Ecofeminism: How Women and Nature Are Both Exploited in Colonial or Capitalist Systems

Abstract

Ecofeminism is an interdisciplinary framework that explores the interconnected oppression of women and the environment within patriarchal, colonial, and capitalist structures. This paper investigates how the mechanisms used to dominate nature mirror those historically and contemporarily imposed on women through gendered, economic, and social hierarchies. By reviewing literature from 2020 to 2025, this study demonstrates that ecofeminism remains relevant in analyzing environmental degradation, extractivism, and gendered labor inequalities linked to colonial and capitalist ideologies. The findings reveal that women—particularly indigenous and marginalized groups—experience heightened exploitation due to environmental destruction, resource commodification, and unequal socioeconomic systems. This paper contributes to existing ecofeminist scholarship by identifying a research gap concerning the quantification of women’s ecological labor and the measurable effects of environmental policy on gendered well-being. Numerical results provided through hypothetical data modeling illustrate how environmental degradation disproportionately affects women in post-colonial and capitalist economies. The study concludes that ecofeminism offers a critical lens for understanding the socio-ecological consequences of profit-driven systems and proposes future areas for empirical and policy-oriented research.