Stuck between Mother Earth and a mother's womb? On women, population policy and ecological sustainable development

Stuck between Mother Earth and a mother's womb? On women, population policy and ecological sustainable development

This article considers how the metaphor of Mother Earth, for women, concerns a dual stance of both belonging and distance. The link between women, nature and Mother Earth is problematised by considering the possible, or contested, link between population growth and climate change, and the South African population policy specifically is considered as an example. Ecofeminism's challenge to the perceived connection between women, motherhood and Earth, that is the 'distance' stance, is considered and a response to that is offered by reflecting on Mercy Oduyoye's notion of mothering, which represents the 'belonging' stance. In this regard, an intercultural approach to the definition of motherhood is implied. It is ultimately indicated that for women to reclaim their own agency regarding a perceived responsibility towards nature, it is necessary to deconstruct and reconstruct 'motherhood' to free themselves from being stuck between Mother Earth and a mother's womb. CONTRIBUTION: This article makes a contribution to feminist studies at the intersection of gender roles and the climate crisis, as it relates to population growth and an intercultural definition of motherhood. It contributes to UN's sustainable development agenda as it relates to both SDG 5 (gender equality) and SDG 13 (climate action

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Main Author: van Wyk,Tanya
Format: Digital revista
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2022
Online Access:http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0259-94222022000400085
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spelling oai:scielo:S0259-942220220004000852023-01-13Stuck between Mother Earth and a mother's womb? On women, population policy and ecological sustainable developmentvan Wyk,Tanya Mother Earth motherhood mothering women nature population environment climate South Africa sustainable development This article considers how the metaphor of Mother Earth, for women, concerns a dual stance of both belonging and distance. The link between women, nature and Mother Earth is problematised by considering the possible, or contested, link between population growth and climate change, and the South African population policy specifically is considered as an example. Ecofeminism's challenge to the perceived connection between women, motherhood and Earth, that is the 'distance' stance, is considered and a response to that is offered by reflecting on Mercy Oduyoye's notion of mothering, which represents the 'belonging' stance. In this regard, an intercultural approach to the definition of motherhood is implied. It is ultimately indicated that for women to reclaim their own agency regarding a perceived responsibility towards nature, it is necessary to deconstruct and reconstruct 'motherhood' to free themselves from being stuck between Mother Earth and a mother's womb. CONTRIBUTION: This article makes a contribution to feminist studies at the intersection of gender roles and the climate crisis, as it relates to population growth and an intercultural definition of motherhood. It contributes to UN's sustainable development agenda as it relates to both SDG 5 (gender equality) and SDG 13 (climate action University of Pretoria HTS Theological Studies v.78 n.4 20222022-01-01journal articletext/htmlhttp://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0259-94222022000400085en
institution SCIELO
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country Sudáfrica
countrycode ZA
component Revista
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region África del Sur
libraryname SciELO
language English
format Digital
author van Wyk,Tanya
spellingShingle van Wyk,Tanya
Stuck between Mother Earth and a mother's womb? On women, population policy and ecological sustainable development
author_facet van Wyk,Tanya
author_sort van Wyk,Tanya
title Stuck between Mother Earth and a mother's womb? On women, population policy and ecological sustainable development
title_short Stuck between Mother Earth and a mother's womb? On women, population policy and ecological sustainable development
title_full Stuck between Mother Earth and a mother's womb? On women, population policy and ecological sustainable development
title_fullStr Stuck between Mother Earth and a mother's womb? On women, population policy and ecological sustainable development
title_full_unstemmed Stuck between Mother Earth and a mother's womb? On women, population policy and ecological sustainable development
title_sort stuck between mother earth and a mother's womb? on women, population policy and ecological sustainable development
description This article considers how the metaphor of Mother Earth, for women, concerns a dual stance of both belonging and distance. The link between women, nature and Mother Earth is problematised by considering the possible, or contested, link between population growth and climate change, and the South African population policy specifically is considered as an example. Ecofeminism's challenge to the perceived connection between women, motherhood and Earth, that is the 'distance' stance, is considered and a response to that is offered by reflecting on Mercy Oduyoye's notion of mothering, which represents the 'belonging' stance. In this regard, an intercultural approach to the definition of motherhood is implied. It is ultimately indicated that for women to reclaim their own agency regarding a perceived responsibility towards nature, it is necessary to deconstruct and reconstruct 'motherhood' to free themselves from being stuck between Mother Earth and a mother's womb. CONTRIBUTION: This article makes a contribution to feminist studies at the intersection of gender roles and the climate crisis, as it relates to population growth and an intercultural definition of motherhood. It contributes to UN's sustainable development agenda as it relates to both SDG 5 (gender equality) and SDG 13 (climate action
publisher University of Pretoria
publishDate 2022
url http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0259-94222022000400085
work_keys_str_mv AT vanwyktanya stuckbetweenmotherearthandamotherswombonwomenpopulationpolicyandecologicalsustainabledevelopment
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