Yet viewing women as sustainability saviours
carries dangers. Such approaches are based on
the assumption that women’s time is an “infinitely
elastic” (Elson, 1996) and unlimited resource
that can be drawn upon to sustain people and environments, without due consideration for
women’s own health and well-being and the
competing demands on their time. Policies that
are based on stereotypical assumptions regarding
women’s caring role in the family, community and
environment treat women as a homogeneous
category. They ignore the vital intersections
with other inequalities that shape women’s
interests, knowledge, values, opportunities and
capabilities. Power imbalances in gender relations,
in the exercise of rights, access to and control of
resources, or participation in decision-making,
determine whether women’s actions and work
translate into enhanced rights and capabilities,
dignity and bodily integrity. Thus women’s
involvement in policy interventions ostensibly
aimed at sustainability does not automatically
mean greater gender equality; on the contrary,
intensifying women’s workloads to benefit the
community and the environment can entrench and
worsen gender inequalities.