Witch Hunt

If I have to hear one more man describe #MeToo as a "witch hunt", I think I might scream.

A little history. The most famous witch hunt was the Salem Witch Trials, which occurred in colonial Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693. More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft and 20 were executed. The accused were often framed as different and/or dangerous to the common good of society. Actually, a lot of the accused were spinsters who lived in the woods and practiced alternative medicine. It was a time of chaos and disease and people wanted some sort of clarity in a very unclear world. They wanted a sense of order and understanding, so they made it for themselves.

Since then, the story of the trials has become synonymous with paranoia and injustice and is heavily popularized. In the movie The Holy Grail, an angry mob of townspeople try to confirm a "witch's" identity by seeing if she floats or sinks in water. Spoiler: she floated.

In May of last year, President Trump tweeted: "This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!" Unless he was dragged out of the woods and hung, I sincerely doubt that. Evoking the hysteria associated with the phrase "witch hunt" is a strong ideological tactic that is currently used by people on the Right, but has been used by the Left as well in the past. While misguided and out of place, the phrase has a certain dramatic flair. It's the theatrics that counts in politics. The bottom line is: the misappropriation of witch hunts is just as offensive as the misappropriation of lynching. So, don't do it. 

What witch hunts are really about is fear and power. We knew that with #MeToo there would be a backlash, and unfortunately, it seems that we can no longer talk about #MeToo without talking about witch hunts. I have no problem discussing the ignorant and manipulative evocation of witch hunt hysteria for personal or political gain. I just wish I didn't have to do it so much.

Side note: I hate that witches are constantly portrayed in a negative light in the media. Witches are powerful women who can move water and earth if they wanted to. Y'all are just jealous.