Let's face it, after the scare of witch craft was spread, if someone even thought of anything concerning witches, they were convicted as a witch. If you were a girl, you also had no chance. You were a witch if you were a woman because they are "weak" and cannot "control their emotions" as well as men. Women were also easily convinced because of their weakness and sensitivity.
Now, don't get me wrong, I love witch accusations as much as the next person, and reading about how scared that these people were, is kind of funny, but chapter six got a little personal...being a girl and all. I could only imagine how long I would have lasted in that century. Honestly, think about it, I am a girl who does not hold her tongue. I give myself until the age of 15 if I were alive then.
I absolutely agree with you. This was a rough chapter to read because of the degradation of women and the clear patriarchal and misogynistic stance these authors have taken. I did my fair share of yelling and hissing and reading aloud in rage to my roommate, but we also have to remember when this was written. Unfortunately, this was the norm and feminism wasn't around. Men considered women the weaker sex and were going to use them as the scapegoats because they deemed them as lesser people and far from equals who could carry the weight of guilt and sin. In a way, I can't believe I'm saying this, but it does make sense that if witchcraft existed it would be more prominent in women who spent their time cooking, cleaning and keeping house. Most of the magic was quick fixes and remedies that a wife or mother might need. Sure, these are stereotypical, outdated norms of women, but at the time it would make sense. As for the whole women are the most wicked and no greater wrath than women, that all was way, way too much.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this chapter was hard to read, to see all of those degrading things about women. Once you brought up thinking about how and if you could survive back then, I started thinking about it too. I think I would have a better chance than you because I am good at keeping my tongue in my mouth, but I think my issue would be if my mom or someone close to me was accused, then I would defend them and probably end up being trialed as a witch too.
ReplyDeletereading over your post really made me think about how close to home this all could have been if in fact we were around at such scary and accusatory times. I probably would not have been safe despite being a male due to the fact that I tend to stand up for people. I would have been put up on a spit and roasted faster than you can say abracadabra…
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