If you’re on Instagram, you’ve probably seen the amass of new accounts that show off solid soap and shampoo bars, zero-waste lifestyles, and mainstream products that have ‘gone green’. If you haven’t, we might be able to explain that with what Mintel has coined ‘the eco-gender gap’. The concept begs a new question: why is saving the planet seen as women’s work?
Arguably, the most eminent reasoning could be that in line with the disparities highlighted in the Sustainable Development Goals, there are clear obstacles faced more by women than men. Carrying children and menstruating put women at a stark disadvantage due to a lack of regulatory support through eliminating costs for feminine products, or a lack of infrastructure to ensure a safe birthing process. While we are soberingly aware of this, it’s unclear whether there is some correlation between the tipped scales on social disparities faced by women and the new green marketing tactics that are targeting women on social media. Why are women at the center of this form of sustainability?
In this respect, the ideals of sustainability and principles of marketing have something to offer each other. Arguably, every business is compelled to adapt its marketing efforts to success alongside increased consumer activism and the rise of conscious capitalism –– clearly stemming from the climate change crisis. But when did sustainability become something particular to a specific gender? Is being eco-friendly unmanly? Or are women targeted because of outdated gender stereotypes and women should run the household, ergo make it more green now that this is a social media ‘trend’? Sadly, there are a number of articles that discuss exactly this: “women are not only more powerful consumers, but also disproportionately responsible, still, for the domestic sphere”. As sustainability becomes almost entirely indispensable, it seems as though it is exactly this perception of women, which explains that it isn’t necessarily up to women to save the planet –– but they might hold the most potential in terms of green consumerism.
Aside from a business perspective, we can also shift our gaze to the political playing field. In our day and age, some of the highest-profile advocates for environmental sustainability are women; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Greta Thunberg both hold strong positioning, and their current reach has fueled wide-scale social movements worthy of commendation across decades, with trickle-down effects in influential political and business environments. In respect to the latter, I’d like to make a subtle reference to our latest woman of the week post, where we looked at Antje von Dewitz as the CEO of Vaude, who has received immense recognition for her corporate and philanthropic engagement in sustainability.
But with the current segmentation tactics and stylized sustainability content circulating on social media, green marketing might as well be rose gold. It’s a trend, and a gendered one at that –– green behavior has typically been associated with femininity and research has found “men feeling that caring for the environment somehow undermines their masculinity”. But there is a postulated source of women’s embodiment of sustainability values; one which goes beyond decisions made in a corporate boardroom that targeting women was the most promising channel for the success of a ‘green campaign’. Women have been disadvantaged in global development and are more susceptible to social disparities such as poverty. With the effects of climate change creeping into the picture, it might be an internal instinct to avoid further disparity and take action. The founder of a popular online zero-waste shop, Lauren Singer, has called on women to “be the ones that absorb the responsibility of being the stewards and educators of sustainability”.
Now, while there are a few articles floating around the Internet that attach a negative connotation to ‘the eco-gender gap’, I instead propose to see it overwhelmingly as a statement of clarity toward our intentions as women. I feel that our tendency to favor sustainability over naïve attitudes and face it head on rises from the disadvantages we still presently face in terms of gender stereotyping. In this case, I am proud to be a woman, and I feel privileged that our willingness to not only engage but extend the span of sustainability has made us the target persona for sustainable lifestyle products. But as we turn to women like Ocasio-Cortez, Thunberg, and von Dewitz, it is clear that the receiving end of social media marketing might be inspirational for us, but as we embark on a lifelong journey, those values will stay with us and we will make a difference.