The best definition of Eco-feminism is found on the website”What is Eco-feminism?” (http://www.lancs.ac.uk/staff/twine/ecofem/whatisecofeminism.html) and defines it as “the social movement that regards the oppression of women and nature as interconnected. It is one of the few movements and analyses that actually connect two movements. More recently, Eco-feminist theorists have extended their analyses to consider the interconnections between sexism, the domination of nature (including animals), and also racism and social inequalities. Consequently it is now better understood as a movement working against the interconnected oppressions of gender, race, class and nature.” That little section “domination of nature (including animals)” explains the link between Eco-feminism and animal rights. The Eco-feminist movement is a small segment of the Women’s rights movements that believe the treatment of nature is directly linked to the treatment of women.

The Eco-feminist movement has determined that mistreatment and misuse of nature (and animals) has a direct effect on how people treat each other, this is a valid comparison! A person that is taught that it is okay to dominate or force their will on weaker individuals will try to do that with all parties, animals and women. It should be stated that this is true of everyone that violate animal rights, women as well as men. The Eco-feminism group seems to be in the forefront of recognising and publicising this fact!

Unfortunately, based upon the media and past history, men do seem to be the predominant abusers of both animal rights and women’s rights (though some women are just as violent). This abusive preponderance in males rather than females could be because women have been the primary care givers, seeing more closely the effect of violence and cruelty. Learning how it relates to animals, children, and women. Children exposed to cruel and nasty behaviour, wither directly or through seeing mistreatment of animals become more callous and cruel themselves. How does this explain being in males more that females, since mothers raise both sexes?

Daughters tend to stay home and learn from their mothers as they get older while sons watch their fathers. The males amongst human are primarily the hunters. Animals used for hunting were the aggressive adults, puppies stayed home for playing. Aggressive animals are more territorial and tend to fight each other, so males became more use to the aggression. Eco-feminism is trying to reverse this trend.

What does this portend for the future relationship between Eco-feminism and animal rights? It should mean that women will be getting more involved in promoting and protecting animal rights. The better care taken of the animals, the better care there will be for women and children and that is better for everybody.Eco-feminism and animal rights will be closely connected in the future.

That will hopefully benefit everything!