(I would like to state that for the sake of my argument I will be using only "Men" and "Women" as gendered terms to simplify the ideas into their historical contexts.)

Regardless of depiction of nature itself, women are truly connected to nature; sometimes not only through the lens of society, but in a more personal way through understanding these tendencies.

In many of these older literary pieces we discussed in this course, the writers had deep connections to their God, even using writing of the sublime to connect nature to that belief. Modern politicians even use God as justification for limiting and destroying National parks, forests, and other federally protected lands (with lesser regard for separation of church and state - the very concept mentioned the first amendment of the U.S. constitution).

While religion and other spiritual belief systems within themselves may not directly be an issue, the ideologies surrounding dominance of men are. The continued push of these often misunderstand biblical ideas have lead us to the current problematic societal viewpoints in nature and feminism.

So, while representing both nature and women as nurturing and caring can be restrictive, highlighting the strengths of these characteristics and the interest they hold in environmental justice defines them both as leaders. This brings power back into the description and interpretation of both women and nature.

San, the girl raised by wolves and gods of nature, also assists in opposing the ideas that are normally consistent with nature as a woman. Often in these representations of "feminine nature" we see women who are docile, kind, helpless. San is far more active in protecting the forest; she is violent, stubborn, and strong.

Offering these alternate representations provides a greater range of ideas in nature and of women together.

Some ecofeminists (including Greta Gaard in Defining Ecofeminism) believe that women are intrinsically more in tune with nature. This idea makes it seem that some people are born more natural than others - something we have studied over the semester and have learned to be problematic and often lead to racist beliefs.

Lady Eboshi does not at all fall into this trope. She purposely destroys nature for her own gain. While I don't support her actions had they been realized, the alternative trope for a female character opposes the outdated ideas of "intrinsic" nature.

Andrew Tate has claimed himself to be a misogynist, and has been charged with rape and human trafficking. He has also bragged about his own carbon emissions and mocked Greta Thunberg for the environmental work (BBC).

With more a republican nation recently there has been a clear rise in spread and support of media that is inherently anti-woman and anti-environmental, most times in connection to one another. This only goes the prove the need for women and environmentalists to work as one in solving these similar issues as they are essentially one in the same.

However, if they try to protect the land as it is, they are then represented as some natural savior - protecting purity on its own is simply rendered defenseless. "The majestic Sequoia is here, ... the noblest of all the noble race." (Muir). "The majestic Sequoia" is praised for its beauty and purity as symbol of "the noble race". Muir writes as if purity (described in this as "nobility") defines worth of a life as opposed to intrinsic value - or even if all life is valuable, that there purer it is, the more worth it is saving.

The conquering of wild often would mean a sexually dominant experience with a woman - or forming a monogamous relationship with a woman to limit the man to her only sexual partner.

Purity of course refers to virginity, which has long been a signifier of a woman's worth to men. Marriages used to require consummation, and often women would be examined before noble weddings to ensure their virginity for the man to take.

Many cultures have had long standing traditions of male domination over both women and nature.

"If the American continent was to become the birthplace of a new culture and, with it, new and improved human possibilities, then it was ... a womb of generation and a provider of sustenance." (Kolodny). As described in the quote, the land provides food for humans, births new culture and thereby new possibilities within. If nature truly does act to create new life within its own "body", then why should it not be considered a mother? In some ways then, it makes a lot of sense that nature is so often associated with motherhood, as nature does incubate future life and opportunities for life.

From this story, all human life comes from this one woman who made her way to earth. Nature adjusts itself in order to receive this woman; to make way for her life and the life to come from her. Nature takes care of this woman.

Motherhood seems to be a connecting factor through nature. All life is "born" one way or another. The normalized way of life is to then care for these offspring. This is one of the reasons that nature seems to be so often represented as a mother.

Hernandez, Isaias. Ecofeminism Explained. YouTube, 29 Nov. 2023, youtu.be/bhqVmlUTLjs?si=6MsBhSap8Pfs5TRL.

Kimmerer, Robin Wall. Braiding Sweetgrass. Milkweed Editions, 2015. 

Kolodny, Annette. Unearthing Herstory. University of Georgia, 1996.

Muir, John. The Yosemite. New York: The Century Company, 1912.

Miyazaki, Hayao. Princess Mononoke. Studio Ghibli, 1997.

The Holy Bible. New International Version, Zondervan, 2011. 

“Who Is Andrew Tate? The Self-Proclaimed Misogynist Influencer.” BBC News, BBC, 27 Feb. 2025, www.bbc.com/news/uk-64125045.

Kolodny discusses how some writers describe mountains as similar to a woman's breasts (a secondary sexual characteristic). It is a seemingly unnecessary comparison to be made; so many other metaphors could have presented the same idea. Yet, there is some off fascination in presenting nature as something exotically sexual. Even in literature that is entirely fictional, male characters are often taking advantage of their situation "alone in nature". It's been a long-standing hyper fixation of male-dominated environmental literature.

Both women and nature are taken as emblems for their aesthetic beauty in this sense (sometimes even in place of material ability to produce or serve). So often they are both limited to only that.

Movements in the realm of ecofeminism, environmental justice, and food justice have helped to form the connection between women and nature as a powerful force instead. Both are helping to improve life, not because they must, but because they can.