Nature is often being associated with female. That is why we personify nature and earth as our mother instead of our father. Our daily lifestyle also points out the “feminine” aspect of nature. We call forests that are untouched by man Virgin forest. We draw images of earth as women. We expect Earth to be nurturing like our mother.
Picture from mattthesamurai
These are just culturally constructed labels given by men. However, with presences of many patriarchies in many societies for many decades, we can’t help but to link the two form of oppression together: women and nature.
Ecofeminism is the social movement that see the domination of nature and opression of women as interconnected.
Men traditionally classify nature as female and subjugate them both together. Dominating the world for centuries, men have been the active participants in making the world’s many important decisions. Be it political, historical or social decisions. Hence, women are regards as nonparticipants. Similarly, nature is considered to be passive in environmental decision making process and men (humans) will decide for nature and exploit in whatever way we want.
So, did men named nature “mother earth” because of they think they dominate it like they dominate women? Or they think they can dominate it like women because “she” is mother earth? The cause of this relationship is unknown but there is certainly some correlation going on.
New revolution
Now, women are struggling to liberalize themselves from cultural constraints that kept them subjugate by men in many societies. The environment is showing signs of the potential disastrous consequences that make humans reflect upon their exploitation of nature and explore their relationship with the nature. The feminist and environmentalist movement allows both women and nature to free themselves from being subordinates to men. This also redefine the current cultural relationship between men, women and nature.