how the witch became a feminist icon (and how it failed)
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- Опубліковано 11 лис 2023
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today i have a new video essay for you guys ! this one is a deep dive into witchy characters: evil witches, empowered witches, cozy witches - all of them!
my deep dive playlist: • Deep Dives & Video Essays
00:00: intro
3:46: witch hunts & woman hate
14:58 the empowered witch
19:53: the witch as a victim
30:12 the "witch paradox"
38:27 conclusion
sources:
Witch, BBC Radio 4
Mary E. Corey. Matilda Joslyn Gage: A Nineteenth Century Women’s Rights Historian Looks at Witchcraft. OAH Magazine of History, 2003.
Sempruch, Justyna. Fantasies of Gender and the Witch in Feminist Theory and Literature. Purdue University Press, 2008.
Matilda Joslyn Gage. Woman, Church and State, The Original Exposé of Male Collaboration Against the Female Sex. 1893
www.theguardian.com/society/2...
www.faculty.umb.edu/gary_zabe...
scrippsnews.com/stories/how-w...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2...
www.huffpost.com/entry/witche...
theclassicjournal.uga.edu/ind...
www.english-heritage.org.uk/l...
The Podcast Episode on Midwives: digpodcast.org/2020/09/06/doc...
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Hi! My name is Leonie and I am a 25 year old girl from the Netherlands who loves talking about books! From YA to non-fiction to classics, I read it all (although fantasy will always be my fave).
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I remember in grad school teaching a Halloween-time lesson on real life pirates and the witch trials because pirates and witches are two of the most popular costumes. But the real pirates were actually awful human beings, and the real witches were innocent victims....
Are you talking about the witch trials no if you're talking about the Witch Trials of Salem then someone told you wrong because the witch trials is Salem but innocent people that were accused of witchcraft with that information come from
@mygaaraofthedesert not sure exactly what your saying there, but I think you agreed with pendragon... the witches were just innocent people.
Well, pirates (especially those who weren't privateers) were also often victims of society - outcasts, underpaid sailors, former slaves, etc. But they did murder and pillage while the so-called witches just lived their lives, so I get what you mean.
Also witches were men as well, but for some reason the term later became associated with women
It was originally just a pejorative term for heretics
Witches were not innocent victims. Witchcraft was a severe crime, which is why they were forced to hide.
So Malleus Maleficarum is basically a 15th century incel manifesto that caused a shit tone of cruelty on women
Can't say I'm surprised.
First recorded copypasta
Very little difference between it and that screed that started gamer gate lol
@@bpblitz
Man I keep forgetting you hoes are still getting ass-blasted about that.
GG, stay mad.
maleficarum... maleficent
As a little girl, it was always the witch characters that captivated me. I'd sashay around, pretending to cast spells and ordering around the simpering princesses lol. I was subconsciously seizing upon the fact that witches were the female characters with power and mystery - quite alluring to a child (and still as an adult haha). Long live the witch archetype!
hehehe i loved the pointy hats and potion brewing stuff + the fact that they caused fear
hahaha. Absolutely. Witches were always so cool. I think I had 6 or 7 different witch costumes throught the years when I was little. I always loved the pretty flowy gown and the hats. Include some kind of "mystic" or "magic" necklace and done I'm sold.
@berenicemendivil7217 oh yesss, always had to be a magical necklace haha!!
I love Terry Pratchett's interpretation of witches. They seem more real and subsequently, more terrifying because I would not want Granny Wetherwax angry at me. 😂
Yes! Granny is the best!
The Wyrd Sisters was my introduction to Discworld.
Yes! love them so much! just started re-reading 'wyrd sisters' and can't wait to get to the Tiffany Aching stories 🧙♀️😊
I suddenly realized that many other types of magic practices were not considered nearly as bad.
For example, occultism in Edwardian Britain. For whatever reason, it is perfectly fine when distinguished gentlemen do basically the same thing.
No? Absolutely not? Not least of which because by the 20th century nobody in the _civilized_ world was burning witches at the stake.
