Gender in Whicthcraft

Witchcraft Hunts and Persecutions: The Effects of Gender and Sexuality

It is a well-documented fact that during the early modern witch trials women were more likely than men to be charged and tried as witches. Although there were a substantial number of men accused of this crime particularly in the fifteenth century, the crime of witchcraft became a predominately female-based crime particularly in the sixteenth century. In fact, though witchcraft must be studied from a variety of angles, early modern witchcraft and witch hunts are impossible to understand without taking into account gender and sexuality. Attitudes towards women, men, and their sexuality played a critical role in the persecution of witches. A review of the research of various writings, particularly the Malleus maleficarum, will demonstrate that the social hostility against women gained momentum throughout the centuries and was based upon various social, economic, and religious factors which culminated in the witch hunts and subsequent trials. To begin with, the social and economic factors of the witch hunts are numerous and author Alison Rowlins states that older women “were particularly vulnerable to accusations of being witches” and that fifty percent of the women accused of witchcraft were at least 50 years old. During the time period, older women were disproportionately represented. Women were thought of as “prey to the evil influences” and Roper states that a woman’s status “shifted through her life cycle, from maid to mother to crone.” Apparently, the life cycle of a woman was well documented by the community. In Germany, “the preoccupations about fertility, women’s bodies and the fragility of infancy lay at the heart of the witch craze.” Additionally, witchcraft was thought to come from “carnal lust , which is in women insatiable.”
Midwifery was considered witchcraft as