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VOL. 1, ISSUE 2 (2025)
Ecofeminism and media: Visual narratives of women and environment in Indian documentary films
Authors
Gyanchand
Abstract
Environmental problems such as deforestation, biodiversity loss, and
climate change affect women in India in particularly severe ways because their
daily lives, labour, and resource dependence are closely linked with local
ecosystems. Ecofeminism argues that the oppression of women and the
exploitation of nature arise from the same structures of patriarchy and unequal
development (Shiva, 1988; Agarwal, 1992) [1, 15].
Documentary films, as a visual medium, play a significant role in representing
these gender–environment relationships. This study examines how selected Indian
documentary films, Piplantri: A Tale of Ecofeminism (2025), wildlife films by
Aishwarya Sridhar, works by Rita Banerji, Something Like a War (1991), The
World Before Her (2012) [18], India: Nature’s Wonderland
(2015), and recent short films by emerging women conservation filmmakers,
portray women as ecological actors, knowledge, holders, and political subjects.
Using ecofeminist theory (Shiva, 1988; Mies & Shiva, 1993; Agarwal, 1992)
[1, 12, 15] and feminist film theory, the paper
analyses how these films depict women’s environmental labour, their resistance
to ecological injustices, and their participation in community, led
conservation. The findings show three clear patterns: (1) community, based conservation
efforts, such as those in Piplantri village, reflect ecofeminist values of care
and collective responsibility; (2) women wildlife filmmakers introduce
empathetic, non, exploitative ways of representing nature that challenge the
traditional male gaze; and (3) documentaries on women’s bodily autonomy expose
how state development policies often control both natural resources and women’s
lives. The study concludes that Indian documentary cinema provides powerful
visual narratives that support ecofeminist insights and highlight women’s
central role in environmental protection, sustainability, and social change.
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Pages:138-142
How to cite this article:
Gyanchand "Ecofeminism and media: Visual narratives of women and environment in Indian documentary films". International Journal of Applied Review
, Vol 1, Issue 2, 2025, Pages 138-142
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