Online, on social media & podcast, men express resentment about women’s preferences for tall, rich men.

So why is the anger erupting now?

It is because when women were socially obliged to marry, they weren’t so picky & settled for less.

Dating is now harder for (most) men.

https://twitter.com/zubymusic/status/1686438326344044562

The “problem” is not women’s first-order preferences nor dating apps.

Rather, as society liberalises, and there’s less compunction to get a boyfriend (let alone husband), women may think twice before staying with a guy who doesn’t measure up.

As I learn from diverse communities, I see many different aspects of patriarchy:

1) are men revered as leaders?
2) do parents treasure sons?
3) are women expected to serve?

4) are women kept away from unrelated men?

5) is it bad to openly criticise?

All vary by culture 🧶 1-3 were fairly typical worldwide.

Parents invested more in sons, who were revered as high status, while women did low-status work, serving men.

These are all beliefs and practices about *status*.

Confucius thought that the wise & virtuous should rule.

They blew like the wind, while the commoners bent like grass.

Imperial China was thus extremely hierarchical..

However… Confucius also championed a meritocracy.

Men were not born equal in intelligence or capacity.

Education and exams were important, so that the meritocratic few could rise to the top.

Only 3% of South Koreans said that family was a major source of meaning.

No wonder their birth rate is so low!!

I think part of this is that over the 20th century they worked insanely long hours, in order to match western productivity, and this may have broken family bonds. Only 1% of Taiwanese emphasised romance.

This tracks. I went to one mall and one supermarket today, there are no valentines.

But there are thousands of celebrations of money

“Bukkeureoum” is a Korean term meaning distressing awareness of other people observing your impropriety.

Other words for similar feelings are changpiham, minmangham, jjokpallim, and ssukseureoum.

It’s all about distress of public exposure of one’s failings.
Cc @ThomasTalhelm There are 3 sub-categories of shame:

(1) “Bukkeureoum” and “changpiham” are about the horror of one’s private self being exposed publicly

Only 44% of South Koreans say society should accept homosexuality.

It may be one of the most conservative wealthy countries

Latin Americans may be poorer, but they are much more liberal

pewresearch.org/global/2020/06…
Generational change is enormous, however.

79% of young South Koreans support homosexuality.

A huge leap in acceptance!

[This is fascinating; it tracks SK’s rising feminist movement]

Double gourd-shaped hangings, with character for good fortune.

Qialong period (1736-1795)

In 1746, the Qianglong emperor commissioned 62 hanging like this for the Lunar New Year celebration.

This, I believe, is a widely overlooked aspect of Chinese culture

This is a screen displayed during lunar New Year, in front of an entrance for feng shui

Note the “red packets” of money for younger relatives, symbolising abundance, peace & longevity.

Qianlong period.

A vase symbolises peace (it’s a homophone)

Historical societies usually had 3 key gender ideologies, but to differing degrees:

1) Men are high status, women are low status.
2) Women should stay away from unrelated men
3) Marriage is mandatory, divorce is terrible.

Before 1960, Europe and the US strongly endorsed all 3! (1) and (2) are two different elements of patriarchy, with distinct consequences.

Almost all societies endorsed (1), but they did not necessarily endorse (2).

People in high-income countries have increasingly embraced social liberalism.

Whereas the rest of the world remains just as conservative.

Martin Wolf’s new column on wealth & authoritarianism ft.com/content/ae7a35…
Latin Americans are becoming more pro-US,

Other developing countries are not.

Han was found guilty of filming multiple women in their own homes, without their consent, using a distant camera. None forgave him.

The Korean judge wanted to be lenient because punishment would be bad for him (!!!)

Hawon Jung (2023)

“Xuanfu” was introduced by Biao Xiang, describing Chinese people as hummingbirds - vibrating their winds to suspend themselves, working intensely, yet staying static.

It’s become popular, as it captures the hardship of a hyper mobile labour market yet stalled mobility. China’s labour market is HYPERMOBILE.

