In the readings on page 508, Norgaard and York believe that nations where women are in the government/parliament, are much more likely to support environmental policies. Norgaard and York point this out so people will understand that there is a connection between women and the environment and see how large of an impact that gender roles have on environmental policies. Because of this connection between women and nature, “women tend to be more environmentally progressive, the inclusion of women as equal members of society- as voters, citizens, policy makers, and social movement participants should positively influence state behavior” (Norgaard and York, 508).

Although this is an image of a bill being signed, it’s an exact example of a woman who is in politics and is positively influencing state behavior by enacting environmental protections. This bill was established in Sweden, where equality is extremely prevalent, “Sweden has never finished lower than fifth in the Gender Gap ranking” and they continue to fight gender inequality everyday. Luck for Sweden, they’ve enacted many things to fight gender inequality but that doesn’t always happen, “nation states with greater gender inequality may be less environmentally responsible due to the hegemony of the logic of domination” (Norgaard and York, 510). Basically, with gender inequality comes environmental degradation and for nation states where gender inequality is rampant, they’re less likely to enact environmental protections. 

This is an image of Aleksandra Koroleva who is a Russian environmental activist. Koroleva worked in and out of the government multiple times and she had a huge impact on Russian environmental policies. She was able to “stop dangerous projects, prevent tree clearings,…  educate officials by participating in numerous public councils, drafting new laws, and criticizing public officials sho closed their eyes to environmental crimes” (Milovanov). As unorthodox as her approaches may seem, Koroleva has been extremely successful with preserving natural resources and protecting citizens from dangerous environmental pollution. 

This image is showing how each gender views and understands global warming. As you can see, it’s blatantly obvious that women are more concerned about global warming than men. This is exactly what Norgaard and York were explaining- women worry about environmental degradation more than men because of the connection between gender inequality and environmental problems. 

Works Cited:

Bureau of International Information Programs, and United States Department of State. “Global Women.” Global Womens Issues Women in the World Today Extended Version, Bureau of International Information Programs, United States Department of State, 1 Jan. 2012, opentextbc.ca/womenintheworld/.

“Gender Differences in Public Understanding of Climate Change.” Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/gender-differences-in-public-understanding-of-climate-change/.

“Gender Equality in Sweden | The Official Site of Sweden.” Sweden.se, 28 June 2018, sweden.se/society/gender-equality-in-sweden/.

Lövin, Isabella. “Just Signed Referral of Swedish #Climate Law, Binding All Future Governments to Net Zero Emissions by 2045. For a Safer and Better Future. Pic.twitter.com/OqOO2y8BU6.” Twitter, Twitter, 3 Feb. 2017, twitter.com/IsabellaLovin/status/827457588094758912.

Norgaard, Kari, and Richard York. “Gender Equality and State Environmentalism.” Gender & Society, vol. 19, no. 4, 2005, pp. 506–522., doi:10.1177/0891243204273612.