Feminism and Witches

In a history class last year, I was made aware of a movement from some radical feminist groups that claimed the slaughter of innocent women in the 16th and 17th century witch trials as a parallel to the misogynistic persecution they perceive as an integral part of culture today. The use of the inquisition of witches as an analogy for the contemporary subjugation of women is ahistorical due to the evolution of the social dynamics …

…in the lives of American citizens. Differing from early modern Europe, women are now allowed to comment upon a situation in such cases that they do not find favorable. Women are now afforded the same rights as men, allowing them the freedom to do as they wish under the same legal constraints as men. For this reason, it is absurd and offensive to create an analogous relationship between the witch-hunts and the modern feminist movement.