Women and the World: An Ecofeminist Connection
When Françoise d’Eaubonne coined the term “ecofeminism” in 1974, it is certain she knew what she had created. Ecofeminism, once an idea split into separate movements, separate minds, was finally able to give itself a face, a name, and with it came the chance to rise up against the patriarchy and demand something different.
Ecofeminism officially became a movement during the later half of the Second Wave, starting in the 1970s and gaining strength into the 1980s. It represents the notion that women and nature are inexplicably linked, and the mindset that both parties are greatly harmed by the male-dominated society that most aspects of life are built on. The ecofeminist movement was and is made up of activists that fight not just for equality for women but also for liberation of the environment, and it seeks to further take down gendered categories and separations.
There is much to be attributed to the environmental and feminist movements in the creation of the ecofeminist movement, as without the fierce and attentive minds of environmental activists, ecofeminism and its great passions might have never made the mark that they were due. Carolyn Merchant, author of The Death of Nature, and Ynestra King, author of “The Ecology of Feminism and the Feminism of Ecology,” are just two of the many, many women who truly saw this connection between themselves and nature, and so put down their words to bring awareness for ecofeminism and inspire others to desire change. These authors lifted the movement off of the ground, and sent it out into the world, allowing the movement to touch other women in other countries. Ecofeminism is not merely a concept kept and bound to the United States, but one that benefits all people.
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