Women’s Close Relationship with Nature

 
An Overview of Ecofeminism: Women, Nature and Hierarchies
 
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the leading property that creates a link between them. In gender-based societies, women’s most 
prominent feature is their fertility; women can reproduce and create a life, just like nature. For example, 
women create humans; they raise children and feed them. Just as Roach highlights, women “are the life-
givers of the human species” (2003:40). A mother produces milk to her child and provides maintenance 
to the family. For this reason, women are conceptualised as generous and compassionate creatures that 
provide fruitfulness. Therefore, as Julia Kristeva states, motherhood is a cultural process (2016:47). 
Culture naturalizes women’s identities as mothers and wives. Likewise, nature is just like a mother, 
ensures the continuity of life on earth with its resources. Nature creates life and supplies products with 
its generosity and abundance. It gives foods for living beings; it supplies air, and provides materials for 
a living continuously. Thus, nature is mentioned as Mother Nature, motherland, or mother earth. As 
Catherine Roach clarifies in Mother/Nature, Popular Culture and Environmental Ethics that nature 
creates resources limitlessly and unrequitedly, it feeds and cares for the kids and humans (2003:68). The 
system conceptualizes nature as a mother with infinite resources. In this way, the male-dominance 
treats both women and nature as providers, and they both are compassionate and generous. For 
example, Carl Gustav Jung highlights that mothers represent the elements that are associated with 
fruitfulness and fertility, like arable fields, gardens, rocks, caves, trees or flowers (2015:121). 
Additionally, Gaard exemplifies a situation that underlines the closeness between women and nature. 
Gaard mentions that when people go to natural excursions, they throw coins to the pool, expecting that 
it can realise their dreams (1993:302). People also tie rope to trees and make a wish with an expectation 
that it will help. Humans expect that nature will relieve and provide fruitfulness, just like a mother. As 
Sami Brisson remarks, nature protects her when she is mournful or exhausted; therefore, it symbolises 
maternity (2017:15). Therefore, nature is perceived as a generous mother, while becoming a mothers is 
seen as women’s natural duty. In human consciousness women and nature have a close bond thanks to 
their reproductivity. As a result, reproductivity and generosity are other similar features that construct 
a close relationship between women and nature. 
Since both women and nature are inferior in the male-centred hierarchy, they have passive and 
dependent roles. Women are passive and dependent because they are seen as incapable beings because 
of their reproductivity, and it also prevents them from gaining financial freedom. Giving birth is seen as 
their natural duty; therefore, the society generalises women’s dependency on men. On the other hand, 
since nature is not an active being intrinsically, it cannot overpower humans. That is, humans are 
intellectually more powerful than animals, and it causes a hierarchy between them and reinforces the 
dependence of nature. For example, the male-authority consumes natural means swiftly and eradicates 
them (Gaard, 2012:303). However, nature cannot react to these external factors. Thus, nature also 
becomes prominent with its passivity and dependency. While women are dependent on men, nature is 
dependent on humans. In this way, attributing similar characteristics to women and nature naturalizes 
women, while feminizing nature. However, Greta Gaard states that linking feminine aspects to nature 
ensures its subordination (1993:305). That is, ascribing feminine aspects like passivity and dependency 
strengthens the subordination of nature. Gaard also remarks that attributing feminine features to nature 
and trying to oppress it is a sign of racism (1993:305). Similarly, ascribing natural features to women is 
also a sign of discrimination. Thus, thanks to these aspects, the male-centred system creates a closeness 
between women and nature, which causes their marginalization. As a result, passivity and dependency 
are seen as natural and feminine features, which establish a bond between women and nature. Thank to 
this bond, women and nature have close positions in male-dominant societies. 
As a result of close conceptualising of women and nature, nature becomes associated with 
sexuality in male-dominant societies. Just as Gaard notifies, nature is represented as an object of desire 
because it gains a feminine identity through statements such as “virgin forest”, “untouched land” 

Yıldız Merve Öztürk
 
 
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(1993:304). Gaard also clarifies that nature connotes desire because women are also associated with 
passion in the Western culture (1993:305). However, women are treated as objects not only in Western 
traditions, but in the most traditions of the world. Thus, women’s subordination, which is a general 
state, causes their passivity. Also, the environment has a passive role due to its motionless and 
dependent state. External factors, such as culture, modify and exploit nature. Therefore, the passivity of 
nature is a factor that feminises and objectifies it. The phrases like "unspoiled forest" demonstrate that 
nature is an object of desire. In this way, the definitions like "virgin", "untouched" or "unspoiled" 
symbolise not only women’s representation as objects of desire, but also nature. Women and nature 
serve cognitively as entities of passion. In this way, in male-dominant systems nature, women and 
submission exist as unity in a patriarchal culture. Thus, in a male-superior system, the passivity causes 
women and nature to exist as objects of desire, and it creates a close relationship between them. 

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