*Can propaganda affect cultural norms? I study the effect of local exposure to suffragette demonstrations on gender norms. I exploit several cross-counties pilgrimages in the US undertaken by the suffragettes in the early 20th century to demand women’s right to vote. I build a novel historical database using local newspaper archives to map the itinerary of the hikes. Then, exploiting individual-level information from the US censuses (1900-1920) and using variation over time and across space, I investigate the impact of pilgrimage exposure on various measures of gender norms. Preliminary results suggest that being exposed to suffragette demonstrations increases female labor force participation, decreases fertility and marriage.

** This paper investigates the impact of a unique coercive sterilization program in India on gender roles and identities. This program targeted mostly husbands with more than 2 children and lasted 6 months from August 1976. We hypothesize that coercive vasectomies could have impacted gender roles through two channels: (i) having fewer children could improve mothers' economic and well-being outcomes and lead to a change in the quantity-quality trade-off for children (ii) the shock of forced vasectomies could lead to male identity backlash and increase violence within the household and society. Using difference-in-differences strategies with a geographical variation in coercion intensity across districts, we find that an increase of 1 percentage point in exposure to this program led to (i) a negligible impact on fertility, although school enrollment increased by 1% and is led by girls, (ii) an increase in violent crime rates. This effect is driven by murders and rapes, which respectively increase by 0.1% and 3.5%.