Witches: Symbol of Evil to Symbol of Empowerment

Photo by Ksenia Yakovleva on Unsplash

Written by Erin Blackburn

When I say the word “witch” what do you think of? Do you think of a green skinned, long nosed woman who cackles? Maybe you think of a woman who stands accused, being burnt at the stake. Or maybe you think of the more fashion forward women who use their witchy powers to get back at the men who have wronged them. The image of a witch has gone through several changes across history and in the media, with more recent media using them as a symbol of empowerment for women. 

Witches have been a concept in history for thousands of years with many cultures interpreting them differently. Historically speaking, we know that people have been accused of witchcraft since the 13th century. This included some men and animals, but the primary targets of these accusations were overwhelmingly women. There were many reasons that women were accused of witchcraft, some reasons being a lack of scientific knowledge. However, it has widely been accepted and acknowledged that most accusations were due to a prejudice against women at the hands of misogynistic men who had an obvious desire to oppress and harm women. Although not as intense, this is unfortunately very relatable to today's political climate which is one of the many reasons that I believe witches have switched to a symbol of empowerment.

Years later in media witches remained as a symbol of evil, just more camp. Witches often appear as the big bad in many children’s stories and movies; Disney especially seemed to love making their main scary villain a witch in their earlier movies with iconic characters like Ursula, Maleficent, and the evil queen. More mature movies like horrors were also a fan of making witches their main scary villain such as the 90’s movie The Witches which featured a whole conference full of witches. I find it interesting that as we mature, these once scary villainesses have become beloved to us and even more entertaining that the heroes that we are supposed to be rooting for. So why is this?

While I assure you that I don’t condone the stealing of voices or the cursing of young children, there is an undeniable allure to the confidence and power that these women hold. In a society where women are taught from a young age to be meek and often find that their problems are ignored, it is satisfying to see these villains act out against those who have wronged them. Even the villains that are more irredeemable have a whimsy that is still thoroughly entertaining. 

This brings me to my main point, that witches are now a common symbol of female empowerment in various forms of media. Movies like The Craft and The Love Witch have become a cult classic for many, completely changing how witches are represented in media. While The Craft has other messages like being consumed by a desire for power, it is also a great movie for exploring the darker side of girlhood with it being a coming of rage story with themes of solidarity between women.

To explain further, one of the girls in the coven is sexually assaulted by a boy she put a love spell on as revenge for spreading rumours about her. Upon hearing of the assault, the leader of the coven Nancy is enraged and uses her powers to kill the guy, making him the victim for the first time in his life. While the story isn’t a perfect example of female solidarity, there is a satisfaction in seeing two girls be able to punish the man that committed heinous crimes against them as this is not the reality for many women.

The Love Witch is similarly about empowerment with themes of desire and gender dynamics like the male gaze. To talk about a more recent example of withes being used as a symbol of empowerment, and in non-film related media, there is a thoroughly entertaining webcomic by the name of Love, Theodora. Love, Theodora is a sapphic romance comic made by artist Rose Oak, who was kind enough to give me permission to talk about her comic in this article. The story follows Theodora who became the vampire daughter of the Greek goddess of witchcraft Hecate after her husband tried to kill her. Hecate becomes Theodoras patron and gives her the powers of a witch to protect herself. Later in the story Theodora meets and falls in love with Ameliah, who is in an abusive forced marriage. Ameliah learns to retaliate against the patriarchal structure, with the Greek goddess of spring and queen of the underworld becoming her patron.

Though I cannot pretend to not have a bias for this comic, I generally do believe that it is not only a wonderful example of female empowerment through the symbol of witchcraft but also of love between women, both platonic and romantic. The comics use of paganism and Greek mythology add to the story in an amazing way, with the women receiving the power to take revenge from other women instead of a male deity.

So why have witches become so popular amongst women that we now see them as a feminist symbol and portray them as such in our media? Well, I believe this is for a multitude of reasons. Firstly, these women are allowed to remain feminine whilst being powerful. In a lot of media for a woman to be deemed powerful she seems to have to reject everything feminine or even have a hatred for it, giving her a ‘not like other girls’ personality. However, witches in media are the exact opposite, being allowed to present themselves as openly feminine whilst also being portrayed as competent and powerful. Many of them wear long dresses or skirts, flowery patterns and bold make up giving the message that a woman can be powerful no matter how she chooses to present herself.

Furthermore, I believe that witches have become such a popular symbol due to current political climates in the world. With the constant threat of having our rights and bodily autonomy taken away hanging over our heads, causing a more severe decrease in our mental health, it can be healthy to have an outlet for all this through various forms of media. It is obviously not healthy to be completely detached from the current world which is why witches make for the perfect feminist symbol. In all the examples I have provided the women, though having magical abilities, face real life issues like harassment, prejudice and oppression. This point is furthered by our knowledge of the persecution that alleged witches faced at the hands of men in power, something that unfortunately feels very relevant today which gives us a more sympathetic view of these women instead of making them the villains of our stories.

To conclude, in times such as these I bet many of us wish we had magical powers to use against corrupt men. Unfortunately, we don’t, so it happening through media is the next best thing.