Bily has a master's degree in English literature, and has written for a variety of educational publishers. In the following essay, she discusses "Yellow Woman" as a representation of the literature of ecofeminism.

Since the 1970s, many writers have explored the connections between human oppression and environmental abuse, and have developed a body of thought called ecofeminism. As explained by Carol J. Adams in the introduction to the anthology Ecofeminism and the Sacred, "Ecofeminism identifies the twin domination of women and the rest of nature. To the issues of sexism, racism, classicism, and heterosexism that concern feminists, ecofeminists add naturism— the oppression of the rest of nature. Ecofeminism argues that connections between the oppression of women and the rest of nature must be recognized to understand adequately both oppressions." This connection between the domination of women and the domination of nature is a strong thread running...