Fear of Women: Witches, Witch Hunting, and Women

1) Why is the enclosure movement the main factor in the emergence of witch hunting? ① Geographical overlap, witch hunting occurs in rural areas, that is, areas that are in the process of enclosure or basically complete enclosure. ② Time overlap, witch hunting occurred in the 16th and 17th centuries, when society was also experiencing the reconstruction of economic and social relations. Women are the victims of these changes, and they are driven into poverty as a result, which certainly has a lot to do with it! Since no historical event can be viewed in isolation, why can't we glimpse the clues of a new world economic order in the blazing flames that burned hundreds of thousands of women to death? If it is not irrelevant, why do we witness the proliferation of patriarchal and misogynistic behaviors at the beginning of the modern world, under the initiative of the bourgeoisie, who are usually considered to be the actors for women's liberation? And what is the relationship between the birth of professional medicine and the rise of philosophy and scientific mechanism? Isn't there a need for a more comprehensive, deeper reason to tie it all together and provide an explanation? This article will give them an explanation, an explanation that leaves men speechless. (2) Why were witches accused? First, due to the above reasons, women fall into poverty, lose their financial resources, are unable to integrate into the new society, and are disliked by others. Second, they fought back and resisted, and were unwilling to succumb to the current unfavorable environment, which caused fear among those in power. Third, society's increasingly misogynistic institutional policies will inevitably lead to them being accused. Those in power want to use this policy of terror as a means of rule to make all people and things that deviate from their ideals disappear forever. (3) Why did the witch-hunting movement mainly target women? ①The development of society has brought women to the opposite side. The disintegration of communal forms of agriculture, as well as the rise of a monetary economy and dispossession of land, pushed the population into poverty, with women being the greatest victims. After losing their land and the possibility of employment, they can only wander and beg. At this time, capitalism needs productivity and criticizes any "lazy" behavior, so women become targets. ②New social concepts conflict with women's basis for survival. Capitalism is primitive accumulation and requires the exploitation of large amounts of labor. They want humans to cease to be human beings and become productive machines, and therefore must break down the web of relationships that connect individuals to nature, to other people, and to their own bodies. The physical magic that once allowed agricultural societies to be in close contact with nature must cease, and women who hold the secrets of reproductive rights are the media. They win hearts and social status through herbal healing, divination, midwifery and other seemingly supernatural powers. They are a thorn in the side of capitalism. ③Men's fear of sex. Women will trigger their uncontrollable desires and become irrational (at this time, the slogan of rationality>emotionality is popular in society), thus paying the price in money or life. Therefore, the value of sex must be devalued and confined within the context of marriage, with procreation as the purpose only to feel safe enough. At the same time, it serves as a means of social comfort and compensation for the pain of men's daily existence. ④Although older women do not have high sexual value, they are still full of threats because they carry the collective memory of the past and have various skills that women should have had in the past (midwifery, divination, medical treatment), and they can easily inspire young people to start resisting. Only by killing them can the connection between the past and the present be cut off, and the memory of the past society be completely forgotten. Women will lose their skills, power, and everything. (4) The "witch hunt" of modernity continues Although witch hunts and slavery have ended, violence against women has not subsided. It has become more normalized. Because new forms of violence against women are rooted in structural trends that have been integral to capitalist development and state power at all times. Its performance: ①In the physical sense, public violence and domestic violence. Public violence is an incident that harms women scattered around the world, such as forcing women to leave their land and homes. For example, militiamen in the Democratic Republic of the Congo shoot bullets into women's vaginas, and soldiers in Guatemala cut open the bellies of pregnant women with knives. These are a series of killings and exploitation of women in the name of development or quelling chaos. Especially for the former, this kind of land policy forces women to give up self-sufficient production and become vassals of men, or to work in society, leave home, immigrate, and take their reproduction work to the streets (as vendors, businessmen, sex workers), and become more vulnerable to violence (sexual harassment in the workplace, etc.), Or they are reduced to selling their bodies. The sex industry is also violent. And when more women have jobs, housework will not be reduced. They will have to bear two hard jobs. If one of them does not do well, they will be abused. Domestic violence and the previous ones are complementary to each other. The reason why domestic violence is not accepted is because of the acquiescence and permission of public violence. Women often do not report the abuse they experience because they fear being abandoned by their families or experiencing further violence. On the other hand, institutional tolerance of domestic violence creates a culture of impunity that contributes to the normalization of public violence against women. ② In terms of economic and social policies, women are always the biggest victims of poverty caused by cuts to welfare, employment and social services. ③The social environment and the militarization of daily life are accompanied by the glorification of aggressive, misogynistic masculinity. The media's construction and dissemination of highly sexualized femininity paradigms exacerbates this problem, openly inviting sexual harassment and contributing to a misogynistic culture in which women's desire for autonomy is belittled and reduced to the status of sexual provocation. (5) How to deal with the resurgence of witch hunting ① Solution ideas: Try to avoid ineffective solutions, such as requiring more punitive legislation, which will only directly or indirectly give the authorities responsible for the problem more power. Women should be given decision-making power and those who use shelters should take charge of the shelters themselves. ② Build an organization: Feminists should engage in different types of investigations and analyze the social conditions that give rise to witch hunts. This will help form a group of human rights activists and social justice organizations to document, publicize and end the persecution.

I especially liked the author's analysis of the witch hunts, which made me understand the economic and social reasons behind these events. This book also made me realize that oppression and discrimination against women still exists and that we need to continue to strive for equality and respect. The ideas in the book are very enlightening and made me think more deeply about women's rights. I will recommend it to other friends to read!

What struck me about this book was that it was a little too neutral, because when the results are clearly unequal, using a neutral attitude statement is itself a form of favoritism.

Shocking and enlightening! Enlightenment!

As expected, we are not at the forefront in this regard, but fortunately there are people who are taking the lead.