Not only that but some of the most notorious (and consequently influential in those circles) occultists of the day were women! There are several brands of occultism still popular today that were founded by women - Theosophy _and the entire field of Aryan mysticism/Nazi occultism_ are example.
Where did you get this deeply stupid take and do they offer refunds?
I'd say it was a class thing because that movement was mostly practiced by the wives of these wealthy men. They didn't have much else to do at the time, so why not?
@@williamerickson520
I mean, occultism in general was typically only practiced by the wealthy - and then usually by spoiled wives and children.
Look at Wicca, it was invented by the mid-20th century equivalent of a fuck-boy, dude literally just made that shit up so he could get laid and upper-class white women are _still_ eating it up.
@@williamerickson520also, in the nineteenth century, with the advancement of science, things have changed considerably since the witch trials. And these guys were considered eccentric rather than dangerous
There always have been and always will be different rules for the rich than for the rest of us.
Everyone I've ever known from the Salem area has really hated being asked about the witch trials, even if they worked in the museums. It's telling that there wasn't a memorial until 1992- as I have had it recounted, the people in charge of the town didn't even want to publicly acknowledge that the Trials happened for a long time. Despite this, the town now really seems to lean into the witch imagery for the tourists which gives the impression that the town is celebrating that time they successfully killed everyone of a fictional group.
As another aside, a large number of Wiccans I've known are survivors of SA and other violent crimes and turned to Wicca as a way to feel like they could take control back in their lives. I think there is something poetic in that- that the label used by the state to murder woman is now used by woman to provide a sense of control over the world.
Whyy would you have a memorial for witches? Do you have memorials for nazis as well? What kind of world, do you people live in..? Curious.
Oh, thank you so much for mentioning Baba Yaga! She is not completely evil though - in some fairytales she eventually helps the hero on their journey. Like in the Russian folk version of Cinderella she gives Vasilisa (Cinderella) a human scull with burning eyes on a stick, so it can help her to light her way through the woods (and to burn down her house, killing her evil stepmother and stepsisters, hooray!)
That either has to be the coolest or the creepiest version I've ever heard of cinderella, and I'm immediately going to look it up because I need to know more.
@@berenicemendivil7217 I guess it's both cool and creepy at the same time :)
Baba Yaga is completely misunderstood. I've always liked her, and that crazy house she lives in. If I could live in a house which walked around, I'd be thrilled.
This video essay was an educational slay!
She did thorough research and I'm glad she acknowledged for the idea that this happened. Continues to occur in Asia and Africa as well as Western world.
This was really interesting! I've been writing a collection of short horror stories for years now and one of them focuses on a witch. I tried my hardest to make her character relatable, as she's not the monster of some other character's story, she's the focus of the story, and her "witchness" or wickedness only develops as cruel deeds are done to her throughout the story. This video really gave me a new perspective on this, and may force me to rethink some things!
Hey, idk if this is something you would care for, but if you want to make your witch even more realistic, then I thought I would offer. I am a practicing witch and an aspiring author, so I would be happy to help you with making her witchcraft practice realistic if that is something your story entails. 🤍
So cool finding you here, love both channels.
omg!!! keep writing!!! i want to read them by next halloween!🖤💛🖤
I would love to read this!
I love villain origin stories (the novel I'm currently writing is one in-fact). I'd be happy to beta-read/edit your witch story if you'd like.
As a catalan person i'm so happy to hear you mention Catalunya and our history with witches!!!
The amount of research she does for these videos is great!
As a writer I'm so glad I found your channel, I've learned so much about what readers like and don't like. As a woman, I love this video even more. Thank you for your videos 🥰🥰
“When I was a child, the witch was a-“
Me: Hag? Ugly nasty jealous Hag? Extremely evil envious gossiping female hunchback of notredame?
“-n evil villain”
Me: Oh yeah, that works too I guess
omg I don't know if she's read the hunchback, but if she has I don't know if she's mentioned it yet, otherwise I'd love her to do a review on it!
I took a course at university called "The History of European and American Witchcraft" for my gender/sexualities studies minor and it was incredible - a lot of what you discussed I learned about in that course. Well done, super interesting stuff!!
