The bond between the Earth and the feminine is profound. The earth has always been madre. A powerful connection that has roots in Greek mythology. This was enough to explain why it is above all women who are on the front line for the protection of the planet. There is much more, of course. But there is no doubt that they will be the ones to change the world for a greener future. And that’s why female emancipation e safeguarding the Earth they always walked close together. A journey that began decades ago and is still going on. To retrace it was Annalisa Corradomechanical engineer from Rome, environmentalist, in her book The girls will save the world, published by People. In the book they are reviewed five female figures powerful that have changed the course of the history of environmentalism but that have not always obtained the right recognition. Five protagonists, never alone in command, who have made their own fragility their strengths and which tell how the female gaze on the world is always inclusive, capable of keeping everything and everyone together.
Doctor Corrado there are so many women involved in ecological movements why in your opinion?
“It is undeniable that the fact that women have been relegated to employment and care for the family, communities and territories has in any case led to the development of an aptitude for caring for the most fragile. And this is a fundamental talent for understanding what we are doing to the planet. Develop an attachment to the land and to other people that allows you less to care less about the consequences of your actions. This systemic and transversal approach is typical of women”.
The first girl who tells is Rachel Carson (American marine biologist, writer, and conservationist) why her and not another?
“Well… I’m an engineer and the scientific approach makes me feel more at home. She is the mother of scientific environmentalism and marked a discontinuity in history. The institutions that have dealt with environmental protection were born following her studies on the indiscriminate use of DDT. Carson has shown and demonstrated, in a scientific way, the responsibilities of wild industrialization with respect to the destruction of the ecosystem. So much so that DDT was then banned. She was a great scientist and a great popularizer of nature, and she demonstrated how important empathy and emotion are in the scientific method. Yet she underwent a hallucinating treatment because she was a woman: they said she was hysterical, they called her a spinster, etc. The anti-empathic upbringing of boys makes people think they can handle power without empathy”.
Empathy and fragility for an inclusive leadership
Corrado what is the link between ecology and feminism?
“There is an intersectional current of feminism that tells very well what has been well depicted by the 2030 sustainable development goals. There are some issues that can no longer be addressed without considering them as a whole, in their interconnection. For example, the recognition of talents, of women’s rights at an economic, social and political level is one condition not for the affirmation of sustainable development and environmental protection. Ecofeminism is based on this type of postulate and objective 5 of the UN 2030 agenda ratifies it. Among other things, women are, in many countries of the world, the most exposed to the dangers of climate change and the destruction of the ecosystem, so there is also a link from this point of view. It is not for nothing that there are so many activists who risk their lives to protect this ecosystem”.
What are the talents of women that are good for safeguarding the earth?
“In the patriarchal culture there is enormous damage that is done to boys in education and it is the removal of fragility, empathy and relationships. Children are not given dolls. They are not trained to be fathers or to be in relationship with the little ones and they don’t have to cry. This does enormous damage to society, which also manifests itself in violent declines. Instead, this thing is not taken away from women. They leave us with empathy and emotion but they take away our ambition, because it’s bad for a woman to be ambitious. We are all victims of imposter syndrome. Whenever we have a lofty goal or take on an important job, it always feels like we’ve taken it away from someone more entitled than us. In the end, however, this thing is an evolutionary spring, in the sense that if you feel inadequate you continue to grow, network, ask for help, because you don’t feel you can give all the answers yourself. Somehow we can make a super power out of this inherent fragility. The famous sisterhood is a bit like this: looking around, trying to understand what people’s talents are and putting them into a system. Empathy and relational skills, not arrogance, are the key to inclusive leadership”.
Greta’s superpower is her diversity
The most media-oriented is Greta Thunberg. The Swedish girl who with her super power, Asperger’s syndrome, has moved the world by challenging the greats of politics. She has made her diversity a strength
“She herself called her syndrome super power which, among other things, gives her problems with sociality. Thinking about it, it might seem paradoxical that this little girl, despite this, has moved millions of people all over the world. And instead, even in this case, some obstacles serve to develop unexpected talents. She can’t see the nuances between black and white: she only sees black and white. So when someone explains climate change to her, she fails to understand why not everyone takes care of this, which is a vital problem for the survival of human beings on planet Earth. She says that no one is too small to make a difference. In short, with this awareness of her, which does not allow her to compromise, she has made her her greatness. I saw her up close, when she came to Rome, and I can assure you that her fragility is not in the least disguised: she says harsh and precise things but, while she does it, she bites her lip, torments herself the hands. And this also makes it very powerful.
But now he has declared that he will pass the megaphone to others… a surrender?
“Not at all. He has practically already given it away and I find it very beautiful. In the book I tell of women who are never alone in charge but who rather promote the emergence of other people and other women. And this is also part of inclusive leadership. She never wanted to be the protagonist: the protagonist is the object of her ”her” activism.
Is it true that Greta Thunberg changed Jane Fonda’s life?
“Yes, it’s true. While I was writing the book, I came across photos of Jane Fonda getting arrested in front of Capitol Hill for demonstrating against Trump’s climate change policies. Besides being a super fan of Noemi Klein (ndr. journalist, writer and activist), said that Greta’s radicalism changed her profoundly”.
The international of hatred against rights
What kind of ostracism have these activists suffered? In the book he talks about international hate: what is it about?
“It is this group of powerful people like Trump, Bolsonaro, Putin, Erdogan etc. figures who make funny alliances, because being all sovereigns they cannot agree on common lines, but they have in common machismo, the reference to patriarchy, the reduction of women’s social rights, the total disfigurement of environmental issues and civil rights. They embody the anti-values that, in recent decades, the evolution of humanity seemed to have placed on the wrong side of history. Patriarchy, domination of fossil fuels and wild industrialization merge into a single extractive and aggressive approach, both with the bowels of the earth and with women’s bodies”.
In Latin America there have been several cases of what is termed mining violence against women
“The extractive culture doesn’t set itself any kind of limit, either to safeguard local communities or the ecosystem. It’s an aggression that doesn’t stop even with people. And here too the connection between women and the territory means that they are the people most touched, and therefore also the first to get moving”.
Which of these five female figures that you tell in your book are you most fond of?
“Very difficult question. My empathetic connection is with Wangari Muta Maathai: she has incredible power and charisma. It seems that she has lived 18 lives. His is a 360-degree action for the ecosystem, for social justice against the dictatorship. She participated in the local resistance, she was imprisoned, beaten and yet she was a woman of incredible positive power. She won the Nobel Prize in 2004. I confess I’m madly in love with her. But in truth all of them have marked me and taught me a lot”.
So yes, the girls will save the world. Or maybe they already are.