Human beings, no matter where they live or what their background is, we find ourselves at the center of the struggle with concern for the sustainability of the environment. Knowing the land you live in is an important part of connecting with nature and the life around you. It is especially important to connect with the environment for those who work and live in less developed parts of the world. Those in third world countries, such as India, rely on nature to provide support and much of their livelihood. It is important to examine the role of nature and how ecological knowledge plays a role in our lives. Distinctions exist within some aspects of life that involve the expertise of local practices, especially when addressing ideas of culture and development in some parts of the world. Deane Curtain argues that women in third world countries like India have knowledge of nature that is more distinctive and privileged than what other people have. This ecological knowledge is based on their local practices that have been passed down from generation to generation and how they have refined them over time. Women have always been better known for having a more caring nature and the role they play within society. family dynamics, are seen as a loyal housewife and a loving mother. What Deane Curtain draws readers' attention to is how we should recognize the ecological knowledge that women have, because they are the farmers of the world, they are the ones who have been cultivating the land and learning about the way nature works for centuries (Curtain 305 ). When you look up the word knowledge, the Merriam-Webster online dictionary states that knowledge is; information, understanding, or skill you gain from experience...... middle of paper ......monkey time and place. This is one of the reasons for calling typically feminine knowledge “expert knowledge”” plays with the whole idea and brings her point to a point (Curtain 318). I agree that because women are the providers and have to understand that there is always a reason for what they do, they have ecological knowledge. I believe that the belief that traditional ways of living, with the land, growing only what one's family needs, raising children and keeping alive, plays a privileged role in the way one understands and relates to the environment. I think everyone should look at the way women interact in Third World places; we should use it as a model of how we should treat our land. Why destroy the earth that is useful for more than we know if we only focused on getting enough of it and did not follow the path of consumerism.