Naisten neuvontajärjestöt luontoa ja naiseutta koskevien käsitysten rakentajina

Abstract

This article investigates the role of two women´s
counselling organizations, the Martha Organization
and the Rural Women’s Advisory Organization, in
the construction of the relationship between human
beings and nature. Special attention is devoted to
the gendered aspects of this relationship. The key
issue of this paper deals with the meanings given to
nature in the current activities of these organisations.
This particularly concerns the questions whether
their traditional approach, i.e. the utilisation of
nature in various forms, still dominates, or whether
these organisations have actively adapted their
interpretations towards, e.g., seeing nature as an
aesthetic experience or in terms of protection
and environmental sustainability. In order to reveal
issues and interpretations of gendered aspects and
nature, the study utilised textual and visual material
concerning the aims and activities of the organizations.
It is concluded that the interpretations of these two
organizations deviate from each other in an interesting
manner. The Martha Organization appears to be better
informed on the current discourse on environmental
sustainability, and its traditional approach is in fact
quite close to the discourse’s key tenets. The Rural
Women’s Advisory Organization, on the other hand,
has found its niche in counselling that focuses on the
postproductionist utilisation of nature.