It encouraged the planting of trees to protect croplands and the use of animal manures instead of expensive imported fertilizers. Women at Greenham Common in England helped set off a wave of protest over the installation of cruise missiles by the United States. Similar protests were held in Holland, Sicily, West Germany, and Switzerland. Women protesters argue that there is a parallel between men s colonization of space and women s bodies and the American colonization of European soil with nuclear weapons. Their alternative to men s rape of the earth through their missile-civilization is an ecological way of life that threatens neither the earth nor one another.
Greens have a better record than most when it comes to dealing with the concerns of feminists.
Sweden s Environmental Party is modelled on the West German Green party. The party is a grassroots organization and has captured many seats at the county level, but has not as yet achieved representation in parliament. Like the German Greens, the Environmental party gives more power to women members than other Swedish parties and shows a sensitivity to women s issues. But Eco-feminism has its critics. They point to the problem that men are glorified in their role as public creators of culture whereas women are degraded in their private natural role as mothers in the home.