Earth as Mother

From the 2022 TIME100 NEXT honoree, 2026 TIME100 CREATOR honoree, and author of The Intersectional Environmentalist, comes a fresh exploration of one of humanity’s most enduring metaphors and the implications on our planet—our vision of Earth as mother. 

The concept of “mother nature” has a history spanning thousands of years. This association between women, motherhood, the feminine, and the earth remains consistent across cultures and decades, even when no geographic borders are shared. In Earth as Mother, leading environmental educator Leah Thomas dives into mythology, feminist movements, and environmental literature to explore why womanhood, motherhood, and the planet have been so consistently intertwined. 

You’ll learn:

• Where “Mother Earth” comes from—the role of myths, language, and pop culture have played in the association between earth and the feminine
• The ways in which we treat women reflect the way we treat the planet
• The cycle of abuse that women face when trapped in unhealthy relationship, and how the earth faces a similar cycle in its degradation
• How women are more heavily impacted by climate change than their male counterparts
• How society frames women as more responsible for saving the planet than their male counterparts

Including interviews with revered experts and influencers like Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer, Amanda Montell, Hayley Kiyoko and Dr. Jessica Hernandez, Earth as Mother demonstrates how understanding the relationship between the feminine and the earth can aide the next generation of activists looking to create meaningful, inclusive, and sustainable change.

• "Leah Thomas brings warmth and curiosity to an essential topic. Earth as Mother invites readers on a learning journey—discovering how women and the Earth are linked and meeting key figures and ideas along the way. A welcoming and accessible introduction to ecofeminism, rooted in Thomas's personal story."
  Dr. Katharine K. Wilkinson, author of Climate Wayfinding and co-editor of All We Can Save
• “Leah Thomas composts the well-worn metaphor of mother earth so that it once again teems with mythic, scientific, and spiritual complexity.”
  Sophie Strand, author of The Body Is a Doorway
• “Women and the Earth have both been devalued by the exploitation and extraction of their essence. The healing of one is impossible without the healing of the other; when we fight for the wellbeing of our natural world, we are also fighting for the wellbeing of the spirit of womanhood.”
  Vanessa Nakate, climate activist and author of A Bigger Picture
• “Brave, tender, and fierce, Earth as Mother shows that the harm done to women and the harm done to the Earth share the same roots. Leah Thomas reminds us that healing ourselves and healing the land go together.”
  Dr. Jessica Hernandez, author of Fresh Banana Leaves
• “Earth as Mother revealed why I’ve always felt so deeply moved by the Earth. She is our mother, and a guiding light that generations of people have turned to. As a mother of two sons, I found this book both comforting and empowering. Read it.”
  Bonnie Wright, actress, author, environmental advocate and founder of Hello Earthling
• “The matriarchy was here all along. Leah Thomas delves into the abundance of ecofeminism, weaving together the stories of women, femmes, and non-binary people with the landscapes, cultures, and mythologies that have shaped our relationships with the natural world. Through these interconnected stories, she invites us to reimagine a world rooted in reciprocity, love, and sacredness.”
  Isaias Hernandez, founder, QueerBrownVegan
• "Leah Thomas has a gift for helping us see familiar things with new eyes. In Earth as Mother, she examines the stories we have inherited about women and the planet, revealing how deeply the exploitation of both is intertwined. At a time when women’s rights and environmental protections are under sustained attack, she offers an urgently needed reminder that care for the Earth and our responsibility to one another belong to the same struggle for liberation.” 
  Wawa Gatheru, founder of Black Girl Environmentalist and Rhodes Scholar
• “Leah Thomas has done it again, managing to make the complex feel urgent and the abstract feel intimate. In Earth as Mother, Leah masterfully marries two of the most important fights of our time, reiterating that how we treat the planet is a reflection of how our society is conditioned to treat those who nurture us most.”
  Brea Baker, movement journalist, national organizer, author of Rooted
• “Earth as Mother a powerful reminder that the way we treat the Earth is deeply connected to how we treat women, communities, and one another. Through history, mythology, and deeply personal storytelling, Leah Thomas challenges us to confront the systems that have normalized exploitation and imagine a world rooted in care rather than control. What makes this book so special is that it doesn’t just ask us to protect the planet; it asks us to rethink what it truly means to care for life in all its forms. This is a courageous, necessary, and deeply moving contribution to the environmental movement and a reminder that our collective liberation and the healing of our planet must go hand in hand.”
  Kevin J. Patel, founder, Earth Era Institute