For anyone interested, I highly reccomend "The Mercies" by Kiran Millwood Hargrave, based on the real events of 1621 witch trials in Finnmark, Norway. After a storm claims all the men of the village, the women of Vardø are left to face not only the harsh Arctic elements but also the looming threat of witch trials. Slowly, the island becomes a battleground of survival and superstition. Evocative and beautifully written - I adored it!
Btw, loved this one Leonie! 🔮💜
I loved Hargrave's 'The Deathless Girls' so I'll have to give that one a try, thanks for the recommendation!
Oh I have to read that one as well then! Thank you😊
OMG. How does everytime I'm interested about something The book leo makes a video about that? I'm so happy 💛
Same 😊
She a mmmm
Leonie is the most well-researched BookTuber.
Exactly what I came here to say!
@@rachelherway7379 Isn’t she amazing
This was a great video. To me, it’s especially interesting how incredible widespread the demand for these “female empowerment fantasies” is among readers. It’s pretty telling of the underlying cultural feeling.
Stories like "The Lord of The Rings" are literally about how desire for power is the most corrupting and evil force there is. When you have this as an "underlying cultural feeling", then that society will become corrupt and die. It's less "interesting" than it is "insidious".
I'm glad you addressed the "small city problem", I live on a pretty big city (6.7M habitants) and tbh I think it's great because it grants us some degree of freedom and privacy because no one knows us, whenever I visit my extended family on a smaller city (11K habitants) if I sneeze during the sunday mass, "can you believe the big city girl, you know, ____'s granddaughter, sneezed during mass?" will become the talk of the city, I love my grandma but it's a hellish experience
Mona Chollet’s “In Defense of Witches” dives deep into this subject of you want to read more! It’s a great read ☺️ love your videos!
I really liked that book too!
So I remember reading a book in school called “The witch of blackbird lake” which is about a Quaker woman accused of witchcraft. That happened a lot in real life.
OMG I've read that book three times! I've always been bothered by it, because I think she was botanist. I remember my mom planting a lot of herbs I always thought we were cool witches. Maybe we still are : )
15:34 I’ve read some of Cotton Mather’s writings on witchcraft. (What can I say? I’m a history nerd who loves The Legend of Sleepy Hollow-which mentions Mather several times-and I enjoy deep dives into the minutia of stories. 😂) The witches were NEVER considered to have their own inherent power. It always came from having some kind of relationship with the Devil, making a deal with evil spirits, being given a familiar, etc. There’s also a surprising amount of “we thought the accusation was crazy and impossible, but after exhausting every other option it seemed the only explanation.” The description of the witch’s victims, usually children, seemed like possession to me, but that might be because the recent Exorcist movie is fresh in my mind… 😅
Your deep dives are the best. They're like little cozy classes and you're just this amazing teacher. I love these videos.
My mom once wrote a paper in school on the topic of witch hunts, which I then used for my own high school history presentation
A book I really enjoyed this year that hits so many of the story beats you mentioned is Weyward by Emilia Hart. It tells the stories of three ladies across time that share a bloodline and their witchiness. One is straight up in the witch trials, one is a teen during the 1940s dealing with a controlling father, and one is modern day trying to escape an abusive partner. Each story is in part about their victimhood but also how they overcame their hardships. Would definitely recommend!!
I want to do my master's dissertation on the Witch Hunts and this only makes me want to do it even more. I love your videos so much!
Oh no, I was supposed to go to sleep! And I can't now 😅
Edited after watching: Each one of your deep dives is soo well made, wow. I love the witchy stories, regardless of the social comentary, or lack thereof.
Have you read the Discworld? Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg are two of the coolest witches in all of literature :)
I also strongly agree with the importance of intersectional witch stories. The way that witches have been characterized in western culture (particularly from the Medieval times) is pretty inseparable from antisemitism. In a lot of more recent media, WOC have been portrayed as witches because they’re characterized as foreign and again non-Christian. A lot of witches are also very queer coded. I would really love to see more witch stories that unpack these histories and perspectives.
