A paleogenetic study carried out with more than 10,000 people from all over Europe shows that, despite the advances achieved by feminism in the last century, gender inequality has persisted in many areas around the world.
A study from the University of Washington St. Louis (WashU) and published Monday in the journal PNAS, indicates that prejudice against women in Europe arose in the Middle Ages and has been inherited since then.
The team analyzed the dental remains of more than 10,000 people from 139 locations across Europe from the last millennium and found that those who live in countries that historically favored men and women now live more in favor of men than those who don’t. in places where the majority of sex relations were formerly equal.
The study highlights the kind of attitudes that are “transmitted” or inherited through education and culture and the prejudices that survive even major economic and political changes such as industrialization and world wars.
In fact, the researchers observed an exception that corroborates their theory: in countries that later experienced a large and abrupt population, such as a pandemic or a natural disaster, the transmission of these goods was interrupted.
“The average age of the skeletons in this study is about 1,000 years and dates back to medieval times. So it’s surprising that gender-biased patterns existed at that time and are still represented in today’s emotions,” says WashU professor Margit Tavits.
The professor warns that “norms of gender equality can persist from one generation to another even if institutions or structures encourage inequality and vice versa.”
For this reason, Tavits concludes, “the message written by our research is that norms and policies are not enough to completely undermine sexist beliefs and maintain egalitarianism. It is the cultural forces that direct these beliefs.”
A study focused on the analysis of indentures
To study gender equality in history, researchers analyze linear dental enamel hypoplasias, permanent lesions of the teeth caused by trauma, malnutrition or disease that provide essential information about a person’s health and living conditions.
These differences between male and female teeth in the same location indicate which sex received more treatment in terms of health concerns and resources at the time of cleanliness.
Time and time again, researchers have found evidence of historical links to current discriminatory attitudes. For example, people who lived in a historically egalitarian area were 20% more likely to have pro-women attitudes than those who lived in more historically pro-men areas.
Other evidence has shown that historical gender bias does not predict modern gender attitudes in national populations.
The researchers also found no evidence of a historical type of study affected by contemporary emotions in areas hit hard by the bubonic plague in the 14th century.
Finally, they looked at the United States, where the arrival of European colonists in the 16th century led to the great displacement of Christmas in America, and again found no relationship between historical and modern gender norms.
“Taken together, these results support the idea that historical biases persist because they pass from one generation to the next and only occur when transmission between generations is continuous. We were surprised that such a clear relationship emerged,” said Tavits.
