Witchcraft And Gender

In this essay I will be exploring the actual significance of the gender imbalance in accusations during the witch craze of the 17th century. To do this I must first locate these incidents within the social context of the time and discover attitudes towards the 17th century European woman in general. I shall then look at what kinds of people were most likely to be accused of witchcraft, including the plight of men, and whether or not gender emerges as the overriding factor. I shall conclude by taking an overview of theorised psychologies behind the witch-hunts and come to a decision about whether or not this harrowing time was driven by genuine fear for the soul or simply a misogynistic grasp on power.

To paint an accurate portrait of the
Every study carried out points out that the vast majority comprised of poor, elderly women but Horsley insists there is a great deal to be taken from a more qualitative analysis of the social status, roles, and relationships of the victims of the great witch hunts. He complies from the works of Midelfort, Monter and Cohn a four pronged definition of “witchcraft”, conceived in the lead up to and throughout the late middle ages: 1) Maleficium, or causing harm to others through super natural means; 2) flying through the air at night to desolate places for evil purposes such as eating babies; 3) participating in a sect or cult which met in periodic “sabbats” to worship the devil and engage in sexual orgies and 4) making a pact with the devil. All seem fairly non-gender specific but they also non class, occupation or age specific either. The statistics of who was more regularly accused would suggest that these criteria were not all that were used to judge one guilty of witchcraft. Horsley argues we must be wary of the difference between the official concept of witchcraft, compiled by the ruling classes, and the popular realities perceived by the largely peasant communities from which the accused emerged. His best example is as
It has been argued that it was the women who seemed to have distanced themselves most from patriarchal norms, especially elderly ones living outside the parameters of the patriarchal family, who were most vulnerable to accusations of witchcraft. Older women who had never given birth and now were beyond giving birth, comprised the female group most difficult to assimilate into late medieval society organized, as it was, around the family unit. There were practical reasons too. As women lived longer than men into dependent old age they became more of a burden on society. They would have been inconstant need without the ability to give back establishing themselves as a target of resentment as an economic burden. It is therefore no surprise that solid majority of those accused of being witches were older than 50. In terms of occupation, there were certain studies taken suggesting that midwives were prone to accusations of witchcraft. This has since been refuted by further study which suggests being a midwife actually decreased your chances of being accused, further supporting the theory that the accused were those who were of hindrance to society, and not those who were of vital importance to