understood beyond the essentialist view that there is a natural and inherent approximation between women and nature.
"This relationship seeks to reduce women to feminine beings, fragile and delicate, like nature, while the sky and God are male. This happens in several ways, including via unequal salaries. It is an essentially patriarchal vision, building a relationship of dependence – of women on men and nature on men. So, the more impoverished and fragile they are, the easier the exploitation. In fact, nature is from where we feed ourselves and work. And this needs to be understood through education – our main tool for transformation. This fight belongs to all of us", Ellen highlights.
Debates
Researcher Júlia Maneschy, from Centro Universitário do Estado do Pará, considers that the ecofeminist agenda is still poorly discussed and that there is still a long way to go. But the first step has already been taken: presenting the agenda to society.
"(It is necessary to) be aware of this relationship between violence against women and nature. The threats are many... this is indisputable! We live in a society based on the exploitation and domination of beings considered inferior and subordinate. But today we can already testify numerous gender discussions that did not exist ten years ago, criticisms of patriarchal power that were not made before. So, I believe that we can be optimistic and believe in change, even if it occurs in the long term", says Júlia.