Just adding to your comment... a lot of the usual "monsters" in fiction are queer coded, just think about vampires, for example. Things like witches and vampires and the horror genre in itself were some of the first spaces in fiction where people could explore gender and sexuality that differed from the norm, even if it meant showing them as villains, as personifications of evil. I love horror stories and this part of its history is sooo interesting to me, i just couldn't pass the chance to comment on it, when i saw you had brought it up 🤎
Absolutely! Carmila is a great example of that, and so is interview with a vampire is a more modern one that also made a big impact on the genre@@skyycollector
You never fail to impress me and bring me confort!
- From a fellow booklover in the Netherlands that found peace and enjoyment in your videos in rainy days, learning to embrace this otherwise awful weather. Love and thanks ❤❤❤
Already watched and liked when it first came out but came back for the comment! Im sorry that the algorithm is treating this video poorly, the quality of the content makes it obvious you invested time studying and working on it!
I love this take! There are so many paradoxes in witch narratives and in modern concepts of witchcraft and feminity. It's really interesting to hear someone talk about it. Have you come across a novel called Now She Is Witch by Kirsty Logan? It does a really good job describing the position of historical witches.
Now She is Witch has been on my wishlist for a while, but I've been slightly hesitant bc the synopsis was kinda opaque and I wasn't sure what type story it would be (seems like magical realism maybe?).
@@spinstercatlady Yeah it's quite hard to sum up! I guess it's like historical fiction with magical elements? Quite a unique read.
@@lilygreenall2837 sounds good, I'll give it a go for sure!
Pleaser never stop making these types of video's!! I love them sm!
I love your video essays ❤
beautiful video! love the editing & it's very well researched
I love the video essay format, especially diving into aspects of stories like this
Thank you for this! I love witches, literary archetypes and especially I LOVE deep dives and video essays, so this checks out all of my fav elements 🧙🏻♀️🖤
leo!! i love your videos always, and i have to mention how much i love your editing lately !! it rlly transmits the care you put into this and its also very aesthetically pleasing
Thanks for putting so much time into this video!! Incredibly interesting
Loved this video! The editing is perfect and I gained lot of new perspectives on the topic!🥰
I love when you do videos like these. It is super interesting. Thanks for the commitment and the research!
Love everything you post Leonie! So cozy and informative
i always look forward to your video essays about (book) tropes & themes, this was amazing as always 💜
love ur video essays leonie, so insightful and thought provoking
You did great job, Leo!❤
I always love when you do a deep dive or analysis video!! ❤ You have such an interesting and academic way of presenting the subject. I hope the algorithm is kinder to you in any next video you make 😢
Love these little documentaries you make! hope you make more of them!
Love how you approached this deep dive! A really interesting video as always 💜
Your videos are so relaxing and informative!
i loved this video so much!
i think it was wonderfully edited and so aesthetically pleasing!
It is also so fascinating to think about the power structures behind these witchy books (which I also love) but had never thought about critically in the ways that you brought up!
Your deep dive videos are fantastic! It’s obvious that you put so much work into them ❤
This video was a great and interesting analysis. Always appreciate the vibes you bring to your videos too ❤
What an excellent deep dive! Thanks for the great quality content Leonie
Hi, I am the author of a new book ‘Pharmakides’ which translates loosely to witches. My novel is set in ancient Greece and I have learned that witch trials are much older than I previously thought, and you cited. The trial of Theoris of Lemnos is one surviving account of an ancient witch trial.
It seems that for as long as women practiced herbalism, there have been skeptics.
Great video!
This was splendid! Thank you, Leonie! Your videos are the best and I always get SO excited when there's a new one 💖
I love your essays Leonie !!!
This was was so interesting and well-researched, as always! I'm currently reading many witchy books and you gave an important perspective that gets too easily forgotten. Thanks
LOVED this Leonie! You put so much thought and effort into these video essays, and I enjoy them so much.
This is soo well made and so well researched. I love it! 🖤
Such an interesting topic Leonie, I love how history and fictional interpretations and tropes get intertwined. Thanks for making this video, really awesome!
I love these video essays you do! Hope they keep coming. You're incredibly good at them, and I thoroughly enjoy watching 😊
Omg I loved this video so much!!! The research, the different perspectives, the aesthetic, the sleeves, the candles, the whole deal! U slayyyyy!!!
