Environmentalists as Saints: The PR Problem for Sustainable Living

Real Talk Tuesdays

There’s a lofty weight to the term “environmentalism” that makes it unapproachable as a concept for many people. One reason for that can be the misconception that you must be a hippie living in a commune or a wealthy suburbanite with a mason-jar collection to fit into the mold of eco-friendly. But another reason why I think more people aren’t interested in learning about sustainable living is that environmentalism is talked about prominently in dehumanized and feminized language.

By dehumanized I mean that we’ve developed a weird way of separating the environment from ourselves, despite the fact that we are very much a part of our environments. Language about environmentalism in the 21st century hasn’t changed a whole lot from the early 2000s. I can recall elementary school recycling campaigns (as if recycling fixes it all) being touted alongside feel-good slogans like “go green” or “save the environment”. The reusable straw craze from the past few years ensured that all reusable straw sellers managed to have a “save the turtles” message in there somewhere. In short, environmentalism is advertised as being about saving animals, keeping nature clean, protecting the environment/Earth/planet—yet these notions totally disregard that fact that protecting the environment is necessary for the survival of humanity. Because of this language, the way we talk about people or organizations taking sustainable action is the same way we talk about giving to charity. Environmentalism sounds nice, kind, noble even, but it doesn’t sound particularly necessary or urgent.

Carrying on with this way of marketing sustainability is dangerous.

It should also be noted that this separation of humans vs the environment is often traced to a western way of thinking. From the romantic era of thinking of nature as serene and perfect, yet detached from man, to the colonial desire to tame it to man’s liking, it’s clear that this unsustainable narrative about the environment has plagued people for centuries. Though they should certainly not be perceived as a monolith, Indigenous peoples are generally far better at creating a sustainable coexistence with their environments. To me, this is due partly to the way they perceive themselves within their environment. Enrique Salmón’s Kincentric Ecology is one excellent resource to read about how his people, the Rarámuri, reflect on their relationship to the environment. (Find it here)

So, then, how is language around environmentalism feminized? The soft, sensitive nature in which we discuss environmentalism doesn’t fit well with traditional masculinity. Think specifically about the terms we use to describe it. “Caring” about the environment. “Eco-friendly”. “Saving” the planet/animals/environment. We discuss environmentalism in warm & fuzzy terms which can be as demeaning as they are alienating. I think generally too that compassion and its accompanying emotions are misconstrued as feminine traits—which is not to say that men are incapable of compassion, but that our society doesn’t encourage them to have it.

I’ve talked in an earlier blog about how people of color struggle with visibility in the sustainability content-creating community (that’s a mouthful), but I realized more recently that men are shockingly absent. In fact, when thinking about the dozens of creators I follow on multiple social media platforms, I can only think of one male creator I know of! Patriarchal ideals of “toughness” are usually polar opposite to the notion of caring and compassion, which means that sustainability practices get swept into the category of feminine passions. I mean, have you ever seen a really burly looking guy and thought “man, I bet he’s passionate about recycling”? How we perceive the intersections of race, class, and sex is deeply tied to how we perceive all ideological and political acts. Unfortunately, sustainability is considered one of those.

It should be noted that these claims are part of my own personal conjecture about why environmentalism is not more widespread, rather than a direct conclusion from more qualified research. But what I will say as a writer is that we should never underestimate the power language has on us, especially when it’s subtle.

Grace Kennedy