In Defense of Witches: The Legacy of the Witch Hunts and Why Women Are Still on Trial

Riassunto di In Defense of Witches

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   The Witch Hunt That Never Ended

   

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   Imagine a world where a woman's independence is considered so threatening that she must be eliminated. This isn't ancient history-the witch hunts that claimed up to 100,000 lives (80% women) occurred during the Renaissance and Enlightenment, not the Middle Ages. These weren't the actions of religious zealots or uneducated peasants; civil courts conducted most trials, with educated elites leading sophisticated media campaigns against "dangerous" women. The widely distributed "Malleus Maleficarum" (Hammer of Witches) explicitly stated that "male witches are of small concern," viewing women as weak-minded and lustful. Any woman risked accusation for stepping out of line-whether for talking back, being too social or too solitary, missing church or attending too devoutly. Their bodies were violated through "witch pricking," stripped, shaved, and tortured beyond imagination. Why did this happen? The witch hunts coincided with women gaining social power and independence. Women were systematically excluded from businesses and professions while married women lost legal rights through reintroduced Roman law. The witch hunts served as violent correction, putting women "back in their place" through terror and public spectacle. What's most disturbing isn't just this history, but how it continues shaping our present. The persecution of witches reinforced prejudices and repressed certain female behaviors and lifestyles - creating negative associations that still produce censorship, barriers, hostility, and violence today.

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   The Radical Independence That Still Terrifies

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   When Gloria Steinem appeared on CNN in 1990, a caller condemned her to "rot in hell" for being unmarried and childless, blaming her for "the downfall of our beautiful American family." This reaction exemplifies society's enduring hostility toward women who choose independence over traditional roles. Steinem's life of activism and her famous response - "I can't mate in captivity" - challenged the assumption that women require partnership and motherhood. Single women, as visible symbols of female independence, face particular backlash while girls learn to value partnership over autonomy. Society continues pressuring women to compromise their independence. Tracy McMillan's 2011 HuffPost article exemplified this mindset, warning women against appearing angry or selective because "female anger terrifies men." Even partnered women struggle against becoming "dissolving women" (femmes fondues), as writer Titiou Lecoq observed when motherhood transformed her independent identity into a gendered experience.

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   The Unforgivable Choice Not to Mother

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   For women who reject motherhood, this represents freedom from what Adrienne Rich called the "ghettoizing" of female potential. One woman's post-tubal ligation experience revealed an "enormous feeling of freedom" - finally understanding men's natural liberation from pregnancy concerns. Despite Earth's 7.5 billion inhabitants making extinction fears absurd, society still views childlessness with horror. Rebecca Solnit criticizes our narrow view of life's meaning as limited to marriage and children, ignoring countless other paths to purpose. While we've moved past biological determinism for gender roles, women's reproductive choices still face scrutiny. Those who refuse motherhood are often assumed to hate children or recast as substitute mothers through their professions. Orna Donath's research reveals many women regret becoming mothers - not that they don't love their children, but they hate the role itself. These women describe motherhood as "an unbearable burden" or "the nightmare of my life," challenging idealized maternal fulfillment.

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   The Crime of Growing Older While Female

   Women face aging anxiety from youth - the author dreaded turning twenty, while Susan Sontag's friend at twenty-one believed her best years were already behind her. This burden falls uniquely on women, rarely affecting men. Society demands women maintain youthful appearances, essentially creating an expensive second job. As women age and develop self-assurance, they often face rejection not just for their looks but for their growing independence. Men who pursue younger women typically seek admiration over partnership. John Casablancas and Claude Francois preferred teenagers because older women "start to think" and "talk back." Women's accumulated wisdom makes their aging threatening to patriarchal society. During witch hunts, older women were targeted specifically for their knowledge. This explains why white hair commands respect on men but stigma on women. The aging female body provokes cultural revulsion that reveals deeper societal attitudes. Post-menopausal women were particularly feared during witch hunts - their sexual experience combined with infertility marked them as threats.

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   When Women's Knowledge Becomes Dangerous

   Have you ever felt inexplicably "stupid" in certain domains? The author reflects on her struggles in male-dominated fields, where she unwittingly embodied sexist cliches of the "irrational little lady." Intelligence varies based on context and social expectations. Women often feel intellectually inferior because society assigns different realms of competence to each gender. Traditional women's knowledge - in caregiving, emotional intelligence, and household management - is frequently "neglected, disdained or altogether invisible." The author challenges the Western view of the world as separate, inert objects valued only for utility. Drawing on works by Federici and Merchant, she connects women's exploitation to nature's exploitation under capitalism. The Renaissance transformed Earth's image from a living, maternal organism to dead, manipulable matter. This shift represented what Bordo calls a "drama of parturition" - abandoning the maternal medieval worldview for values of "precision, clarity and detachment." Francis Bacon, adviser to witch-hunt supporter King James I, advocated treating nature as medieval society treated suspected witches - it must be "bound into service" and "put in constraint" to surrender its secrets.

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   Medicine's War on Women's Bodies

   Women face pervasive medical bias - from dismissed pain to health scandals involving contraceptives and medical devices. Serious conditions like heart problems are often misdiagnosed as anxiety, while diseases like endometriosis go untreated for years. Through movements like "Je n'ai pas consenti," women are exposing widespread medical abuse, particularly in obstetrics. The author's experience with dehumanizing teenage medical exams exemplifies this systemic problem. Western medicine's separation of curing from caring contrasts with traditional healers who embraced both. The author references Maryse Conde's Tituba character, who treats patients with dignity rather than as mere bodies. Male doctors displaced midwives using tools like the speculum (tested on enslaved women) and forceps. While they accused midwives of poor hygiene, doctors' own practices spread deadly puerperal fever in maternity wards. The persecution of female healers as "witches" eliminated valuable medical knowledge - these women used plants still found in modern medicine, yet their expertise was dismissed to preserve male authority.

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   Reclaiming the Witch: A Path Forward

   Western feminists have reclaimed the witch narrative, leading to tangible changes like Anna Goldi's 2008 exoneration and memorials for witch-hunt victims across Europe. This movement stems from Matilda Joslyn Gage's 1893 observation that understanding "witches" as "women" reveals the church's systematic persecution. It gained momentum through the 1968 WITCH protests and France's Sorcieres magazine (1976-1982). Modern witches engage politically - from Trump protests to supporting Black Lives Matter and abortion rights - while blending magic with self-care and political empowerment. The author highlights society's dismissal of women's emotions through African-American activist Cora Tucker's stance: "When it comes to matters of life and death, especially mine, I get hysterical... If men don't get hysterical, there's something wrong with them." The witch hunts weren't merely historical events but enforced a worldview that persists. Reclaiming the witch means envisioning a future where women's independence, knowledge, and choices are celebrated rather than feared.

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