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Alice Evans Profile picture
@_alice_evans
Apr 20 • 6 tweets • 2 min read Twitter logo Read on Twitter
“Simplemente Maria” was an extremely popular telenovela, about a woman who works her way up and eventually marries the father of her child.

When Maria & Esteban married in the 225th episode, 5,000 real people gathered to watch the wedding. Women cried.

THE POWER OF TELEVISION! Image
It’s hard to work out if TV affects popular attitudes or vice versa.

As a result, quants have shied away from investigating television

And if you read all quant research on cultural change, if you were to read quant research, you’d probably underestimates the impact of TV
Qualitative social scientists observe huge popular consumption and discussions of television,

But quantitative scholars barely the effect of TV

So I do think that the latter radically underestimate its power. Image
Pritchett would say the same about structural transformation. It’s much easier to calculate the impact of an RCT so randomisation became a popular way to demonstrate causality.

And this surge of publishing led to an inflated sense of its importance, relative to growth.
In “Simplemente Maria”, the maid learns to sew and then gains upward mobility as a designer in France.

This may have fuelled interest in sewing among house maids in Peru!

The Singer company gave the lead actress a gold sewing machine in gratitude for promoting their machine! Image
When the lead actress visited the countryside in Peru and other Latin American countries, young women kneeled and kissed the hem of her skirt - akin to idol worship

[just like fans going crazy over Miley Cyrus or Selena Gomez]

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More from @_alice_evans

Alice Evans Profile picture
Apr 20
In El Pais (a telenovela), Miranda was molested & sexually harassed.

This turns her against men.

She is strong, out-spoken & fixes a flat tyre.

Venezuela’s disapproving audiences thought she might be gay, so the show’s writer added this dialogue to challenge public bias 👇 Image
In real life, prejudice persists.

People are intolerant, they project bias, so non-conformists anticipate condemnation and remain quiet.

Communities can be caught in a negative feedback loop, in which no one wants to stick their neck out and risk backlash or condemnation.
But if no one ever sticks their neck out and openly expresses difference, then their family and friends never get a chance to learn from or empathise with difference.

They remain in their closed minded, homogenous communities.

Others may be privately sympathetic but stay quiet.
Read 17 tweets
Alice Evans Profile picture
Apr 18
Small town Alabama rocked my priors.

“People here are very judgemental, they look down on you based on wealth”, explained a young waitress.

Judgement based on WEALTH??

I expected social conservativism, not competitive consumerism.

My latest Substack: draliceevans.substack.com/p/does-rising-… Image
When I went to barbecues, no one gossiped about impropriety.

They were far more interested in prosperity.

Most people were dual earners, driving mighty SUVs.

Cars are a major status symbol: portable displays of affluence, heavily bought on credit, to keep up with the Joneses.
My qualitative observations are exactly in line with a new WSJ public opinion poll.

Patriotism, religion, families and community are down.

Money is more important. Image
Read 15 tweets
Alice Evans Profile picture
Apr 15
9 in 10 US Muslims say “I am proud to be an American”

The vast majority express life satisfaction and believe you can get ahead with hard work.

I’d be keen to see how job-creating growth & social mobility affect assimilation (eg vs Bradford in the UK). pewresearch.org/religion/2017/… Image
HALF of US Muslims have experienced religious discrimination.

Half also say they’ve received expressions of support because they are Muslim. ImageImage
Why are Muslim women much more uncomfortable?

They’re more suspicious of surveillance, they feel the GOP is unfriendly, Trump makes them angry and worried, they see a lot of discrimination, and their more dissatisfied, less likely to feel they have a lot in common with Americans Image
Read 10 tweets
Alice Evans Profile picture
Apr 14
Today I was asked why Hindu and Muslim female employment are similar in India, but 30 percentage points different in the UK

Prejudice, community threats and cultural tightening may help explain these different outcomes…

🧵
So first of all, we should expect radically higher rates of employment in the UK (versus South Asia), since there are more well-paid jobs, high costs of living, and greater public safety.

But how to explain the Muslim-Hindu gap? ImageImage
Now, when a community feels under threat, they tend to close ranks, and tightly police their members.

They demand strict adherence to existing norms.

This has been demonstrated empirically by @MicheleJGelfand and many co-authors. Image
Read 17 tweets
Alice Evans Profile picture
Apr 14
Egalitarianism is often maintained through “reverse dominance coalitions”, eg foragers laugh at men who try to consolidate wealth or power [Morris, 2015]

Unions also gain strength in numbers

But domestic patriarchy is different.

The wife is typically alone, without any allies. Image
Foragers [and all other social groups] have historically maintained community norms through ostracising and punishing deviants.

As Ian Morris details, this can including mockery or worse exclusion.

Observers quickly learn what behaviour is condemned and join the bullies. Image
But such ostracism is totally impossible within a nuclear family, where two are married and the only others are junior dependents (kids).

Without strength in numbers, it’s much harder to push back and decry unfairness.
Read 13 tweets
Alice Evans Profile picture
Apr 14
My 🇬🇧 street is having a “Coronation Party”.

They’re closing the road, creating children’s play areas,🍦🧁🍰🍪.

I used to grimace at celebrations of the 👑

But if the alternative is individualism & loneliness, I see the benefits of cultural festivals, building community. 🪢
The monarchy is anti-democratic.

I cringed at celebrations of the jubilee.

I was shocked to learn that people queued ten hours to pass by the queen’s coffin.

It’s the internalised acceptance of hierarchy.

But there the Republican alternative also has a risk:
What if a community-bonding tradition is destroyed & is not replaced?

A presidency is necessarily party political; it’s led by just one person.

This is not something that an entire street happily unites over in joyful leisure, with kids playing and eating cupcakes.
Read 6 tweets

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