3,2,1, and we’re live

Gender, a concept deeply ingrained in our society, yet one that so few of us truly understand. Recently, more work has been put into uncovering the relationship between gender and one’s personal identity, but a question that I want to explore is:

“What relationship does gender have with the environment?”

Before we get down to the nitty-gritty of my topic, let me introduce myself! I am Chloe Yong, a freshman studying at the National University of Singapore (NUS) under the Bachelor of Environmental Studies program.

You may be wondering, “What’s an Environmental Studies major doing, starting a blog regarding gender and how is it even related to the environment?” 

Well… a lot of it can be attributed to my experience in high school. I was always surrounded by thought-provoking discussions about, race, gender, sexuality, and one’s identity be it in classes, clubs, or with guest speakers. As a result, I am now more aware of the disparity between the different aspects of each community-formed label.

What then spurred the link between my two fields of interest, was the content in a lecture from my Environmental Studies class.

Did you know that the transition of humanity from hunter-gatherer societies to agrarian ones played a huge part in the formation of the patriarchy? 

Truly fascinating! It has never fully occurred to me that our genus’ interaction with the environment would fuel the development of gender roles and expectations. The idea that our beliefs are shaped by our surroundings then provoked further thought as to whether this phenomenon was purely a one-way street. I believe that both gender and the environment are impacted by one another and intend to explore the manifestations that I observe in my own life (such as feminine hygiene products, toxic masculinity, etc.) as well as other possible interconnections through further research.

I welcome all of you aboard my learning journey and hope that my future blogs will be able to offer some insight into how these seemingly different topics intermingle with each other.

And with that, let the exploration begin!