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We study the relationship between exposure to historical conflict involving heavy weaponry and male-favoring gender norms. We argue that the physical nature of such conflict produced cultural norms favoring males and male offspring. We focus on spatial variation in gender norms across India, a dynamic developing economy in which gender inequality persists. We show robust evidence that areas with high exposure to pre-colonial conflict are significantly more likely to exhibit male-favoring gender norms as measured by male-biased sex ratios and crimes against women. We document how conflict-related gender norms have been transmitted over time via male-favoring folkloric traditions, the gender identity of temple gods, and patrilocal exogamy, and have been transmitted across space by migrants originally from areas with high conflict exposure. Our results shed new light on the deep roots of gender norms in the developing world, and provide a novel answer to the India’s “missing women” problem.

About the Speaker

Anil Menon is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Merced. Previously, he was a Klarman postdoctoral fellow at Cornell University. He received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Michigan in 2022. His research interests include the legacies of political violence and political responses to conditions of vulnerability more broadly. His research on these topics is published in journals including the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, British Journal of Political Science, Comparative Political Studies, and The Economic Journal. His public-facing work has been featured in outlets like the Washington Post: Monkey Cage, The Conversation, Current History, and the LSE USAPP blog.