Women Who Lead: Environmental Activism and Gender Performance

This thesis explores the ways in which three key female environmental activists, Rachel Carson, Lois Gibbs, and Erin Brockovich, were able to manipulate their performances of gender, that is, alter their self-presentation of femininity, in order to contribute to the environmental movement. It considers the ways in which presentations of femininity differ according to historical contexts and societal influence. Given that women have traditionally been barred from speaking out in public spaces, I will investigate transgressions of feminine boundaries. Using gender theory as a frame, I will describe how these women were able to overcome this barrier in order to communicate their ideas and further the environmental agenda.