This underpinned the view that women should be harnessed as sustainability saviours, based on the assumption that women are especially close to nature. Women-environment connections, especially in domestic and subsistence activities such as collecting fuelwood, hauling water and cultivating food, were often presented as if they were natural and universal, rather than as the product of particular social and cultural norms and expectations. First, policymakers should avoid making broad and stereotypical assumptions about women's and men's relationships with the environment.