International Journal of Social Science Research (IJSSR)

Gender and Environment: Uneven Distribution of Resources

This essay examines the gendered dimensions of environmental degradation in India through the theoretical framework of ecofeminism, exploring the structural relationship between the subordination of women and the exploitation of nature. It analyses how the twin processes of statization and privatization, inherited from the colonial period and continued in postcolonial India, have transformed access to communal resources along the intersecting axes of gender, class, and caste. The essay argues that environmental degradation disproportionately affects rural and marginalized women by increasing their burdens of unpaid labour, limiting access to natural resources, undermining livelihoods, worsening health and nutritional outcomes, and eroding indigenous ecological knowledge. At the same time, it highlights the central role of women in environmental conservation and grassroots ecological movements, demonstrating their agency in resisting unsustainable patterns of development. The essay further examines the persistence of gender stereotyping and the marginalization of LGBT communities in India, arguing that these forms of inequality are rooted in shared systems of social hierarchy and exclusion. By situating environmental injustice within broader structures of gendered and social power, the study contends that sustainable development and ecological justice cannot be achieved without addressing intersecting inequalities based on gender, class, caste, and sexuality. It concludes that meaningful environmental justice requires a transformative reorganization of social, economic, and political institutions to ensure both ecological sustainability and social equality.