Witches & Feminism

WRITTEN BY CHLOE BRYANT ILLUSTRATED BY SOPHIE BARLOW DESIGNER AUTUMN SOUCY

Historically, witches and witchcraft have had notoriously negative connotations as a source of evil or malevolence. Women, in particular, have been persecuted for the practice or alleged practice of witchcraft or sorcery which includes — but is not limited to — spellcasting, necromancy and demonology.

As is true for many socio-political and cultural events throughout history, witch hunts emboldened and rationalized perverse violence against women. Most know of the Salem Witch Trials, but the expulsion of women accused of practicing witchcraft was intercultural. Similar witch hunts occurred across cultures in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia.

A majority of these witch hunts occurred in tandem with the social shifts of power between the ruling and ruled individuals within society. Witch hunts served dual purposes: mediating social tensions and preventing changes in the balance of power. Both served to maintain the ruling hegemony.

Although witch hunts — in the historical sense — are much less prevalent in 2021, the phrase ‘witch hunt’ has been propagating in American politics. Most recently, the term has been used by men in politics as a response to criticism.

You’ll see the term ‘witch hunt’ used in most modern contexts by politicians or other individuals in hegemonic positions who have been identified in a scandal, resulting in some degree of damage to their public image. Damage to public image can be dangerous: positive public relations are critical if they wish to maintain legitimate authority.

If it is truly a democratic society that Americans exist within,

it is the public that allows these individuals to maintain their positions of power. It is the collective power of the majority that grants their legitimate authority. Negative publicity could cause the public to withdraw their support, effectively delegitimizing any individual in a position of power. Therefore, it is critical for those in said hegemonic positions to upkeep positive public relations.

Despite the power society holds as a majority, these men in politics have a few tricks of their own to sufficiently maintain their authority. One of these tricks is the appropriation of the term ‘witch hunt’ which allows them to effectively divert criticism and maintain a positive public image.

By relating criticism to historical witch hunts, politicians or other individuals in hegemonic positions assert that they are being unfairly victimized like the individuals who were violently persecuted for the practice or alleged practice of witchcraft throughout history.

These men seek to present themselves as the blameless victim — victims like the

many individuals, most of whom were women, who throughout history were unjustly persecuted for the practice of witchcraft. They compare their of whom were women, who throughout history were unjustly persecuted for the practice of witchcraft. They compare their asserted plight to that of women who endured sadistic violence by men for the sake of preserving the hegemonic patriarchy.

It’s a perverse irony. While the term ‘witch hunt’ has no longer come to mean the expulsion of witches and witchcraft, the effects of its use remain the same: mediating social tensions and preventing changes in the balance of power.

These men who have had the balance of power tipped in their favor throughout all of history, now utilize the violence and discrimination that is inherent in the meaining of ‘witch hunt’ to maintain the prospects of themselves and the white man, just as their ancestors did all those years ago.