By Rana Bou Saleh | Staff Writer

Witches have always been portrayed as old ugly evil creatures that work on destroying the lives of others. We can see such portrayals in cartoons – especially the ones kids watch. This characterization of witches reminds us of hostile sexism’s depiction of women as manipulative creatures that want to destroy men, check our article on “Benevolent Sexism” to know more. This parallelism begs the question of whether the Witch Hunts that started in the 1500s had anything to do with sexism, as well as why witches have become an emblem of female empowerment. 

Witch Trials and Burning the Witches: A Brief Overview

It is known historically that the witch hunts started in Europe after Dominican inquisitor Heinrich Kramer published Malleus Maleficarum in 1486. Kramer’s book established and enforced penalties for witchcraft and focused on the idea that women are more likely to be witches because they are more lustful. Men were also accused of witchcraft, but the majority of the prosecuted were women (75-80%). 

Allegations Against Witches

An interesting aspect of the Witch Hunts is the nature of the allegations against the witches. They were prosecuted because they were said to have been worshipping the devil (diabolism) to the extent of having sexual relationships with Satan. They were also accused of being behind the Black Death (plague) and employing demons to do magic deeds.

What’s odd here is that the accusations started as rumors that ended in the death of the so-called “witch”. Some of the accused individuals had nothing to do with sorcery or witchcraft yet ended being accused and burned. This manner of acquiring the label caused panic between women such that a husband could easily accuse his wife of witchcraft if she disobeyed him – reducing the minimal autonomy that women had at that time.

Dismantling Female-only Spaces and Separating Women

Before the witch hunts began, women’s reproductive health and fertility were exclusive to women and midwives. The start of these witch hunts was coupled with the beginning of capitalism. Thus, the midwife’s job was now that of a male doctor, who was now in control of women’s bodies, reproductive organs, and decisions of terminating pregnancies (abortions) or keeping them. The panic that the witch hunts spread in society forced women to isolate themselves from other women – seeing as they were the main targets of these hunts and that the label transferred to the people surrounding a “witch”.

This manner of transferring the control of women’s bodies to a male doctor and isolating women dismantled the previous spaces exclusive to women that dealt with their reproductive and sexual health. Moreover, the spread of rumors and accusations of witchcraft separated women from each other. 

It is important to note that women were highly involved in protests against capitalism at the time and separating them aided in the dispersion of such protests.

Witchcraft and Feminism: Female Empowerment

Recalling the historical context of witches and what they had to undergo gives a slight overview of the difficulties that women face as a result of the oppressive patriarchal systems that control our lives. It is no surprise then that some women consider witches to be a symbol of female empowerment. At the end of the day, 75% to 80% of the witches accused and burned were women.

So the relationship that connects witchcraft and feminism is that they both have a common goal: the empowerment of females. While feminism exists to empower women to overcome the oppression reinforced by the patriarchy, witches were women who were burned as a result of sexist accusations and demonizations – which are tools of the patriarchy.

It is crucial then, to attend to the historical incidents that appear to be trivial myths or limited experiences of the past – reconsidering them in the light of what we know today about the patriarchy and the oppression of women. It is not enough to acknowledge the deaths of the 35,000 executed witches. We need to ensure that this kind of official and governmental mass murder, justified by witchcraft or any other accusations that the patriarchy deems as a crime, does not happen again.