Caught in an Informal Battle of the Sexes
The influence informal institutions have to encourage a minorities to voluntarily participate in potentially harmful activities is a phenomenon that political scientists have been diligently analyzing over past last decade. Observing informal institution can help explain a wide array of events, including personal networks, corruption, civil society but what we will be examining today is informal institutions effects on tradition and culture. Throughout history, various social groups have been subjected to discrimination and undesirable physical and emotional oppression. Even so, these marginalized groups are sometimes found to defend their dismal position of discrimination. I argue that the African and Chinese women purpertrated in the practices of Female Gential Mutualtion and Foot Binding because under the Battle of the Sexes Theory through the Informal Institutions of their societies encourages them to value marriage and beauty despite practices that are extremely painful.
This paper looks to explain the relation informal intuitions' share with the Battle of the Sexes Theory in the mentality of the very people that encourage the practice of their own discrimination.
X-ray of bound feet, China
The so-called "Lily feet" (right) contrasted with ...
Incoming Head LampsBefore we dive into examples of these paradoxical situations, it's important to have an understanding of informal institutions. Professor Victor Menaldo of the University of Washington stated informal institutions as, "socially shared unwritten rules that are created, communicated and enforced outside of officially sanctioned channels." Just as there is no formal law forbidding burping while out to a nice restaurant, the offender will surely be reprimanded with dirty glares from other diners. Pejovich (1999) goes further and defines informal institutions as "traditions, customs, moral values, religious beliefs, and all other norms of behavior that have passed the test of time. Thus, informal institutions are the part of a community's heritage that we call culture." With this basic understanding of informal...