Sustainabili-Dit

Words by Olivia Veronese

‘Girls, come on. Leave the saving of the world to the men? I don’t think so.’

This iconic line, spoken by Elastigirl in The Incredibles (2004), frames the idea of the eco gender gap better than any market psychology study ever could. Similarly to The Incredibles, women have jumped ahead of their male counterparts when it comes to making eco-friendly consumer decisions.

The ‘eco gender gap’ describes the disparity of environmental awareness and eco-friendly actions that occurs between women and men (sorry gender-diverse peeps, market research is behind the times in their demographic groups).

In 2018, a British market research group found that 71% of women in the UK were committing to a more sustainable lifestyle, compared to 59% of men (Mintel, 2018). This on its own is only a 12% difference – surely nothing too major?

But, when combined with the fact that a majority of domestic sustainable items are targeted to be used in cleaning, food, and laundry – areas where women are overrepresented – this has a much larger impact. In the US, a 2019 study found that women make between 70% and 80% of decisions relating to food, household goods and other consumables (Finder, 2021). This has a significant influence on the branding and marketing decisions made by companies selling eco-friendly items. lifestyles analyst, said that ‘eco-friendly campaigns and product claims are largely aimed at female audiences’ as a result of women still typically running the household (Hunt, 2020).

Zara Bending, a researcher at the Centre for Environmental Law at Macquarie University and a board director for the Jane Goodall Institute Australia, is also well positioned to comment on the topic. She says that ‘green-branding may as well be pink-branding’, where sustainability is increasingly being marketed as invisible women’s work (Wallis, 2021).

She says that eco-friendly choices and awareness are a socially presumed responsibility of women, thanks to the gendered mental load. This describes the cognitive labour of the non-tangible tasks involved in running a household and family, another area where women are overrepresented.

Like many of the fiddlesome issues in our society, the eco gender gap is complex. It’s influenced by a range of interconnected factors, including marketing, patriarchal gender roles, but also social responsibility.

Rachel Howell, a lecturer in sustainable development at the University of Edinburgh, explains that ‘women have higher levels of socialisation to care about others and be socially responsible, which then leads them to care about environmental problems and be willing to adopt environmental behaviours’ (Hunt, 2020).

Women’s higher sense of social responsibility is harnessed by this ecofriendly messaging. This creates a cycle of consumerism where eco-friendly products are more frequently bought by women, this behaviour is noticed, companies market their eco-friendly products towards women, and the cycle continues.

This is also reflected by women’s views on corporate social and environmental responsibility, where 91% of Australian women reported being concerned by the actions of corporations, as opposed to 84% of men (Finder, 2021).

At this point, you might be asking yourself where men fit in the eco-gender gap. Most men aren’t climate change-deniers, busily burning coal to keep their cold hearts from freezing over. In fact, I’d be inclined to argue that the younger generation of men are much more equal in terms of their consumption of eco-friendly products.

Despite this, in 2016, researchers from the Journal of Consumer Research suggested that ‘men may be motivated to avoid or even oppose green behaviours in order to safeguard their gender identity’ (Hunt, 2020).

A 2014 paper from the International Journal for Masculinity Studies even went as far as to say ‘for climate sceptics, it was not the environment that was threatened; it was a certain kind of modern industrial society built and dominated by their formof masculinity’ (Hunt, 2020). Translation: climate change action threatens masculinity. Spoooooky.

Maybe these older cis men felt threatened by carrying reusable bags (like a woman’s handbag, unthinkable), eating less meat (what personality would they have left without a steak?), or, worst of all, seeing advertisements for reusable period products (it’s just not right!). But don’t fear, younger generations are increasingly concerned about their environmental impacts, and are increasingly willing to pay more for clean electricity. This may be due to Millennials and Gen Z being born at a time where climate change was seen as a scientifically proven and hotly-discussed topic.

Interestingly, older Australians are more likely to have solar panels and energyefficient lighting and appliances, whereas younger Australians are more likely to catch public transport rather than driving. This may be due less to age, but more to the increased up-front cost of environmentally friendly options. I digress, but it’s a reminder of how complex the issue of sustainability can be.

It can be easy to view eco-friendly choices as an overwhelming market with misleading branding, which it can be. At the end of the day, it’s consumers that drive consumerism. Your dollars, however dwindled by university life, do make an impact, and so does your voice.

So, encourage your friends (male or otherwise) to be aware of the marketing that is aimed towards them, hype up their reusable bags, and share the occasional plant-based recipe with them. Women don’t have to leave the saving of the world to men, but it’s a whole lot easier to do together.

References:

Hunt, E (2020), ‘The eco gender gap: why is saving the planet seen as women’s work?’, The Guardian

Wallis, J (2021), ‘Why Do Women Experience More EcoAnxiety Than Men?’, Refinery 29

Mintel Press Team (2018), ‘The Eco Gender Gap: 71% Of Women Try To Live More Ethically, Compared To 59% Of Men’, Mintel

Finder (2021) ‘Going Green: A report on Australian consumer attitudes to climate action’