The eco guide to action heroines | Lucy Siegle

The rich history of eco-feminism goes back to the 1970s and is still going strong

Wanted: a new generation of feminist super heroes to stave off ecological catastrophe. Setsu Shigematsu, a California-based academic, has created the "Guardian Princesses" - seven female Disney-style cartoon characters, which she hopes will inspire enthusiasm for non-violent collective eco-action in the younger generation.

There is a rich history of eco-feminism, starting from the coining of the term by French feminist Franioise d'Eaubonne in 1974 in her essay Feminism or Death. This launched a wave of women linking feminist viewpoints with earth-saving, which built on Rachel Carson's work in Silent Spring. And in Rape of the Wild (1989), the authors take issue with "Man's" violence against animals and earth.