Why Were Most Witches Female - Essay Example

WHY WERE MOST WITCHES FEMALE A search for the answer through The Malleus Maleficarum of Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger By The Malleus Maleficarum A Fifteenth Century Handbook for Men Witchcraft has been assigned to female sex throughout the history, but this commensuration, has probably the most elaborately conceptualized and verbalized in The Malleus Maleficarum of Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger although there had been few preceding attempts such as Directorium Inquisitorum by Nicolas Eymeric (1376) or Formicarius by Johannes Nider (1435). The first publication of The Malleus Maleficarum or with the translation to English "The Hammer of Witches" was in 1487. Beginning on the 15th Century, it has been very well known as being the primary reference for the hysteria of witchunt for about a couple of centuries. Although the authors are referring to few thinkers as Cicero and Seneca in The Malleus Maleficarum, the main sources of reference are The Old and The New Testament from which the authors are quoting whenever possible to support the 15th Century beliefs and practices on witchcraft. The book is consisting of three parts. At the beginning of the first part, the authors are defining and analyzing witchcraft in detail by conceptualizing it as a relationship among the trio of the Devil, witch and Almighty God. In the following sections of the first part, it is being asked why women are subjected to be involved in witchcraft, and being mainly replied by stating or implying that the female status is weaker and inferior. The management of witchcraft is being argued in the second part while the judicial proceedings against witchcraft are being reviewed in the third. Witchcraft is being associated with the female sex all through the book. Men and women are the two sexes of a species, namely Homo sapiens, and apparently their anatomies are different from each other. There are numerous gender-specific Medical Studies today, to find out the determinants of the sex differences in terms of Molecular Biology and Genetics. The results of the contemporary studies have become a part of popular culture in late 19th Century as the number of the means of media increase. Even most political daily newspapers, today, have popular culture pages and the results of Medical researches are being published almost every day. Gender differences have been among the top issues of 'popular Medicine' for both men and women since they are, one way or the other, also related with the gay-lesbian personality/issues. The results show that there are some differences in brain structure and chemistry between men and women. Although they are straight issues for Medicine, they become quite speculative when their reflections to social life have begun to be argued with Sociological terms. Probably, for both sex, the best result of the popularity of these issues related to the sex/gender specifications are their knowing about each other more since understanding and tolerating 'the other' can only become possible if human being knows about 'the other'. In 15th Century on the other hand, female sexuality was completely mysterious mainly because of the menstrual cycle, conception and birth giving. The anxiety related to the legitimacy of sons and daughters had surely become an issue both for an individual man and those ruling, and therefore control over female body becomes an important issue in all societies throughout the history. However, the medieval age added something novel namely 'witchunt', with various vindications among which women's attempts to have control over their own bodies. Abortion has not only been condemned, but tens of women have been executed for a single case, and the midwives in 15th Century, were the first-degree suspects although their profession had been highly prestigious throughout the history and even only a couple of centuries ago (the wife of Socrates was a midwife for instance, and in Ancient Egypt, midwives were also the very important within society since their profession were highly prestigious). It is very clear in The Malleus Maleficarum that midwives were, or at least ready to be, in service of the Devil. First of all, in the book, women are being defined as weak creatures both physically and intellectually, therefore, midwives, as in the same category are not different. However, the indication of their 'hot connection' to the Devil is their involvement in the process of conception and birth giving or 'the body of female sex' in general. And secondly, the implications of their 'knowledge' about the body of females, and their power to manipulate/control over female body are the most important factors differentiating midwives among other women. This is a very critical issue since these specifications of midwives had most probably been perceived as the prolongations of the pagan practices, which had been strictly barred by the Church. Of note, although it is not being argued in a separate ground, the information about midwives' in terms of their connection to the Devil is 'given' in the book, and the below quotation is a good example of this: "And on the part of the women, it has to be inquired whether only they who were themselves conceived in this filthy manner are often visited by devils; or secondly, whether it is those who were offered to devils by midwives at the time of their birth; and thirdly, whether the actual venereal delectation of such is of a weaker sort." (The Malleus Maleficarum, Part I, Question nr.6) Another important point, which is apparent in the above quotation, is that curiosity and suspicion were the main themes of the image of woman in a man's mind in 15th Century. My personal opinion is, that the question-and-answer format of the book is another indication of the curiosity and suspicion of men about women throughout history. It can be pointed out here, that the whole scientific investigations are based on searching for answers for a number of questions even they are not being stated within that format, however, the discerning point here is 'the subject being curious' and 'the suspect being objectified just like an enemy' are the two sexes of the same species. Therefore, it can be concluded that the Psychological aspect of associating women with witchcraft lies within the fear men have against the mysterious existence of women since Psychologists state "worldviews (particularly