Is The Green Movement The Enemy Of Feminism In India?

by Vikram Malik
(New Delhi, India)

The green movement has various hues to it – preventing felling of trees, conserving natural habitats of greenery, reducing environmentally harmful emissions, and so on.

One of the more odd dimensions to the entire green movement, particularly noticeable in countries such as India, is an emphasis on women indulging in activities that may well be considered to be “green” in the sense, these activities are not detrimental to the environment.







An instance of such an activity involves the usage of cloth diapers (which can also be washed and reused) instead of traditional disposable diapers, which tend to be non-biodegradable, at least partially, and definitely not reusable.

Now, the usage of such an item often invokes a certain line of thought wherein it is considered that the green movement – under whose umbrella the aforementioned activity could well be considered to be lying under, is going against feminism. That is to say, women are being made scapegoats for the implementation of the green movement.

Is such a line of thought accurate?

By the looks of it, it really does not seem so. In fact, it seems rather juvenile to even think that way.

The green movement is a faction that all humans across the world, should ideally be a part of. Obviously, all members will make their respective contributions, in their own way. In such a scenario, if the women have to make their contribution through activities such as the aforementioned, there really does not seem to be any harm emerging out of it.

Further, this is just one of the possible activities. As a part of the green movement, there are virtually hundreds and thousands of initiatives that people can possibly take. Indians in particular will recall the ‘Chipko Movement’ of the 1970s wherein villagers, especially women, started hugging trees so that they could not be felled.

There are many such initiatives that can possibly be taken. Assuming that such initiatives come in the way of feminism, just because some of them happen to be spearheaded by women, would be a fallacy of epic proportions.

Vikram