Would you have been burned as a witch?

[Nonplusultra]

I’ve gone down a bit of a rabbit hole reading about the history of witch hunting and I never appreciated the sheer scale of it and how it has affected women for centuries since. It never made sense to me how much women have participated in their own oppression through the centuries, and even today. Why there are such different gender standards around beauty, appearance and aging.

All sorts of women were arrested, brutalised and sadistically tortured for weeks or months (not even necessarily for information because whether they confessed or not , or recanted made little difference) and publicly executed, sometimes horrifically.

The spurious grounds for arrest and interrogation included

being old, or menopausal, or just looking old (statistically most of the women murdered were over 40)

being ugly, unattractive, having bad teeth, scars or bruises on your face, a limp or bad posture, or using artificial means to look more attractive (false eyelashes anyone?)

Being poor, a drain on communal resources (on benefits?),

practising medicine (cater, midwife, nurse, doctor?),

having no relatives, or relatives who don’t like you (anyone estranged from family or not get on with the in-laws?), or related to anyone who might meet the criteria of witch

struggling with your mental health, or related to , or associated with someone with mental health issues

working for anyone suspected of witchcraft, or working for someone who is suspicious of witchcraft - not good to be too good at your job or not good enough. Also being made redundant was a dangerous time.

insolent, mouthy, argumentative, or just too talkative

involved in social unrest (ever been on a march or signed a petition?), expressed anti authority views (commented online?)

causing a man to be impotent (dh ever struggle to keep an errection?) or to lose control of his sexual urges (ever been a victim of SA or rape?)

sexually promiscuous (eg not a nun), knowing anything about contraception, or anything about abortion

likes dancing or drinks alcohol

Dressing in men’s clothing (own a pair of jeans?)

Illwished or cursed anyone (Fottfsof), or made occult signs (flipped the finger?)

And, if you’re a man reading this, knowing or being related to anyone fitting the above criteria could get you dragged in too.

So, would you be likely to be found guilty of witchcraft?

YABU - My conduct is beyond reproach in every way
YANBU - I might have ended up tied to a stake

I don’t agree that criticism of feminists is “witch hunting” at all in any sense of the word. The majority of women accused of witchcraft and executed were not doing anything to attract attention. They were not being gender nonconforming. For the most part they were quietly just living a life until someone decided to create drama.

@User98866 The thing is that you don’t have to torture or execute a lot of people to have an enormous effect.

Auburn hair, left handed and a lazy eye. Yeah, I'd be strung up so fast!
Also I turned someone into a newt, but he got better.

I can't have children so yes I may have been accused of being a witch as it would have been assumed that if a child or baby nearby died it would have been due to my jealous and I had cursed it

Honestly there are some threads on MN where childless women are assumed to be groomers and pedophiles and told we cannot be trusted with children due to Rose West and Myra Hindley which show that attitudes haven't really changed much tbh

There are still women in countries around the world today being accused of being witches due to infertility and having terrible issues because of it.

The books Hags by Victoria Smith links witch hunts to modern misogyny.

I don't know about burned as a witch but as a Pentecostal Christian, I'd have probably been burnt as a heretic

@Rolypoly2961 another one for my Christmas wishlist. Thanks.

I cannot see anything lighthearted about the repression of women who didn't want to go through life with bovine passivity, being put to death on the pretext of witchcraft.

I always start the day grumpy anyway, but I think this is not a situation for levity.

Edinburgh university did a project a couple of years ago mapping out all the witches in Scotland - some have v little data but others have their status, occupation and wiki page

https://witches.is.ed.ac.uk/#close

Definitely in the first round up of witches.
left-handed, black cat, always muttering to myself and was told I was ‘old for my age’ at primary and I have numerous moles. My biggest problem is that I can’t for the life of me keep my gob shut or stop myself from responding to bullshit when everybody else around me has learned to play the game and smile sweetly. I just physically can’t.

Also, as my grandparents moved to the UK from India in the early 70s. I often think of the life I would have lived in their village if they didn’t come here and I really don’t I think that I would have survived very long.

@buddhasbelly thanks for that link. It’s fascinating.

Accusations of being a witch are still happening across the globe. Often linked to wanting the land owned by an unmarried/widowed women.

Yep I'd have been burnt, I'm a bit (a lot!) of loner, no family, no friends, pretty-ish in an alternative way (widows peak to boot!), not afraid to share my opinions (Covid really demonstrated that I should be!) geez I'd have been lucky to make it to 16 😬 in this day and age people just avoid me like the plague 😁🐈‍⬛️

I would be as I am left handed.

That was considered a sign of evil.

Been planning to read Hags for a while, kept putting it off because didn’t want to get depressed but this thread has motivated me to finally get it on Audible. Thanks for the reminder @Rolypoly2961 !

Probably not. The Welsh didn't go in for that sort of thing.

I may have been hanged in England though.

I have a triple goddess tattoo. So think it's fair to say I'd not be worrying about my pension pot.

Unmarried at 45
Left handed
Anti-social
Bitch resting face
Works in medicine

Yeah I think I’d get literally flamed 🔥

You forgot to mention being ginger or having freckles 🤚

Surely those saying left handed, are you referring to writing as if you were a seventeenth century woman it's doubtful you could read and write?

Also witches hanged in England.

I would never ever want to time travel as a woman to any other period.

Definitely, from a child I fought against what was expected of me as a girl/woman.
I'm also a herbalist and I believe everything has a spirit. They wouldn't have been able to burn me fast enough.

Yes, most likely.
I was a high-energy child, and after I got diagnosed with a mental health disorder that made sense, I loved reading maths science and loved being a free spirit and had a big imagination as a child.
I had lots of males who were just friends, and yes, I was a bit flirty before I met my DP. I've had lots of medical interventions done on me and take medications quite often, and my joint disabilities basically make my partner do all the work and housework somedays.
So I probably wouldn't have been liked back then.

Definitely on several counts.

But I'd go down fighting 😬🤨

Mouthy, talk too much, like a drink, and I have a black cat. I'd be seeing all the rest of you at the stake/ducking stool.

Good idea for a post though, this part of history isn't talked about enough.