I suspect you are right. I also hypothesize that the wise women theory is derived from a wish that absolute male supremacy _was_ being contested in Europe at the time, because that would serve to more historically ground current concerns about gender relations and help provide an ideological/emotional foundation for them.
Be that as it way, Charles and Jenny, especially Charles, are way, way too emotionally involved in a question that is of purely historical interest. That's my last comment on this.
^^^^ CB: Well, that's a gratuitous _ad hominem_ that I can absolutely refute ( since you aren't here to observe my "emotions") I am very sober and analytical in my approach to the whole thread.
What's happening here is that your are denying the obvious. It is almost self-evident that withhunting is based in male supremacy, and this whole thread has done nothing but demonstrate that, even as with anything , there are a lot of other things going on as well: like class struggle. This discussion has demonstrated quite well that the Salem witch trials are rooted in male supremacy. What have you been reading ? The interesting emotional question would be why are you trying to deny the obvious ?
What emotion moves you to deny that women were resisting male supremacy at that time ? And that socalled witchcraft was an expression of that ?
Why are you denying the "wise women" theory ,when so many facts support it contra you and andie's discusion on this thread ?
The other point I forgot to raise is that some of the witchhunting may have been part of dividing oppressed men from oppressed women. The powers that be probably didn't want the women leading the men, or men taking leadership from women. Might encourage peasant revolts ( including by male peasants). That's another potential "vulgar" materialist cause.