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Women’s Rights
Let’s Talk About Witch Hunts
The infuriating audacity of a despotic man talking about a “witch hunt”
Yes, let’s talk about witch hunts.
Witches were women.
Witch hunters & witch killers were men.
Witches Were Healers
Witches healed the sick, delivered babies, and largely kept to themselves.
Witches served the function of healers, fortunetellers, midwives, birth doulas and even death doulas. Witches taught young girls how to deal with their menses, and helped middle-aged women deal with peri-menopause. Witches were advocates for women’s needs.
Witches were women who didn’t want to be married off to the butcher, the baker or the candlestick maker. Witches were lesbians, rebellious daughters, asexual women, survivors of sexual assault and free spirits who aspired to more than being a man’s cook & servant.
Why They Were Hunted
When the Catholic religion spread through Europe, the priests saw witches as a nuisance. As unwelcome competition. Rather than come to Church and say their prayers to cure a gangrene, villagers were consulting the village witch. This just wouldn’t do.
