Program on the Environment

Mother Earth, Mother Nature, and Motherland are commonly used in reference to the environment. However, the frequency of language does not inherently mean it is effective. I was curious about word choice in nature discourse while engaging in marketing communications and nonprofit operations as the Outreach Intern for Braided River, a conservation-based publisher. The purpose of this study was to examine how and why gendered language appears in environmental communications, its relation to natural resource exploitation, and the implications of resulting climate change on gender-based violence (GBV). To accomplish the task, I conducted an in-depth literature review. I found metaphors are a common form of gendered language in environmental communications, which persist due to cultural significance and gender-based differences in nature values. Indigenous communities feminize the natural world because they view themselves as part of the land. Further, Western culture’s commodified relationship with the environment and experiences of GBV perpetuate misogyny and patriarchal systems through its use of gendered language in environmental communications; this downplays the interdependence of humans and nature and, therefore, implies acceptance of natural resource exploitation. Natural resource abuse and climate change are positively associated, and data reflect that as climate change worsens, so does the likelihood of GBV. These findings are crucial to better understanding how to communicate environmental topics ethically. They force us to reevaluate and rebuild human and nonhuman relationships to prevent negative connotations of gendered language in ecological discourse that lead to environmental and gender abuse.