Krizel Roque

Myers

English 1102

February 8, 2010

The Gender of Nature

Learning English as a second language is a great undertaking. The vocabulary that the

brave souls need to memorize consists of over 170,000 accepted words and more than 47, 000

obsolete words, each with multiple definitions and alternate implications (“AskOxford”). The

word “dove” for example can represent a bird, the past tense of dive, or symbolize peace and so

on. Besides its complexity, the English language has been widely spoken in many countries with

over three hundred million speakers. Throughout the development of English, the values, beliefs,

and culture of the people who speak it become embedded into the language itself. Words and

phrases change their connotations and associations over time depending on the meanings and

implications that the speakers choose to give them. In grade school, children are not taught about

these social implications, but they acquire them as they are exposed to the language. One of these

familiar inferences is the personification of nature as a woman. Although the idea of Mother

Nature is a simple metaphor we often take for granted, it demonstrates the different views on

nature and women that have been carried on throughout generations.

The gender of nature has long been established as feminine. Some of the oldest

languages, including Latin and Greek, implemented a feminine declension for the word. In Greek

mythology, entities concerning the earth and agriculture were assigned with goddesses: Gaea was

the Great Mother of the Earth; and Demeter and Persephone were the goddesses of agriculture

(Boticelli). The comparison of nature to women finds its meaning in the characteristics that

surround both of them. Nature is often associated with the external world that provides and

produces everything on earth. Similarly, women’s role has been mostly linked with the
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reproduction and nurture of children. Their purpose is domesticity: to maintain the home, to

cook, to clean, and to raise the children. This role is essential, but it promotes the stereotype that

the women’s place is at home. The femininity of nature also puts nature and women under the

authority of men. In the Bible, God declared Adam as ruler of everything on Earth, emphasizing

the strong role of patriarchy in most civilizations. As subjects of men, women and nature do not

have the capacity to make decisions about themselves. Men primarily decide what is to become

of the earth’s resources. While fathers or husbands have traditionally dictated the future of their

daughters or wives. This subjection also leaves them both targets for abuse. Maltreatment of

nature by humans usually leads to deforestation, pollution, global warming, and other vast

destruction to the effortless beauty of nature. Women on the other hand are also subject towards

abuse from their male counterparts, which leaves them physically and emotionally battered.

Aside from being subject to male dominance, the metaphor also reflects the qualities

expected of a woman: beautiful and pure. These ideas implicitly point out what men consider

desirable and preferred in women. What is referred today as a “trophy wife” describes women

that have been sought after for ages: 36 inches on the bust, 24 at the waist, 36 on the butt, long

hair, and completely obedient to their spouses. Anything that deviates from these are flawed and

not quite as desirable. Also, in nature pristine and untouched scenery is referred to as virgin.

Tourists and nature-lovers around the world thrive on these virgin destinations, hoping to be one

of the first to get a glimpse of breath-taking panoramas. But once these places have been

exhausted by human use, they are usually left alone, polluted, and unwanted. The same idea

applies to women. In their youth, their virginity and purity is considered a valuable asset. Suitors

thrive like tourists seeking to acquire the maiden who holds the most promise. But if the “V-

card” is lost or when the marriage is consummated, most men lose the fervor and desire they
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once felt for the same maiden. Like in nature, once virginity is lost, women lose the status they

were once esteemed for.

Although nature and women are largely depicted as beautiful and gentle, in reality they

can be an aggressive force that can cause destruction and suffering. Natural disasters like

hurricanes, and earthquakes and tsunamis are all products of nature’s unpredictability. Millions

of people have fallen victim to these natural acts that devastate homes and communities. Most of

the most notable hurricanes, like Kathrina in 2005, are named after women. Just as nature is

unpredictable, women are often noted for quickly changing their minds and in a way can break

men’s heart because of impulse or dissatisfaction. Although they are subject to men, they have

the ability to turn away men and hurt their feelings during courtship. They both share the

characteristic of a delicate balance, which when disrupted can be dangerous and destructive.

Generations of mankind have tried to alter the structure of nature like by flattening mountains

into plains to make way for lucrative construction. Yet in the long run, nature takes on its course

and returns to its original balance with no heed to the cities, villages, or people that might be

destroyed in the process. Hormonal imbalance in women, frequently referred to as Pre-Menstrual

Syndrome or PMS, makes women ill-tempered and inconsiderate of any needs other than their

own. Only when internal balance has been achieved will they return to normalcy. Women cannot

explain their irritability other than the fact that their instincts made them become so.

Women and nature also have the power to deny resources from men. In Greek mythology,

the justification for winter, a time of infertility and hunger, is attributed to Demeter’s grief over

the loss of her daughter. Her anger and sadness drove her to withhold the soil’s fertility and leave

the inhabitants of earth to lack food during this season. The story in itself shows how women’s

decisions are based on emotions. She did not care who will suffer, as long as she expresses her
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emotions. Women are capable of doing this by withdrawing themselves from their male

counterparts. In marital fights, women make their point across by withholding sex and in a way,

leave their husbands to suffer. Having these resources allow nature and women to exert, although

not complete, some power over men by attacking the primary desires they could not live without.

The gender of nature and the implications of other words are not defined in the English

dictionary. And although many would argue that the concept of words having social implications

is simply an overreaction from the feminist movement, their presence is simply undeniable.

Language in itself is built from the “cultural values” that its speakers embed in it (Boticelli).

Therefore, not only does language allow us to communicate and record history and ideas, it also

allows us to look at the social implications that have been constantly changed and carried on

through the years. For as long as people have beliefs and words have meanings, language will

have different associations and alternative insinuations.

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Works Cited

"AskOxford: How many words are there in the English language?" AskOxford: Free online

dictionary resources from Oxford University Press. 2010. Web. 07 Feb. 2010.

<http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutenglish/numberwords?view=uk>.

Botticelli. Primavera. From website by A. M. Gunn. Gendering Nature in Language And

Art: Exploring The Woman= Nature Equation.

<http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~amerstu/ce/summer97/Gender.html> (08 February 2010).