If you care about climate change, you will find yourself advocating for women.
Or working alongside them.
Not just because the majority of climate action, majority is done by women- especially rural, tribal, and Indigenous women.
No, you’ll need to advocate for women to reduce waste, to make public transport a reality, to ensure genuine green companies get support, and to show that economic growth is only a fraction of what prosperity means.
Sustainable development will take into account the unpaid labour of women as caregivers, homemakers, and community pillars as it is integral to meeting the needs of today. But let’s take a moment to focus on the environmental side of things and how systems where women are marginalized harm the planet.
A simple example would be the use of cloth pads. While there are issues with these for women themselves, periods stigma makes it even more impossible to use cloth pads- even on days they’re viable. Men have come online saying how in joint families hanging cloth pads to dry in the sun is a big no, as if menstruation isn’t a normal bodily procedure. You won’t hear them saying the same about cloth nappies or their own underwear.
Or let’s talk about menstrual cups and how many women can’t access this extremely green period product (even if they’re comfortable or open to using it) because it’s seen as a sign of losing “virginity.” The same virginity which has led to women’s demises many times.
We can also see how not catering to women can play a part in the usage of personal cars. While women are happy to carpool together, buses, public trains, or shared autos aren’t really safe for them. Yes, even in the women-assigned areas. To reduce car dependency, we need e-bike-safe streets, yes, but we also need buses and metros where women are not harmed for simply travelling outside the home.
Given that it’s women’s education, women’s health, and often women’s work in offices and even on farms that get affected more than their male counterparts’ due to climate change, it’s high time we look at the gender equation in the climate solutions we propose.
Empowered women can make their own choices to have fewer kids (or raise sustainable families to the best of their abilities while recognizing they shouldn’t control others), drive less, buy secondhand, and help their families towards a planet-friendly life but this shouldn’t come at the price of feeling unsafe or socially isolated in a culture where women aren’t valued, especially since our current systems can already make being sustainable isolating unless we manage to find our own communities.
Featured image is from Canva gallery, edited with Canva. The image is for representational purposes only.