You put so much research into these videos 😳😍 I love this!
oh I love Leonie's video essays, they're always so interesting and well researched!
I love your videos talking about the history of some modern tropes or archetypes, it's always interesting to see where the idea came from and how it changed
Your makeup looks gorgeous
This is such a beautiful and informative video essay! I love the deep dive and I can tell how much passion you have behind this subject. This is great and please keep up the great work Leonie!
I really love your deep dive videos. I learn a lot and am thoroughly entertained. So far I’ve read quite a few books on your recommendation, my favorite being Bunny. And the broken earth trilogy, but I’m only finishing the second book at the moment. So thank you, you’re great at what you do!
LOVE YOU LEO AAAAAA YOUR VIDEOS ARE ALWAYS SO INSIGHTFULL AND WELL-RESEARCHED
I honestly love this kind of explanation videos. It's super interesting to hear you go in depth about any topic✨
Found your channel just a few days ago and cant stop watching! ✨🌱
This was such a fun video, I really love these deeper dives into a specific topic!
I love your deep dive content soo much. The amount of research is just insane!! ❤
I adore when you make this type of videos. They are both educational and engaging!
I love how much research and thought you put into this video! This is a proper video essay and the depiction of witches in media is such a wide topic! Thank you for working so hard on making an informative/interesting video that's also fun to watch! I also love your vibes and your make up a lot :)
Absolutely loved this well researched video.. Always love these deep dives that you do on various themes, genres and famous tropes.. Much love.. You are awesome.. And Your videos always give a very happy vibe...
one of the most well pur together videos ive seen recently! ive already watched it twice, such an interesting topic as well
I loved everything about this video!! The amount of research is incredible and the atmosphere is just right
Love this! You go so in depth into the history and folklore. This was so interesting!
As always love the research you do for your videos!
The change in lighting throughout the video is just ✨ethereal✨
every video you make is somehow better than the last - always so much thought and research, a great vibe, stellar production
You Can just See how much work this video was!! Thank you so much for that!
Can i just say absolutely loved this video like im down for any type of analyse video but u just made this one 100% better
Just started watching, but I already know this video will be a winner just like all of your deep dive videos 💕
The amount of research that went into this really shows, absolutely love these types of videos!
Fav book content creator again and again!! This was so thought-provoking and felt like chatting with a friend over tea ☺️🖤
you brought up a lot of good points I hadn't thought about, when it comes to those kinds of stories! this video was very well done!
Aside of this video being super interesting and informative, can we take a moment to appreciate the editing?! Everything about this video is incredible! Thank you for all the effort you put into making this !!
These deep dives are so wonderful and my favourite. Hope you keep doing them. 🧹🪄🧙♀️🧙
The editing in this vid is lovely, it’s giving all the dark autumn (but still cozy!) vibes ✨
This video is truly amazing and in depth I love it so much . I saved it so I be able to watch it again and again ( I’m on my 2nd watch) .
thank you so much Leo for this. Would love to see more videos like this. 😍🖤
I really love how well researched, aesthetically pleasing and actually interesting Leonie's video esssays are
The research and the editing that went into this video was so impressive! And I love how the lighting slowly dimmed as the video went on, def added to the witchy vibe!
I love these deep dives. Thanks for your hard work!
I cannot get enough of these deep divesssss. Always impressed by the amount of research into these videos
Thank you for all your work, it's always a pleasure to watch your videos ❤
Love all the witch art you were able to find and add
I love your videos so much, I clicked on it as soon as I saw it in your story!
Thank you for this video! I always enjoy your deep dives and also your bookish content but this is a topic I've also been thinking about a lot lateley and it was really nice to gather more information that I might not have stumbled upon otherwise. Plus as a history student I love that you questioned the connection between actual historical facts and the myths based on them (+ the other way round) and how those myths have changed over time while also maintaining a lot of themes, not necessarily only good ones I'd say. Probably gonna start my own deep dive into witchy topics now haha :)
This is such a cool video !! Thank you for teaching me about witches history