Gender, Class, and the Climate Crisis
Anna Whiting
The climate crisis is an intersectional issue. We cannot address climate change without addressing the factors that cause some groups to be more vulnerable than others to climate change and the challenges that come with it. Climate change is exacerbating, and will continue to exacerbate, the existing problems and inequality that exists in our society. We cannot solve the climate crisis without addressing how women, especially poor women and women of color are in an especially precarious position, while also uplifting and supporting women who are leading the fight against climate change.
Unfortunately, much of the existing literature on climate change and gender does not include information about trans and non-binary individuals, who are at an especially precarious place in our society because of transphobia and cisheteronormativity. Because little literature exists about the specific problems that these people face, their struggles are often, unfortunately, left out of the discussion of climate change and its intersections with other factors. So, this article will focus primarily on cisgender women. However, we should all continue to listen to the experiences of queer women, trans women, and non-binary people, even when our society does not push their narratives to the forefront of discussions about climate change and climate policy.
Women, especially poor women and women of color, are in an especially precarious position when it comes to climate change. Because they have limited access to resources to begin with, climactic events that limit access to resources further affect these communities even more. In regions where climate change has caused people to migrate in search of work, rich men benefit most from migration, while upper and middle class women don’t see as much of a difference in their quality of life, but lower class people are constrained from migration in the first place simply because they lack the resources to do so. In regions of the world where women are relegated to certain jobs or cannot work at all due to societal restrictions, they often have trouble finding jobs after relocation because of their limited work experience and training. Women are more likely to be financially fragile than men, and following natural disasters, which are becoming more common and more intense, many lower-class people, especially women of color, do not have the resources to return to their homes because of “higher living costs, less accessible public services, and weakened social networks”. Climate change is exacerbating the inequalities that already exist in our society, not inventing them. We cannot address climate change without addressing these inequalities and finding equitable solutions.
Additionally, climate change has immense mental and physical health effects on everyone, but special attention needs to be paid to the effects it has on women and people who are assigned female at birth. As climate change causes natural disasters and extreme weather to become more intense and occur more often, the mental and physical health effects these have on people will become more pronounced. Natural disasters and extreme weather can cause increased stress, which can contribute to feelings of depression, hopelessness, and anxiety. Extreme weather always has significant effects on the mental health of communities, but poor women are most likely to feel its effects the most deeply because they experience the most disruption following extreme weather events; they have few resources to evacuate (sometimes not even having access to a vehicle to evacuate), experience a greater impact from lost income, and often have to go through the stress of taking care of family members and loved ones during these events. During situations where evacuation is necessary, emergency shelters are also not prepared for health concerns of people who are assigned female at birth, often failing to consider reproductive health and the health of new parents, people’s need for menstrual products, and the need for privacy while using the bathroom or breastfeeding, leading to potential sexual harassment. Additionally, studies have shown that things including high temperature and air pollution are linked to preterm birth and low birth weight. As climate change causes extreme weather events to become more common and intense, the health impacts it has cannot be ignored. Structural barriers to healthcare access must be removed. We need universal healthcare, more research on the impacts of climate change on physical and mental health, and equitable access to reproductive health care so those who are affected by climate change can remain safe and healthy.
However, women are not just victims and it is necessary that we recognize their accomplishments, but often, that is not happening. Although women are leaders in their communities, policy decisions, media coverage of climate change, and jobs relating to energy and natural resources are overwhelmingly male and white. Decisions that will impact entire communities, potentially even the entire world, are being made by people who are in no way representative of the general population, leading many people’s unique needs and experiences to be left out of these decisions. Men make up 72 percent of the people who work in energy and fuel production, although they make up only 53 percent of all jobs nationwide. Even in the most “equal” subfields of the energy industry, women only make up approximately one-third of the total workforce. In addition to the workforce, “women are significantly underrepresented in environmental organizations’ leadership positions, as well as in media coverage of climate change,” and 95% of the board members of environmental organizations identify as white, so women of color face extreme underrepresentation. This underrepresentation often leads women and people of color to be pushed to the back of these organizations, reproducing the inequality which exists in our society in a campaign that is trying to end it. However, women of color are often leaders of grassroots organizations, but as more media coverage is spent discussing larger organizations, their ideas, plans, and policies are given significantly less money and attention. White people, especially white men, are significantly overrepresented, while women of color are underrepresented and underfunded, so the intersectionality of climate justice, race, and gender does not get the attention it deserves. By organizing and fighting in our own communities and centering our attention on activists who focus on intersectional, anti-capitalist efforts to combat climate change, we can help make climate activism more intersectional and representative of the communities who are being affected.
Climate change is going to affect all of us, but it will affect some groups significantly more than others. Men who don’t have to face the risks of gender-based violence, white people who don’t suffer from the environmental racism present in our society, rich people who have the ability to relocate if their home or livelihood is damaged by extreme weather, all of these people have some sort of advantage in the climate crisis. The climate crisis does not affect everyone equally, and we need to realize this and promote sustainable, equitable policies that will take into account the unique needs of different groups of people and put those who will be affected the most at the center of climate activism. If we don’t address the intersectionality of the climate crisis, we will leave behind those who need climate activism the most.
Anna Whiting (she/her) is a junior at Westerville North high school. She is passionate about organizing and hopes to pursue a career in civil rights law. Outside of Ohio Youth for Climate Justice, she is also involved in theatre, tutoring, mock trial, and Global Scholars. She hopes that we all continue fighting because there is a lot to be fighting for.
