Gender And Sexual Issues Among Men And Women

A few centuries ago in Europe, the fear of witchcraft led to witch hunts and executions. These occurred mostly in France, Germany, northern Italy, and Switzerland. “Tens of thousands of people in Europe and European colonies died,” and “millions of others suffered from torture, arrest, interrogation, hate, guilt, or fear,”. It is estimated that the early modern witch trials claimed the lives of nine million Europeans, 80% of whom were women which led early feminists such as Margaret Murray, Mary Daly and Barbara Ehrenreich, among others, to wonder: “Was the witch-hunt an intentional woman-hunt”. Back then, women were accused of being witches since Accusations of witchcraft required no evidence of guilt. The trials were “intended only to produce

Females in the 1692-1693 were one of the largest groups accused of being part of the Salem Witch Trials. According to Washington State University, “As events unfolded, 185 people were accused at Salem, 141 women and 44 men. Of that number, 52 women and 7 men were tried; 26 women and 5 men were convicted; and 14 women and 5 men were executed, the last group on September 22, 1692.”(Campbell 1) this statistic shows that women were more likely to have been accused of being a Witch. Women were thought to be much lesser than men and weren't

In 17th-century Colonial America, contact with the supernatural was considered part of everyday life; many people believed that evil spirits were present and active on Earth. This superstition emerged 15th century Europe and spread with the colonization of North American puritan colonies. Women were believed to be the most susceptible to demonic behavior; females were considered simple targets for Satan due to being viewed as the weaker sex physically, spiritually, and morally. Women who did not conform to the Puritan ideals at the time were usually ostracized, institutionalized, or brutally murdered. In 1692, thirteen women were famously put on trail for accusations of witchcraft; famously known as the Salem Witch Trails. Most of these women were put on trial and later burned to death for erratic and un-Godly behaviors, 78% of the people charged were women who were accused of doing devilish things such as; speaking out against church officials, being a financially wealthy widow, having pre marital sex, or just being too beautiful. According to Michael Coren’s Why Catholics are Right “five million women were killed by the Church as witches… witch hunts began in the sixteenth century in Europe and that between 30,000 and 50,000 men and women were burned to death for

History generally regards the period of Salem witchcraft trials as a radical instatement of religious zeal which favored superstition over reason and targeted a large number of women over a much smaller number of men. Admittedly, the 1692 witchcraft crisis is a very complex historical episode, yet seeing as the majority of the people involved were women, it can be perceived as a gender issue, and illustrative for the definition of the role of women in New England. The present work's aim is to outline the colonial mindset concerning women and present relevant theories by means of analyzing three cases of witchcraft accusation together with delving into the accusers' perspective.

Firstly, the conflicts were caused by the factors of gender, age, and marital status. When looking at the total number of men and women who were hanged, the women far outnumbered the men, 13 women to 7 men (Source A). Of the 24 males who were accused of witchcraft, 15 were married, while of the 110 females accused, 61 were married. This shows that the number of females accused outnumbered the men and the majority of those accused were married. Of the male accusers, all 5 were single, ranging from the ages of 11-20, whereas off the 29 females accusers, 23 were single (the other 6 were married). The ages of the accusers ranged from under 11 to over 21, with the majority being 16-20 years of age. There is a distinct pattern that stands out in the accused and the accusers. The accused were mainly

The books thesis is based on why a person was accused of being a witch and the relative circumstances thereof. Marital status, sex, community standing, wealth, and relationships with others all play an important part of a person chances of being accused of being a witch.

In addition to all of this, Karleson has established statistically, that women who were married but had no children, women who were married but had only daughters, and finally women who were daughters of parents who had no male offspring were more vulnerable to cause of witchcraft. (Page 101) What this shows is the clear linkage of economic interest and the importance of

Many question as to why so many women would eventually admit to witchcraft. However, it is quite understandable why these women accepted the guilt when analyzing the process of proving witchcraft and what these women had to endure. Not only would these women continue to be rejected from their community, even more than before, they would be subject harsh sociological and psychological procedures. Those accused would often have to go through harsh psychosomatic dealings, such as a process know as “watching, in the course of which the suspect was kept awake, sometimes for two or three nights at a stretch, in the hopes that she would be betrayed by her familiars visiting her.” A “familiar”, was an interchangeable spirit that would perform the witch’s evil magic for her. Familiars were often considered a spirit, an animal, or a fairy. “More importantly, the familiar was the witch’s second ‘self’,’ acting for her and embodying her power; harming a familiar would injure the witch it served.” The sleep deprivation that was the by-product of this process, along with general rough handling and psychological pressure, allied to leading questions, helps explain why witches were so prone to confess.” The physiological battering of these women from their communities often led to their eventual “confession”, as a desperate way to just stop the tormenting.

