Gender

It is about equality

It is about equality

Real sustainability is always connected to gender equality. The energy transition and the transformation to a sustainable society would be more advanced if the gender perspective were taken into more consideration, says Ulrike Röhr, a gender and sustainability expert, in an interview with Ralf Bindel. Translated from the German by Dorothea Schwarz read more
Toothpaste for Princesses and Soup for Pirates

Toothpaste for Princesses and Soup for Pirates

Toy industries and food and clothing sectors specifically address children with gender-specific colours and contents. So-called gender-marketing strongly boosts consumption and often forces parents to involuntarily buy products which they themselves do not really like. By Astrid Herbold. Translated from the German by Marina Nikic, Katharina Lopes Duarte read more
Men Have Not Stopped Giving the Advantage to Women – So Far

Men Have Not Stopped Giving the Advantage to Women – So Far

The rather technically oriented field of environmental management was predominantly a men’s business. In contrast, the complex issue of sustainability requires skills that are more commonly associated with women. Therefore more and more female managers are becoming responsible for CSR and sustainability. However, as long as men do not take these issues seriously, women will continue to have few career prospects. If sustainability becomes part of the core business, this could change and women could again be ousted from their positions. Editorial by Heike Leitschuh. Translated from the German by Chantal Gruber and Bianca Gerards. read more
Resource-light shopping

Resource-light shopping

Women are an influential target group. Supposedly, they influence 80 per cent of overall consumption. If they chose less resource-intensive products and services, entire markets would perform more sustainably. Is it possible to focus more on the ethical and ecological issues in terms of female consumer choices? Moreover, is eco-friendliness a reason to buy at all? By Jasmin Andresh. Translated from the German by Margarita Müller read more
Perspektivenwechsel: Neue Wohlstandsmodelle, Livelihood und Gutes Leben

Perspektivenwechsel: Neue Wohlstandsmodelle, Livelihood und Gutes Leben

Perspektivenwechsel: Neue Wohlstandsmodelle, Livelihood und Gutes Leben
Es geht um mehr als den herkömmlichen Warenwohlstand. Und es muss auch darum gehen, denn dieser Wohlstand ist unauflöslich an Wachstum gekoppelt, an Naturzerstörung und Expansion, an Zerstörung noch bestehender, auf Subsistenz ausgerichteter Wirtschaftsweisen. Von Adelheid Biesecker, Christa Wichterich ?und Uta von Winterfeld read more

The Small Difference

factory title s/he

When dealing with gender relations, one finds that the plethora of institutions and projects that focus on this topic is astonishing. Even divorced from stereotypic images, their research and findings point in the same direction. The gender diversity of people working together, which has found its way into the German language in the form of the English word 'diversity', raises the level of acceptance of difference, increases people's creativity and performance and consequently that of their organisations and companies. One could assume that, in an economy built for efficiency and optimisation, these effects would be taken advantage of with pleasure. Certain major companies have already started to do so.

In particular, transformation projects towards more equality, climate protection and sustainability could profit from this. In practice, however, we notice only a few exceptions despite all of the insights achieved so far. Gender relations are chiselled in stone in many places; inequality and unfairness are hardly developing in a positive direction; and structures and stereotypes persist. The key topic of ensuring the fair division of care of children, the sick or the elderly between the genders continues to be unsolved politically and practically, even though sustainable development would require a major leap forward in this domain.

To steer attention towards the possibilities for achieving greater sustainability through greater gender justice, we have collected a number of findings, phenomena and positions in this magazine: from an introductory interview on gender and sustainability to articles on toothpaste for princesses and resource-light consumption, down to a photo report on cotton producers in India; and from standpoints regarding careerists and changes of perspective to reports on women’s economies and female pioneers down to demanding more life through less work. In order to prevent this volume from getting lost amongst the countless publications on this topic, we have chosen a special title for this issue: S/he. We wish you pleasant reading.

Ralf Bindel and the factory team

Translated from the German by Christoph Ulbert, Chantal Grube and Ina Besler

More articles on the topics of gender relations and sustainability you will find not only online but in our magazine S/He to download. The PDF-magazine is finely illustrated and good readable on tablets and screens and it contains all articles and pictures including numbers and quotations on topic.

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