In Defense of Witches: The Legacy of the Witch Hunts and Why Women Are Still on Trial

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Chollet, a Swiss journalist and author living and working in France, first published this book as Sorcières in French in 2018. This is its first English translation and is important for U.S. audiences' understanding of the European historical references vs. contextualized vis a vis Salem or the like. Working within this framework, noted French feminist Chollet crafts an extensively resourced and researched collection of prose, personal reflections, and critical theory in determining that the legacy of the witch hunts continues and, as I think would likely surprise no one, women continue to be on trial in ways very directly connected to those witch hunts of yesteryear to this day. This lead to the author having a positive connotation for witches rather than the negative one that society has formed.

This is not to say Chollet’s book is of no interest. It starts off well, with a look at early artistic representations of witches, and goes on to link the witch-hunts with antisemitism. Chollet suggests both persecutions were a product of society’s need to find a scapegoat for its ills, pointing out that terms such as “sabbath” and “synagogue” were also used in reference to witches, while both groups were depicted with hooked noses. This is not a book to be taken lightly. The subject matter and the way it is so thoroughly examined can be exhausting to read. I took it in small doses, as I needed frequent breaks to think about what I’d just read. I suspect this well-researched (there’s 562 footnotes!) book will end up in many Women’s Studies classes. The author delves into the past used to vilify and murder independent women, widows and elderly women throughout our culture and still today. As the author moves through the times we see how in today's culture independent single women,, our elderly women and successful women who prefer to live on on their own are vilified by mysogany and hate of women that permeates our lives, the media and culture. I appreciate the detail and case studies the author has inclusive here to mysogany.Rehabilitates the figure of the witch, this dangerously independent, educated and strong woman.” — Slate I write this at a time of great peril for women, LGBT people, and sexual freedom as a whole, particularly in my country, the United States. Forces of white supremacy, patriarchy, and theocratic dogma are attempting to use the state for purposes that can be called little else than evil. While she has since been released from jail, the arrest of Lizelle Herrera under charges of murder for having an abortion portends a grim future. The subject matter is compelling, as it affects the lives of every woman who’s ever lived since the first witch was born. As a woman who’s experienced her unfair share of oppression, I jumped at the chance to read this book. And, in a widely read book from 1967, André Soubiran, a doctor, reflected: “One wonders whether feminine psychology can accommodate freedom and the absence of men’s domination as well as we imagine.”27 Susan Stryker Discusses Trans Studies, Trans Feminism, and a More Trans Future with V Varun Chaudhry

Centuries after the infamous witch hunts that swept through Europe and America, witches continue to hold a unique fascination for as fairy tale villains, practitioners of pagan religion, as well as feminist icons. Witches are both the ultimate victim and the stubborn, elusive rebel. But who were the women who were accused and often killed for witchcraft? What types of women have centuries of terror censored, eliminated, and repressed? If you're expecting some sort of poetic journey through the world of witchcraft, you will likely find "In Defense of Witches" a tiresome and perhaps even meandering read. Chollet, unsurprisingly for those who know her work, leans far more heavily into feminism than the fantastic and is absolutely relentless about doing so.

By wiping out entire families, by inducing a reign of terror and by pitilessly oppressing certain behaviors and practices that had come to be seen as unacceptable, the witch-hunts contributed to the shaping the world we live in now. Had they not occurred, we would probably be living in very different societies.” Not nearly as provocative as its title might suggest, Mona Chollet's "In Defense of Witches: The Legacy of the Witch Hunts and Why Women Are Still on Trial" explores three types of women who were accused of witchcraft and persecuted: Chollet’s discussion about the “childless woman” falls perfectly into this category of female power and is unfortunately just as relevant as it was 500 years ago. Women who disrupted the patriarchal structure by forgoing married life or children were viewed with contempt, labelled as witches, and excluded from society. The vehement condemnation of the childless woman seems to be more about the women who dared to take control of their own lives than anything else.

Elle est ensuite pigiste pour Charlie Hebdo. Mais son contrat est interrompu en 2000 après sa contestation d'un éditorial du directeur de la rédaction Philippe Val, qui qualifiait les Palestiniens de « non-civilisés ». Elle raconte : « Quelques jours après, il m’a convoquée, et il m’a annoncé qu’il arrêtait mon CDI après le mois d’essai, alors que j’étais pigiste depuis un an. Ça m’a sidérée »1.

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Informative and thought-provoking, 'In Defense of Witches' argues that the embers from those burned at the stake continue to light fires in modern day society where women are still under threat from those afraid of her power. The campaign led between 1507 and 1593 in twenty-two villages in the region of Trier, In Germany–the starting point and also the epicenter, along with Switzerland, of the witch hunts–was so relentless that two of the villages, only one woman was left alive; in total 368 women were burned.”

Chollet nicely argues, though, in support of self-confidence, that “spells” can also be thought of as casting words, as in “spelling” (to which it is etymologically related) and that writers, artists, and all women are indeed able to effect change by speaking up. True. I was personally most interested in the ways that the witch hunts we widely think of as a thing of the past have simply morphed into more subtle, and in some ways more sinister, forms of control and punishment. Looking at the information as laid out for the reader, I have a much better understanding and appreciation for the various ways women can and do re-appropriate not only words but indeed their own sexuality and make them work to their benefit and happiness rather than as means of controlling them.Celebrated feminist writer Mona Chollet explores three types of women who were accused of witchcraft and persecuted: the independent woman, since widows and celibates were particularly targeted; the childless woman, since the time of the hunts marked the end of tolerance for those who claimed to control their fertility; and the elderly woman, who has always been an object of at best, pity, and at worst, horror. Examining modern society, Chollet concludes that these women continue to be harrassed and oppressed. Rather than being a brief moment in history, the persecution of witches is an example of society’s seemingly eternal misogyny, while women today are direct descendants to those who were hunted down and killed for their thoughts and actions. Mona makes you realize how hard women had it. She has done extensive research on the witch hunts and trials and it shows.