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Alice Evans

Mar 19 • 9 tweets • 4 min read

Thousands marched for #March8M; what did they want?
Here’s a popular post on IG:

I am a woman & I do not need

- a partner to be complete
- children
- be a rehabilitation center for my partner
- your opinion about my body
- yearn to marry
- abandon my project to fit with others

“We fight for the same cause, that no women suffer ANY type of violence.

I want Cami to know that she can do whatever she wants; rebellious, brave, intelligent.. not what others want you to be. She learns to set limits and say no, and when they tell you you can't, keep trying”.

“My first time marching and my DAUGHTER was my main reason

-I am the mother of the girl you will never touch 💜💜💜

MARCHED for all those who could not go, for all those who are not yet ready to go out and shout, I was the cry of all”

instagram.com/p/CplVYAApxz_/

10 days ago, thousands and thousands marched in all of Mexico’s major cities

Reading the the instagram posts tagged #Marcha8M,

I see two common feminist critiques:

- Gender stereotypes (women should be mothers or delicate/ princesses)

- Impunity for male violence.

The overwhelming push is for freedom of self-actualisation and freedom from violence.

I have not really seen discussions about

- specific government policies (like a short school day)
- economic outcomes (eg gender pay gaps)
- gender identity

The onus is very much on a rejection of Catholic ideals of maternalism and male violence.

As always, the marches have triggered conservative backlash

Mexican feminists reply:

“That’s because you are frightened by those who fight and not by those who die”

instagram.com/p/CpgloVOvzKh/

@AlessandraVoena

Feminist marches can break what I call the “Despondency Trap”.

If women stay afraid & silent, then male violence persists with impunity.

By conveying wider support & legitimacy, marches can embolden greater defiance.

This text provides a key insight:

Cc @AlessandraVoena

Even in a very interconnected world of social media,

It’s striking that the Mexican feminist banners and protest slogans all emphasise local priorities, principally freedom from maternalism & male violence.

Very different from current discourses among progressives in the US.

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More from @_alice_evans

Alice Evans

@_alice_evans

Mar 20

Globally, most people support women’s right to work outside the home

But men’s support is massively underestimated (except in 🇮🇩🇪🇬🇵🇰).

In patriarchal countries, people also underestimate men’s support for affirmative action. nber.org/system/files/w…

Phenomenal contribution
🧵

Across Sub-Saharan Africa, the vast majority support both women’s right to work outside the home and affirmative action for women in leadership.

Most people underestimate that support.

In the Americas, most people support women’s employment, but they massively underestimate men’s support.

In Mexica, Brazil, Peru, Chile and Bolivia, this gap is HUGE.

Implication: if you want to raise female employment, correct MISPERCEPTIONS ABOUT MEN’S SUPPORT!

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Alice Evans

@_alice_evans

Mar 20

One persistent marker of patriarchy is women’s shame, embarrassment and collective silence about their bodies.

Eg, Periods are “disgusting”; girls learn they are “dirty”; religions are complicit, even periods are common for half the planet!!

Shame is an ideology we made up.

Not all traditional societies stigmatised menstruation.

The matrilineal Bemba in Zambia celebrated a girl’s first period, now she becomes a woman, and there was a great initiation ritual.

Societies in the Gulf of Guinea also revered women’s power of fertility.

Around the world there is an enormous divergence around what happens to girls at puberty.

In Turkey, one woman explained to me how she was made to feel ashamed of her breasts, she was supposed to hunch over & cover up.

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Alice Evans

@_alice_evans

Mar 19

https://twitter.com/lefineder/status/1637234748048265217

GANG! IS THIS THE EARLIEST REFERENCE TO VEILING?

It was exactly at the turn of the 2nd millennium that women retreated from the public sphere (as shown by official posts). I thought that reflected Amorite immigration.

This suggests veiling was common among non-Amorites!

https://twitter.com/lefineder/status/1637234748048265217

To the best of my knowledge, scholars tend to date veiling to the 13th century BC. An Assyrian text decreed

“Women, whether married or [widows] or [Assyrians] who go out into a (public) street [must not have] their heads [uncovered]. Ladies by birth.. must be veiled”.

But this suggestion that veiling was common in the 2nd millennium fits wider data.

In 22 BCE, SM women are listed as working in large state-run workshops - as unskilled weavers & supervisors.

2nd millennium texts only record male weavers, craftsmen, officials

(LaFont; Michel)

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Alice Evans

@_alice_evans

Mar 18

The Mexican government has a phenomenal new website, providing data on the economy, industry, health, public spending, inequality and crime in every state.

datamexico.org

In Puebla (my next stop), only 10% of lower class women see their environment as safe.

Whereas in Merida, over 50% of lower class women perceive their neighbourhood as safe.

You can also get state-level data on gender gaps in employment and pay over the past decade.

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Alice Evans

@_alice_evans

Mar 18

“Suppose that a man hits his wife because she has been unfaithful with another man. Would you approve of the man hitting his wife?”

40% of Mexican men & women approve

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/21…

Approval is highest amongst those who are religious & say that men are better political leaders journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/21…

Among Mexico’s indigenous communities, key predictors include working outside the home.

This may explain why indengenous women’s LFP is so low.

In Chiapas, 41% of women have experienced domestic violence, vs 16% in the Coastal and South mountain regions.

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Alice Evans

@_alice_evans

Mar 17

At Mexico’s Museum of Anthropology, militarised societies seem much more patriarchal.

However, this is neither the sole variable nor deterministic. Battles were fought for control of people & resources. Cultural evolution has always been an ideological battle of persuasion.