Sustainability Consulting: Close the Eco Gender Gap

Why are more men than women destroying our livelihoods?

An article by Alexandra Namyslowski.

After Part 1 of our Eco-Gender-Gap article series dealt with the question of the extent to which more men than women are destroying our livelihoods, Part 2 sheds light on why more men than women are destroying our livelihoods.

Cumulatively, pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs) lead to double-digit differences in individual CO2 emissions. For example, women in Spain have on average 10 % lower CO2 emissions than men, while in Sweden the figure is 16 %. In Germany, the difference was 30 % in 2010.

The book “What Men Cost. The high price of patriarchy” provides an interesting insight into the costs that the federal budget has to shoulder each year due to men’s environmentally unfriendly behavior. All statistics taken together, according to economic researcher Boris von Heesen, men cost the German state 63 billion euros more than women – per year. After his first professional positions at the Diakonie in Bavaria and the drug help service in Frankfurt am Main, von Heesen founded one of the first German online market research institutes. Today he works as a men's counselor and managing director of a youth welfare agency and is an author and speaker on critical masculinity. He compiled the figures from publicly available statistics and came to the following conclusion, among others: Violence, addiction, discrimination, hate speech, traffic accidents, crime and fuelling climate change – men dominate many of the terrible statistics: They cause twice as many traffic accidents, commit by far the most crimes and therefore also occupy 94 % of the places in German prisons. 75 % of alcohol-related deaths each year are male and more than 80 % of domestic violence is committed by men.


But why are PEBs exhibited less by men?  

Diet is a good example: meat consumption is perceived as a central aspect of masculinity representation. Meat is associated with strength, high performance and dominance over other species – characteristics that are highly valued within hegemonic masculinity. This is reinforced in relevant media and advertising. Furthermore, research on the symbolic value of meat confirms its masculine value, expressing dominance and power, and suggests that men who abstain from eating meat (e. g. vegans) are feminized and devalued, especially by those who are more sexist. Therefore, greater awareness of the link between patriarchal gender relations and the exploitation of animals, including meat consumption, can help improve the status of women and animals.

When it comes to addressing men, a study published in the journal Global Environmental Change found that men generally prefer arguments based on science and economics, while they tend to associate "negative feminine characteristics" with men who use arguments based on ethical and environmental justice. Misogyny also plays a role among climate change deniers and skeptics. For many, it is not the environment that is threatened, but a "certain type of modern industrial society that was built and dominated by their form of masculinity".

Another aspect that is more deeply rooted is the historical personification of nature: Nature has always been personified as a woman. “Mother Nature” was called Gaia in Greek mythology. The name, of Indo-European origin, means the woman who gives birth. Ancient Rome spoke of Terra Mater (“Mother Earth”).

Part 3 of our series of articles on the Eco Gender Gap examines the results of environmentally unfriendly behavior and shows why women suffer more from the destruction of our livelihoods.