Ecofeminism is one of the theoretical and practical currents generated in the 1970s , which pays attention to how the economic development of the dominant groups has promoted an excessive exploitation of nature and how this affects women in a special way.

It arises from something that many feminist movements question: dualisms, understood as pairs of opposites with unequal value that had originated in the patriarchal culture (for example, body-mind, nature-culture, scientific knowledge-traditional knowledge).

Ecofeminism pays special attention to the relationship between nature, women and capitalist economy ; and from there it allows the development of different currents within Ecofeminism itself that made visible not only the exploitation of nature and women, but the differences between the oppression that different women and natures lived around the world.

Ecological awareness in feminism

The emergence of Ecofeminism was led by feminists who had a strong ecological conscience, and who denounce that historically the patriarchal system has equated women with nature , which could have been an important power position for women, but far from that, ended up being devalued and exploited in the capitalist economy.

In other words, they question the use and exploitation of nature that has been promoted in patriarchal societies and advocate establishing relations with nature from a more feminine position, closer to the care and protection of living beings.

Among the practices that derive from Ecofeminism are, for example, the promotion of natural childbirth or the extension of breastfeeding; as well as the creation of communities of empowerment and the self-management of women, especially from the countries with higher poverty rates.

Some proposals from Ecofeminism

Far from being a homogeneous current, Ecofeminism has developed within itself different proposals that have allowed us to understand some nuances in the experiences of women’s subordination and their relationship with nature.

1. Essentialist feminism

In general terms, essentialist ecofeminism is a current that promotes maternal qualities to foster life and care for nature , considering these qualities as important to counteract the ecological crisis.

Part of a radical essentialism based on biological differentiation, where it says that the fact that men do not have the capacity to procreate makes them highly dependent on female care and energy. It proposes that we women need to emancipate ourselves from masculinity, which is fundamentally aggressive, and to empower feminine strength through bonds between ourselves.

The criticism that has been made of this feminism is its excessive biological essentialism, that is, the assumption that men and women are determined and differentiated by their biological characteristics, which tends to demonize the masculine and can keep women in segregation.

2. Spiritualist Feminism

Spiritualist feminism questions the ideal of development of the first world countries , because they say it is a “bad development” that causes injustices and exploitation especially to women and to the nature of the “non-developed countries”.

For this reason, this proposal of Ecofeminism is currently one of the ones that is gaining more strength in the “developing” countries formerly called “the third world”.

Spiritualist feminism considers the patriarchal social structure beyond the purely male: it understands patriarchy as a system that among other things places the management of food, child development and care of the environment in general on women; issues that are especially exploited in the poorest countries.

In this current, the access of women to the production of goods is sought through maintaining ourselves as a source of control and balance of the environment and food development. In other words, it connects women’s emancipation with ecological awareness and care practices.

3. Environmental Feminism

In reaction and criticism to the previous proposals, ecological feminism arises, which notes that Ecofeminism had developed without taking into consideration class differences or ethnic origin that make women’s relationship with nature, as well as the exploitation of the patriarchal system, be experienced in different ways.

They propose that such a system is not a homogenous thing that affects all women equally, and they put the focus of denunciation not only on how the exploitation of nature affects women in particular, but they attribute responsibility to groups that monopolize natural resources and to the rise of the capitalist economy.

Bibliographic references:

  • Pascual, M. and Herrera, Y. (2010). Ecofeminism, a proposal to rethink the present and build the future. ECOS Bulletin, 10: 1-7
  • Velasco, S. (2009). Sexes, gender and health. Theory and methods for clinical practice and health programs. Minerva Editions: Madrid