Witch, Witchy, Witches

From American Horror Story's "Coven" (One of my favorite depiction of witches):

Stereotypes and Gender Ideology of the Witch

The first thing I think of when I hear the word “witch” is scary old ladies. This image of an old, bitter, wart-covered widow is deeply rooted in the common psyche and routinely enforced in modern society. Just watch any of the Disney “Princess” movies. The villain is almost always a hunchbacked old crone. J.K. Rowling challenged the stereotype with her relatable, very normal human witches and wizards, but the popular idea will always endure. This image became prevalent in the 16^th and 17^th centuries, and it is quite reflective of how society thought about women at the time. Religion posed a catch-22 for women, in expecting then to be both Eve and the Virgin Mary, which of course in turn made society suspicious of those that didn’t fulfill this impossible image (i.e. all women).

Then we see the gypsies and medicine healer women that were present in English communities during the middle ages. They were often older, widowed women that possessed healing and love magic and participated in quasi-pagan practices. Their skills gave them a valuable place in the community, but their stereotypically unattractive demeanor and “magical” practices made them outcasts at the same time. When the Post-Reformation pushed society to rid their communities of suspicious folk, these women were the first to be persecuted.

A type of magic that became associated with these women is known as maleficia, which is when natural, everyday misfortunes happen without a clear explanation. “Bad Luck” happened to be more prevalent in women’s occupations such as cooking and babysitting, so people thought these roles enabled them to practice magic. Food poisoning? Witchcraft. Sick child? Witchcraft. Not sleeping well? WITCHCRAFT! The state-driven witch hunts focused more on demonology accusations, with the belief that midwives’ proximity to unbaptized children led them to steal them for ceremonial sacrifice. High mortality rates of the time “proved” that these women were responsible. These societal roles and jobs that were required of women made them vulnerable to suspicion from the public, indicating that gender ideology directly contributed to the image of the stereotypical witch.

Specialist contemporary writings such as On the Demon-Mania of Witches and the Malleus Maleficarum strengthened the connection between women and witchcraft even further. The Malleus Maleficarum expresses the ideas held by most members of the elite concerning the female state, such as that women were weaker and more impressionable than men, therefore they easily gave into evil spirits and witchcraft. This enforced an image of women as essentially weak with an inherently wicked nature. The writings of Jean Bodin introduces the focus on female sexuality’s role in the demonic stereotype of the witch. He claimed that all witched had a sexual relationship with the Devil, the only evidence of which being that witches are female and the Devil is male. This rose from male concerns about female sexuality, especially the widows’ status as experiences women without a male “master”, thus making them sexually threatening to men. My, how frail the male ego is.