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October 21, 2024 14 mins

“We are the granddaughters of the witches you weren't able to burn”

 ~ Tish Thawer, The Witches of Blackbrook

 #tunein to this #newepisode of the Advancing Women Podcast where in this #Halloween season, we set aside our stereotypical descriptions and depictions of witches, and instead look to appreciate, how generations of activists have reclaimed the witch archetype to resist patriarchal control and stand up to injustice. Let the Season of the Witch symbolize our warrior power and resistance.

This episode explores the witch ethos, and how we can point to witch hunts as defining moments of injustice, sexism, and misogyny. It’s about the historical context of witch hunts in terms of the societal attitudes and beliefs that fueled the persecution of women. How accusations of witchcraft were used as a way to control and suppress women who defied traditional gender roles…and how we still tend to see and treat powerful women today.

References:

Joan Williams Tightrope Bias https://gender.stanford.edu/news/what-works-women-work

Tightrope Bias & the Likability Dilemma https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tightrope-bias-the-likeability-dilemma/id1569849100?i=1000570385546

In Defense of Witches: The Legacy of the Witch Hunts and Why Women Are Still on Trial by  Mona Chollet https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250272225/indefenseofwitches

The Witches of Blackbrook by Tish Thawer http://www.tishthawer.com/the-witches-of-blackbrook.html

Donovan Season of the Witch  

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