The phrase "why women grow" mainly refers to a concept explored by Alice Vincent in her book and related projects. It is not about women physically growing but about their engagement with growing plants, gardening, and nurturing life. Alice Vincent investigates why women are drawn to gardening, planting, and nurturing, even amidst many other life responsibilities. Her work suggests that growing connects women to nature, cycles of life, healing, ancestry, and creates a sense of roots and belonging. It touches on themes like womanhood, motherhood, activism, spirituality, and survival through stories of women and their relationships with gardens and the earth. Women grow for various reasons including nurturing in place of biological motherhood, as a link to ancestors, for healing and survival, for slower, more grounded lifestyles, and for connection with the earth’s gifts. The act of growing symbolizes patience, nurture, connection to natural and life cycles, and resistance to the fast pace of modern life. This exploration is captured not only in Vincent's book "Why Women Grow: Stories of Soil, Sisterhood and Survival" but also in a podcast and exhibitions sharing women's gardening stories with depth and diversity. So, "why women grow" is about understanding the deeper motivations and meanings behind women tending plants and soil, going beyond gardening itself to issues of identity, history, and care.
