My next blog is on why southern India is more gender equal than the north,

more girls survive, go to school, & women have more autonomy & labour force participation.

I have drafted my theory.

Now I want to hear YOUR priors. Why do you think the south is more gender equal?

Some replies emphasise leftist agitation in the 20th century.

I should add that even in 1900 the south was already more gender equal.

North-South differences have deep roots.

In 1880, women in Kerala & Karnataka married at 15/16.

And look Rajasthan only achieved that in 1970!!

Thus far people have mentioned:

- Caste: few upper castes less vegetarianism in the south
- Religion: Muslim invasions in the north
- Leftist & egalitarian movements in the south (eg Bhakti)
- Matrilineal rule in Kerala
- Crop systems (tho note UP is a big rice producer).

Sorry, the contrast is not north vs south,

but north & northwest vs south & east.

But... even though women tend to have more autonomy, mobility & labour force participation in the south & east,

intimate partner violence is much lower in more patriarchal Rajasthan????

(National Family Health Survey, 2015-16)

https://www.hindustantimes.com/interactives/women-empowerment-index/ (dark = worse)

Some replies flag the egalitarian & leftist movements in the south over many centuries.

Yes!

Those were transformative.

But there's a further question about the background conditions that enabled greater success in the south-east..

And why they were inhibited in the N/ NW

So I also think about soils & coastal access.

Fishing lowers relative importance of land, & is associated with matriliny.

Clayey soils are less suitable for the plough & more common in the south, so FLFP.

Then egalitarian & leftist movements.

Contra invasions north.

So for me, it's very much a cumulative process:

Starting with geography, which shapes kinship & women's labour force participation.

So matrilineal rule, cultural representations, & leftist movements amplify pre-existing advantage.