Reasons for being accused of witchcraft are multidimensional, and although there is no definitive reason, gender was likely a major reason as to why someone was seem as likely to be a witch. In colonial New England, gender was set by strict standards and was in no way fluid. It is indisputable that women were especially vulnerable to be charged with witchcraft. Puritans were guilty of sexism even before the witch trials; the biblical story of Adam and Eve was an example of how Eve had disobeyed God and caused the downfall of man. Consequently, rebellious women were accused of witchcraft because they emulated Eve’s disobedience (Godbeer 13). Most notably, acting outside of one’s gender roles was grounds for accusations. As previously mentioned,

When the group of girls were acting strange and got accused of being witches, everyone started pointing fingers. There was the paranoia that any person could be a part of a conspiracy that was created by the devil caused false accusations to be spread around. This paranoia was used to make false accusations on many innocent citizens because people were trying not to take the focus away from themselves. There was research that was done on those that were accused and what it showed was that most of the accusations were against middle-age women who had few or no children and were widowed. The accused witches “were of low social position, and because of some domestic conflicts, they were accused of other crimes and were considered abrasive” (Brinkley, 86). by other people around them. Once a person was accused of being under the influence of the devil, which is a big offence, they would start to be treated differently from the rest. It wasn’t the actual presence of Satan that caused this chaos, but the anxiety and fear of him that did.

Many people believed that this was because women were more restricted. For example, if a man had a complaint or grudge, he would take straightforward actions. Women’s ability to take straightforward actions were well more restricted by limitations, so they relied to more underhanded action, thus being witchcraft. “The power wielded by cunning folk was potentially dangerous whether in the hands of men or women, but it seemed especially threatening if possessed by a woman because it contradicted gender norms that placed women in subordinate positions.” (Escaping Salem p. 150). As stated in Escaping Salem around four-fifths of those accused in seventeenth-century New England were females because they were more vulnerable to witch accusations. According to historian Elizabeth Reis English colonist shared that, “Women’s bodies were physically weaker than men’s” and that therefore “the Devil could more frequently and successfully gain access to and possess women’s

The term witchcraft is defines as the practice of magic intended to influence nature. It is believed that only people associated with the devil can perform such acts. The Salem Witch Trials was much more than just America’s history, it’s also part of the history of women. The story of witchcraft is first and foremost the story of women. Especially in its western life, Karlsen (1989) noted that “witchcraft challenges us with ideas about women, with fears about women, with the place of women in society and with women themselves”. Witchcraft also confronts us too with violence against women. Even through some men were executed as witches during the witch hunts, the numbers were far less then women. Witches were generally thought to be

Throughout the witch hunts, women were the primary target; most victims being midwives, native healers, single women who lived alone, people against whom neighbors had a grudge or practitioners of ancient pagan rituals. Although not all were women, 75 to 90% of accused witches were in fact women (Levack,. p. 124), forcing one to question the affects of the harsh portrayal of women being placed on women.

As I mentioned above, the hysteria over witchcraft affected mostly women, but also other people. More than 100000 people all around Europe were accused of witchcraft while 75% women. Most of the accused were common people, usually those without property and usually women – servant girls, peasant women and milkmaids. It is interesting to mention that most of the women indicted were single or widowed, and many of them over fifty years old. To understand why mostly women were accused one must understand what it meant to be a witch. People who preformed witchcraft were seen as devil worshipers and were believed to have a connection with Satan. It was believed that witches had some sort of sexual relationship with Lucifer and therefore women were mostly accused. Also, there were other reasons why someone was considered a witch; if a woman was extremely beautiful and caught attention of married men, she was accused of practicing witchcraft, of if a widow lived in a distant area and was unsociable or had untidy hair or some sort of animal, she would as well be considered a witch. As women were always regarded as healers, and if one knew some sort of medicine or was able to deliver a child, she would be convicted. Some other reasons were

more often in women might suggest that for women sexual stimuli have, more often than