“Migrants born after 1980 change jobs every 1.5 years, compared to 4.2 years among those born before 1980.

Women change jobs more frequently than men, every 1.6 years compared to 2.3.”

Dayooth and Ghayrah are fundamental concerns for many people, yet I struggle to find a single book or article discussing its history and cultural evolution.

cc @JoHenrich @mmuthukrishna On Facebook, Instagram and Tiktok, there are many many posts about Dayooth.

Dayooth are described as "shameless", "not a real man", "the worst kind of man".

How come there's not a single (English-language) academic book/ paper on the origins of this ideal?

“My family has 4 daughters. My father was humiliated.. It created my low self-esteem

If there’s a food gathering, the men would sit at the table, the women & children on the floor. The women can never sit in peace cos she has to serve everybody”

“After the man is full and happy, us women have to clean it together.

That tradition is still there.

Every time I go back to my village, I see my mother running around, while the men just sit there and eat”

Yang Li is a 🇨🇳 stand-up comic,

She said “how can men be so average, yet so full of confidence?”

She soared to fame, as many women agreed, while men were enraged!

On “little red book”, she says TV falsely depicts female desperation to marry, but in truth women are sceptical

“Little red book” is a Chinese social media app, popular with women.

My Chinese friend is helping me navigate this platform to see what Chinese women are saying

Patriarchal norms persist in South Asia.

Despite rising female education,

No change in decision-making or intimate partner violence.



Superbly important data from @MaurizioBussolo @StavrosPoupakis @universaljack et al ideas.repec.org/p/wbk/wbrwps/1…
Zero shift in patriarchal norms.

In 1962 Dhurnal (Pakistan), there was a village feud.

Village elders decided to ban women's voting & all agreed.

Any household that dissents will be ostracised

So the ban persists.

cc @mushfiq_econ herald.dawn.com/news/1154065
This is a fantastic example of how concern for mutual insurance and social approval locks in coordination and patriarchal oppression.

Constitutional entitlements are totally useless!

[as I have previously written]

Worldwide, husbands & wives are interdependent.

Inuit culture is a very rare pre-modern culture that recognised women’s importance.

A common Inuit idiom is that a man who lost his wife couldn’t survive. Without her work, he’d freeze.

Many ethnographies repeat this saying. Source: Mancini Billson & Mancini.

[Though the recognition of interdependence is not because of the cold. Uzbekistan will be freezing when I visit in December and ethnographies indicate a very different culture]

Historically, when groups were less educated, they were deemed less intelligent & less deserving of autonomy.

Today, fewer males than females are graduating from university.

This holds worldwide, except for patriarchal countries.

But guess what my reply guys say in response…? Well, I have a lot of reply guys and I don’t get remotely offended.

I’m researching culture, so it’s all useful data.

Now guess what some reply guys say in response to the growing gender gap in educational attainment?

“The child suffers when the mother works”

15% agree in Sweden

23% in the UK
26% in Spain

51% in Poland
53% in Turkey
54% in Italy
58% in Ukraine

Big difference between Spain & Italy!

Data for 2017 atlasofeuropeanvalues.eu/maptool.html
“What a woman wants most is the home and children”

58% in Italy
61% in Poland

A new study finds that men are much more likely to be narcissistic if they have high testosterone.

Men also have 5-20 times the testosterone of women

This may help explain the gender confidence gap

Men are much more likely to self-promote & react aggressively to restore status There are MANY studies of why girls and women are less confident and less competitive.

This holds, controlling for ability

Sociologists tend to blame socialisation or anticipated social backlash.

Evolutionary psychologists might emphasise aversion to women seeking status.

Zhang has been working for seven years.

He sends half of his wages after rent back home to support his parents.

He sees no hope of buying a house or making enough money to get married and have children"



Great piece on disillusioned Chinese youth. economist.com/briefing/2023/…
"39% of job-seekers in first-tier cities had at least two surplus years of education, over and above those required by the jobs they sought.

Outside these big cities, the proportion was more like 70%