By Mia Warren
The Salem Witch Trials, a time in history we learn about through spooky stories, but not the true terror it caused upon women.
Why were the so called outcasts targeted specifically? Why were women accused of being evil in the first place? The Witch Trials are more than just women accused of casting spells and flying on brooms.
The Trials began in 1962 and lasted till 1963. More than 200 people were accused of being witches and a total of 20 were executed.
The first 3 known suspected witches in Salem, Massachusetts were Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba. These 3 women were arrested after a group of young girls accused them of performing witchcraft, making the girls do supernatural things and feel pain.
As expected, these women were seen as outcasts by the village, Sarah Good, a poor beggar woman, Sarah Osborne, a widow, and Tituba, an enslaved woman working for the Parris family.
It is believed that the witchcraft accusations were a convenient way to blame and scapegoat women for problems in society, and to reinforce traditional gender roles in the community.
Many of the women that were targeted during the trials were women that owned land, this is because to men, women that were independent and owned land could gain power. Society feared the knowledge of women and their possibility of empowerment. And during trials when they either admitted to performing witchcraft or denied it, they would be hung and their land would be taken.
According to an article published by openaccesgovernment.org, “Women who deviated from societal expectations, such as being independent, outspoken, or having unusual behaviour, were particularly vulnerable to accusations of witchcraft. These women were often seen as threats to the patriarchal order and were punished for challenging traditional gender roles,” which shows how now and then women are seen as difficult for going against society’s expectations.
Today, women and men have the same rights in freedom in the U.S., but in society the norms from the past still linger. Influencer Bailey Sarian says, ¨Women often are blamed for real life problems because they are easiest to blame, and are seen as weak.¨
In the workforce, men and women can have the same jobs, but societal barriers still exist regardless of how much women have accomplished. It seems there will always be a percentage of people who would prefer a man to do a “man’s job.” Nevertheless the world has evolved so much to finally have equality for our people.
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