Pages

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Witchy Stereotypes

Sexy, Dark & Bloody Fiction --

Happy Blogoversary to Pagan Culture! 3 years is pretty impressive, so I'm joining the party and adding my own post. I love the theme she's picked, stereotypes of witches in fiction. I've got a list of grievances on that particular subject longer than this blog will probably allow but I'm gonna give it a shot. I thought about writing a short story but finally settled on a little bit of rant, because really that's what it would end up turning into anyways, and that's what I'm good at.
  • "Warlocks are male witches" One of my biggest pet peeves whether it be in a book, t.v. show, or movie is when they call a male witch a warlock. I don't know why but it really, really gets under my skin. I've always heard the definition of warlock to be traitor or oath breaker and it's quite possible I'm wrong but I really don't see why male and female witches need different titles. At least in Harry Potter they're called wizards.. that's something.
  • "Witches worship, sell their souls to, and are in league with.. Satan" A cliche, but one that is still widely used. The show Supernatural is especially guilty of this one. I get the feeling that either the writers or producers are Christian, and it really pains me that they keep perpetuating this myth because I really like the show.
  • "Halloween is when witches worship the God of the dead named Sam Hain" This one is so painfully stupid that it makes my blood boil. Supernatural is guilty of this one too, but they aren't the only ones.
  • "All witches only worship only a Goddess and are nothing more than hippie, feminist, man haters" To me anyone who honestly believes this is just willfully ignorant. I don't like labeling myself a feminist. I'm an equalist. Of course I think women are amazing, powerful, and full of potential, but so aren't men. No gender has the monopoly on being awesome. Just because witches believe women are as good as men doesn't mean we think they're better or that we hate men.
  • "You are only a witch if you've been initiated by one, or born into a family of witches" This myth is perpetuated by fiction, witches, and non witches alike. It frustrates me that there is this misconception among some that unless you're initiated by another Witch, your not really a Witch. I'm a Witch because I respect the old ways, I honor nature, I feel the change of the seasons and the waxing and waning of the moon in my blood, I respect others rights to feel and believe in whatever way brings them peace, and because I accept the divine feminine and masculine in all of us. Not because someone told me I was.
  • "Good witches wear white and bad witches wear black" Wouldn't it be so easy if we could tell who was good or bad based on the color of their clothing. While this is a milder stereotype it's still fairly annoying. Similar to this one is..
  • Good witches only align them selves with light, life, day time and good and bad witches only align themselves with dark, death, night time and evil" A little convoluted I know, but this is pretty common. They seem to think there's no gray area. Most witches I know accept balance, you know, light and dark. We bathe in the sun and moonlight. The only good or evil that truly exists is in the intention, not what we wear, own, or associate with.
  • "All witches are psychic or have magical powers" Not all witches even believe in psychics, just like not all people that believe in psychics are witches. It's an interest, and just because they're are a lot of witches who are more open to metaphysical interests doesn't mean they all possess special abilities or are experts on them.
This is just a sampling of the stuff that really gets under my skin, I could go on for days but then I wouldn't get anything else done. What are some stereotypes that piss you off? We all love a good rant!

9 comments:

  1. Hahaha...visiting from Magaly's site.
    Love this list....I even stopped calling myself"witch" because of the assumptions people make. Funny how they don't have the same reaction to "Pagan" :S I Totally agree with everything you ranted, and will support you completely should you rant further :D...oh ...but then we would be seen as a coven....and would need 11 more "sisters"....guess I'll just follow you instead lol
    Blessed Be :D XXX

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm reading this sitting next to my Piano Man and when he saw the first item of your list, he roared. I'm always shaking my head when I see the warlock bit, and don't get me started about what makes a real witch (check the Witchy Enough Campaign for a more detailed opinion: http://pagan-culture.blogspot.com/2011/03/witchy-enough-campaign.html)

    And, oh . my . gods . I didn't even know someone said "Sam Hain" ha! was a God of the Dead. That actually made me laugh a little.

    Love this post. Thanks for ranting!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your rant is a wonderful post, blame the media & disinformation, & also ignorance & chuck in people being prejudice about anything & everything that isn't a mirror likeness to themselves... there is hope if we raise the next generation with wider views, less fear & more acceptance and it doesn't hurt to have posts like yours to educate & dispel common misconceptions :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've popped over from Pagan Culture and first, I have to say, what a gorgeous blog! Why haven't I found you sooner? (Note to self: bookmark this page when you're done babbling).

    Love your list! I'm right there with you :) My Mother-in-Law has this habit (as do many others) of referring to me (a Witch, refer to myself usually as Pagan in circles of the less-informed for the reasons Gina mentioned) as practicing "that Wicca thing". OOOOH this irks me. Okay, I have nothing against Wiccans. But there are major differences. I looked into it, it wasn't for me. Simple as that. Why is it that when we say "I am Pagan" someone's hearing becomes distorted...how do they process the sound made by the term "Wicca" from that?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for all the love!! @Gina I say we make a coven of two just so we can be rebels lol. @Magaly I'm now going to make it my personal mission to find the clip that describes "Sam Hain" and post it, it's pretty hilarious. @Sunshineshelle I completely agree, If nothing else I want to raise my son to accept others, there are far too many people out there who need to be wacked by a clue-by-four. @Polly THANK YOU. I love Wiccan's they're great but not all Pagan's are Wiccan, it's like that saying, all Elephants are grey but not all grey things are Elephants.. people need to learn terminology. I wouldn't call a Baptist a Catholic, and if I did, they'd correct me.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Loved your rant, and I'm right there with you! Great post!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Amazing post. Thank you so much! Im a pagan living in Finland. And even here (that is tought very equal country) when I tell Im a witch people call me satan worshipper. That is ridicilous since I don´t even believe that kind of existence.
    Great post
    witchy greetings
    Niina

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is a wonderful post. I agree with all of them but the one that made me laugh out loud is "All witches only worship only a Goddess and are nothing more than hippie, feminist, manhaters" I haven't heart that one in ages and it is so ridiculous! Have a beautiful day. Mina

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I often hear this one from my father. I think he assumes that if you aren't Christian it's just because you don't want God to be a man, therefore you must hate men. I should have also added lesbians to that list.. all Witches are lesbians, I've heard that too.

      Delete

Search This Blog