religious ones) provide a psychological defense against fear of death and the unknown" (Navarrete, 2005). "The third reason is that they have slippery tongues, and are unable to conceal from the fellow-women those things which by evil arts they know; and, since they are weak, they find an easy and secret manner of vindicating themselves by witchcraft. And meaning that it is useless to consult with her, since there is always jealousy, that is, envy, in a wicked woman. And if women behave thus to each other, how much more will they do so to men." (The Malleus Maleficarum, Part I, Question nr.6) Irvin Yalom, as probably the most popular Psychoanalyst of our time, in Existential Psychotherapy stating "human beings are in a presumably unique position as compared to other species, given that they are forward-looking and can anticipate some aspects of the future. Ultimately, the future brings death for all". Religion, on the other hand, "is a prime source of strength and sustenance to many people when they are dealing with death" (Singh, 2003). Therefore, the belief system, as a conditional supplier of life and well being, can easily be the ultimate power for a man's life. "Wherefore S. John Chrysostom says on the text, it is not good to marry (S. Matthew xix): What else is woman but a foe to friendship, an unescapable punishment, a necessary evil, a natural temptation, a desirable calamity, a domestic danger, a delectable detriment, an evil of nature, painted with fair colours! Therefore if it be a sin to divorce her when she ought to be kept, it is indeed a necessary torture; for either we commit adultery by divorcing her, or we must endure daily strife." (The Malleus Maleficarum, Part I, Question nr.6) The question here, is that how and why the masses of women became witches within a certain limited space of time. In order to comprehend the emerging antagonistic approach to women, it is necessary to know more about the sociocultural conjuncture of the age, namely 15th Century. Beginning with the Ancient Greek until 20th Century, a sexist ethical bifurcation in Western Moralist Thought had been obvious. The quotations from Cicero and Seneca, used in The Malleus Maleficarum, are the best evidences for that: "Cicero in his second book of The Rhetorics says: The many lusts of men lead them into one sin, but the lust of women leads them into all sins; for the root of all woman's vices is avarice." "Seneca says in his Tragedies: A woman either loves or hates; there is no third grade. And the tears of woman are a deception, for they may spring from true grief, or they may be a snare. When a woman thinks alone, she thinks evil." (The Malleus Maleficarum, Part I, Question nr.6) This bifurcation has subjected to the practices in daily social life through which women are subordinated. The claimers of almost all intellectual and scientific outputs, as the products of abstract thinking, were men from Middleeast to Eastern Rome and Europe for ages. Judaism, Christianity and Islam as the well-organized religions have a strengthening effect on the subordination of women while sharpening the line between the world of men and the world of women, or with the Sociological terminology, the public and the private spheres. On the other hand, there are many motives in pre-feudal pagan cultures indicating a symmetrical gender status. Many cultures have goddesses for instance, often as the member of a large pantheistic structure including members even sometimes having hermaphroditic gender identities as well as the conventional ones. As historian Lyndal Roper notes in 1994, "large-scale historical transformations may barely disturb the relations of power between men and women. The sex/gender dimension intersects with other historical, social, and economic conditions in different and unexpected ways that do not encourage overarching generalizations". "Uneven developments -the possible discontinuity- between positions occupied within the economic, political, and symbolic orders" (Frow, 1986). Through the dissolution of the early naturalistic religions, which have been substituted by the late monotheistic belief systems, men have most probably been able to isolate their "selves" from the earlier practices. Women, on the other hand, with their body cycles could not "purify" themselves as been ordered and expected by the dominating powers. Their incapability of and/or resistance to an unnatural set of rules of purification, together with the new sets of rules ordered by God who is being defined as an absolute chastiser, made the image of female sex 'wicked' in men's perception. From that point on, 'the wicked one' became to appear as in need of discipline performed by the smart and powerful half of the society, and in case of failure she has to be destructed in order to keep the self and society away from the threat. Although being a woman means being wicked in potential, the obedient women could be tolerated. However, in case that she turns into an object of fear for men for one reason or another, the status of that particular woman had to be redefined to justify her execution. "This is so even among holy women, so what must it be among the others For you see in Genesis xxi. how impatient and envious Sarah was of Hagar when she conceived: How jealous Rachel was of Leah because she had no children (Genesis xxx): and Hannah, who was barren, of the fruitful Peninnah (I. Kings i): and how Miriam (Numbers xii) murmured and spoke ill of Moses, and was therefore stricken with leprosy: and how Martha was jealous of Mary Magdalen, because she was busy and Mary was sitting down (S. Luke x). To this point is Ecclesiasticus xxxvii: Neither consult with a woman touching her of whom she is jealous." (The Malleus Maleficarum, Part I, Question nr.6) Testifying a woman's persistent wickedness had never been difficult indeed, and men had used to named her shortly as witch. Most witches were women in The Malleus Maleficarum because the term 'witch' in 15th Century had already been chosen as a defining term to categorize the women who were the objects of fear for men. References: 1. Navarrete C D, Normative Bias and Adaptive Challenges: A Relational Approach to Coalitional Psychology and a Critique of Terror Management Theory, Evolutionary Psychology 3: 297-325 2. Singh A, Singh D & Nizamie S H (2003) Death and dying, Mental Health Reviews,Accessed from 3. Frow J, Marxism and Literary History, Cambridge: Harvard Uni Press, 1986, 76 Read More