Men, Women, and Plows

It was noticed at least 50 years that plowing seems to be bad for the status of women. Now a new comparative study, which you can read here, makes a strong case that whether cultures used plows has had a big impact on how they view the rightful place of women:

This paper studies the historic origins of current differences in norms and beliefs about the role of women in society. We show that, consistent with anthropological hypotheses, societies with a tradition of plough agriculture tend to have the belief that the natural place for women is inside the home and the natural place for men is outside the home. Looking across countries, subnational districts, ethnic groups and individuals, we identify a link between historic plough-use and a number of outcomes today, including female labor force participation, female participation in politics, female ownership of firms, the sex ratio and self-expressed attitudes about the role of women in society. Our identification exploits variation in the historic suitability of the environment of ancestors for growing crops that differentially benefitted from the adoption of the plough. We examine culture as a mechanism by looking at first and second generation immigrants with different cultural backgrounds living within the US.

I think the effect they identify is real. You do have to remember, though, that these are statistical generalizations, and there are societies that break almost every rule.