Paul newman and lee marvin5/31/2023 ![]() ![]() “Witch lit” is a reminder that misogyny echoes through time. I think there’s a magic in reclaiming the label of “witch” from the past, in subverting the idea of malevolent female influence that led to the witch trials. But I also wanted to showcase the power in female resilience and community. Writing at the time of the pandemic, when news reports highlighted rising rates of domestic violence in lockdown, I wanted to use the past to hold a mirror up to the present-to explore how misogyny continues today. I was struck by this-that it was powerful women living outside of traditional patriarchal structures who had been targeted. In my novel WEYWARD, I was inspired by the Pendle Witch Trials that took place in Lancaster, England in 1612 and which led to the execution of eight women, namely from two families headed by matriarchs. As women process our frustration with continued gender inequality-from domestic violence to attacks on reproductive rights-it makes sense that witches and witch trials still resonate today.Īfter all, a witch is persecuted because she’s feared. ![]() Lurking in our workplaces, governments, courtrooms-even in our homes. Instead, it seems to have morphed into something different, something insidious. And you’d be forgiven for thinking that the sort of sexism that led to the witch trials has been left behind in the past. Given that it was mainly women who were killed, we can’t ignore that misogyny played a role. This was a phenomenon that spanned continents and religions: Salem’s Puritan hysteria burns bright in the imagination, but Catholic countries-such as France-executed witches, too. The witch trials of the early modern period are one of the darkest chapters in human history: thousands of people, mainly women, were put to death in continental Europe, Britain and North America. Perhaps we’re so spellbound by witches because we find them difficult to explain.
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