Alice Evans

Writing was invented over 5000 years ago.

Genuine question: how much of that corpus was written by women?

I mean state decrees, law codes, record-keeping, religious texts, literature, contracts, letters..

My guess?

Before 20th Century?

Less than 1%?

So.. these gold Gupta coins depict Chandragupta I & his queen Kumaradevī (319–335 CE).

She's on-display, paraded around the empire..

Though the Guptas certainly strengthened Brahmins & casteist patriarchy, it does not appear that they idealised female seclusion & confinement.

Multiple coins have been found in this same style..

Why is it exciting?

Quiz: What is this? And why is it a useful artefact for anyone interested in the history of gender?

My original piece: "Why are so many Latin American women beaten and murdered" www.ggd.world/p/why-are-so...

The Economist on Mexico becoming less deadly (for men and women alike): www.economist.com/the-americas...

When I suggested that Latin America's high rate of femicides are primarily due to its exceptionally high violence, some pushed back.

But Claudia Sheinbaum has reduced violence, and this has simultaneously led to a decline in femicides.

Even when studies do examine ancient or medieval patriarchy,

many focus on aspects that were universal & crumbled with industrialisation (eg obedience/ menstruation taboos)

They omit the overwhelmingly important question:

Did they idealise seclusion?

Ever since the 1970s, feminist historians & anthropologists have sought to write women into the historical record, to highlight their agency & important contributions,

Though, in my view, this focus on the exceptional few often minimises massive patriarchal oppression …

If you fail to understand the primary cause of contemporary patriarchy, you go chasing geese in the past.

So many books write about concubines’ “agency”, yet omit wider ideologies..

And why her great-great-great-great-granddaughter is still secluded, at home, with no friends.

What are the origins of patriarchy?

(Or is that the wrong question...?)

Writing my book, cross-legged on the floor, scraping clues & fragments from every continent, till I cobble together the mosaic. 🧩🗺️

Using a diff-in-diff method, we show COVID WFH motivated de-urbanization, creating a taste for 🦅 & reducing income elasticity to future low city rents. To demonstrate causation via 🦢 preferences, we compile a dataset of 🐦house expenditures & plot garden time via phone data -robust to controls for 🐿️

In the middle of listening, right now... this is VERY, VERY GOOD!

Thank you!!!

Just read the transcript of this. It is absolutely fascinating. Growing left-right gap in young people (even teens) is worldwide

So many big changes happening at a rapid pace (e.g. fertility drop)

Thank you so much Colin!

I learn so much from @jburnmurdoch.ft.com

20% of young men in the UK are not in work or education, nor caring for anyone.

Do economic frustrations drive political polarisation?

But young women are actually more polarised, and often doing better.

Is this due to online persuasion, mimetic copying, or less socialising??

As China’s exports come up against trade barriers, they’re offloading & flooding other countries.

🇮🇩 factories have increasingly closed - exacerbating a prior trend of automation, de-industrialisation, & stalled development.

By Jon Emont,
Ft @drodrik.bsky.social

www.wsj.com/world/asia/t...

Are Men & Women Scrolling Apart? John Burn-Murdoch ROCKING OUR PRIORS · Episode

Are young men and women scrolling apart?

My chat with @jburnmurdoch.ft.com

Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/70iO...

iTunes: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/r...

YouTube video by DrAlice Evans Are Men & Women Scrolling Apart? John Burn-Murdoch

Are Men & Women Scrolling Apart?

@jburnmurdoch.ft.com joins me to discuss gendered polarisation.

- Does this hold worldwide?
- Which groups are most polarised?
- Is this due to economic frustrations or online persuasion?
- What are the possible solutions?

youtu.be/VrOk1-jChdA?...

It was such a treat to be on CNN with the fantastic Fareed Zakaria - who was incredibly kind & insightful!

Ps. My actual lunch. Very delicious

3 patriarchs huddle, each glorifies a distinct ideology:

1) says men are more intelligent.

2) claims that female seclusion is necessary for heaven.

3) rejects reproductive freedoms.

Which patriarchal ideology proves most resilient in the 21st century?

Patriarchy persists in cultural enclaves that legitimise and naturalise inequalities - when it is the air we breathe.

Technological connectivity can be radically disruptive, enabling ideological persuasion.

Have I tagged all the feminist bestsellers here in Yogya? 📚

Thank you so much to all my friends in Indonesia for being so incredibly hospitable, generous & informative!

This trip has radically advanced my understanding of 🇮🇩 schooling, religious syncretism, nationalism, & gender.

Here’s me looking like I have just heard MAJOR gossip. 👀

Indonesia’s cultural syncretism - celebrated in wedding photography:

- 3 pins in her hair (cunduk mentul)
- sarongs
- ceremonial dagger (keris)

- guardian deities are wrapped in black-white checked cloth to honour their sacred power

- Islamic hijab

A fundamental part of the Enlightenment was the belief that a human mind is NOT a fixed state,

We are all capable of reason, logic, & imagination,

But in many environments, this is suffocated and suppressed,

Not least by back-breaking drudgery.

As someone who has seen how a liberal education can dramatically transform a young person’s mind

- catalysing creativity and curiousity -

I always think of this unrealized potential and untapped talent.

Indonesia is truly beautiful,

But it’s striking to see so little mechanisation of agriculture. Whether I visit tobacco, rice, or fish farms, much is still done by hand.

So many potentially brilliant minds still trapped in drudgery - “Lost Einsteins”.

Yogya is gloriously vibrant, it’s such a pleasure to see Prambanan temple, Borobodhur, as well as Indonesians Muslims’ pride & enjoyment of this beautiful heritage.

Also recommended: a ginormous hat.

Welcome to Yogya, where pink hijabis carefully choreograph a tiktok performance in front of a 9th century Hindu temple. 🇮🇩❤️