Force Of Nature

A Fierce Streak Of Independence Has Always Embodied The Life And Work Of Angelina Jolie. Here, The Actor And Campaigner Salutes All The Free-Thinking Women Who Have Cast Their Spell Upon The World.

What is it about the power of a woman free in mind and body that has been perceived as so dangerous throughout history? In the past, the Old Testament command “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live” was taken literally. Tens of thousands of people were executed for maleficia, the alleged crime of evil deeds through magic, from the witch hunts in Europe to the Salem trials in America. The vast majority of these were women.

Like the ultimate conspiracy theory, anything you couldn’t explain— from a crop failing to a child falling ill—could be put down to the influence of a supposedly wicked woman. These were often destitute widows, eking out an existence as healers on the fringes of society, or younger women whose seductive powers could easily be attributed to magic.

Women could be accused of witchcraft for having an independent sex life, for speaking their mind on politics or religion, or for dressing differently. Had I lived in earlier times, I could have been burnt at the stake many times over for simply being myself.

The accusation of witchcraft has been used to control and silence women in almost all societies and in every century. Joan of Arc was put to death by fire in fifteenth-century France for idolatry and heresy, including wearing men’s clothing. The initial charges against her included witchcraft, and she was accused of dancing near a fairy tree at night—textbook witchy behavior.

It is so ludicrous that it almost seems funny, until you consider that a woman dancing or singing in public is viewed as illegal or indecent in many countries today. Iranian girls who post videos of themselves dancing are challenging what the country’s law and religious dogma still deems unacceptable behavior for women, six centuries later.