W.I.T.C.H - A Hex Load of Trouble from the Radical Feminist Movement



"Double, bubble, war and rubble,
When you mess with women, you'll be in trouble" Copyright @ by Jo Freeman

W.I.T.C.H -Women’s International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell: A Hex Load of Trouble from the Radical Feminist Movement


Lauren Erica Ralph

When looking at the various branches of the feminist movement emerging during the 1960s, W.I.T.C.H could be regarded as something of a gimmick. A tongue in cheek action based group of feminists dressing up as witches to cause mayhem and gain headline attention. W.I.T.C.H were the anarchic element of the movement, moving away from the more conservative political orientated mainstream groups such as the New York Radical Women. They cleverly utilised a flare for the drama and guerrilla tactics to have their voices heard in the clamor of social and political change and protest occurring in the 1960s.

W.I.T.C.H members would garb themselves in black, wearing cloaks, sporting pointy hats and carrying broomsticks. Their main target was corporate America. They issued the statement about this target in their manifesto that said 'W.I.T.C.H is a total concept, a new dimension of women…it implies the destruction of passivity, consumerism and commodity fetishism…W.I.T.C.H must name names, or rather we must name trademarks and brand names.’[1]

It is enthralling as to why they used the image of a witch as a representation for their movement. The image of a witch has been vilified throughout the centuries, yet the witch is a woman whose identity is not anchored to men or the family. The dark history of the Salem Witch trials in America and the even darker genocidal approach to eradicating supposed witches in Europe, magic and the supernatural have always been taboo, titillating to explore.

The 1964 comedy series Bewitched featured a lead female character that wielded control, all be it supernatural control, over certain elements of her life. Whilst Samantha the Witch remained content to participate in the domestic bliss of the life of a housewife, she is the one to rescue her bumbling husband from predicaments utilising her magical gifts. However, progressive this was, it was empowerment restricted to the domestic bliss of the home. Despite her supernatural powers, Samantha is still overruled by her husband. Progressive, yet still restrictive and not in harmony with the ethos of the W.I.T.C.H manifesto.

What is striking about W.I.T.C.H is the theatricality of their approach to putting their point across. Using all the associated imagery and rituals that being a witch would involve. Whilst placing their hex on the New York Stock Exchange, they arrived early to place glue in the locks. This stunt must have been media gold, at one point they made the Dow Jones dip by a few points.

They used peculiar and irregular tactics of sending nail clippings or hair in the post to a university department and handing out cloves of garlic inscribed with hexes to women eating in restaurants. Dramatic bold actions that put the frighteners on the easily influenced and stirred public interest in this spooky faction of the feminist movement.

W.I.T.C.H tapped into this image to spread their message, yet it did not prosper or endure to the extent that the caricature of the ‘bra burners’ has. The demise of the group is frustrating as it was their own actions that may have spelled the end.

Attending a Bridal Fair at Madison Square Gardens in February 1969, W.I.T.C.H members released white mice into the crowds in an attempt to provoke a wimpy reaction of the women attendees. This backfired as the women attendees swooped in to rescue the poor animals. More importantly, the use of the phrase “Confront the Whore Mongers” in their literature being distributed was extremely offensive to the female attendees.

W.I.T.C.H had succeeded in isolating the very women that they were supposed to be converting and demonstrating on behalf of in one motion.  Robin Morgan, the founding member of W.I.T.C.H, described her own movement as ‘clownish proto-anarchism’ as she swiftly moved on to form another action group. A witch does not hex her fellow sisters, and to send out ill wish to one of our own (author is a hereditary practicing witch) is to ask for this to be returned three fold. W.I.T.C.H broke the unwritten laws of witchcraft and sisterhood.

Not only did this movement look to be achieving something in terms of trying a different approach to keeping the movement mobile, but it also began challenging the preconceptions surrounding the image of a witch. W.I.T.C.H had promise and potential, but the drama and theatricality suddenly seemed to have hit a sour note, dousing the flames of the witch’s bonfire.  

Women’s Health Movement Milestones

The second wave of feminism focused on change, on eradicating oppression. It began dialogue about medical issues that women were enduring. One of the more crucial issues that were addressed was access to information for women about their own bodies. The Boston Women’s Health Collective began as groups of like-minded women meeting in each other’s living rooms to engage in the new feminist conscientiousness occurring around them. What resulted from those meetings is a demand for information and knowledge. They shared a desire to learn about their own bodies from people who were not the male doctors who spoke to them as if they were simply pieces of meat or a science experiment.

The result of this demand for information was the Women and Their Bodies printed course booklet in 1970 and lead to the publishing of the book Our Bodies, Ourselves. This book offered an alternative vessel in which women could explore and explain the issues of sexual and reproductive health openly and without condemnation. It is the product of a collective outcry for women to be able to control their own bodies.

The 1970’s saw the initial glee over the invention and distribution of the Pill fade. Women’s Health movements gaining ground in the fight for information about the side effects and risks of the pill through information leaflet. Essentially, women such as the BWHC were taking back control over the issues that physically affected them. Whilst this particular branch of the movement did not directly challenge the existing structure of society, it contributed towards a shift in the approach to female health care by calling attention to this imbalance in access to information.

The ethos of personal is political is never more present than in the Women’s Health Movement. Women were talking about such issues as giving birth, raising children, the menopause, rape, and lesbianism.  It approached such taboo subjects such as abortion during a time when abortion was illegal. The book has been translated into a number of languages and enjoyed publishing success across the world. This subsequently paved the way in the years following the activity in the sixties for institutional change in legislation surrounding healthcare in America and globally.

 Continued Below……

     

Is it really ever over? 1968 and beyond

The above pictures change my perception of the impact of the change that occurred during the 1960s. The left is from an advertising campaign around 1968 from a restaurant chain and the image on the right is an ‘off beat and comical’ costume that can be purchased from the internet today. If second wave feminism really altered the world for women, what did it change?

Accomplishments can include the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and 1970, court cases regarding contraception and abortion, sexual harassment legislation, and publications such as The Feminine Mystique and The Female Eunuch. The Pill certainly changed the control over reproductive and sexual health. The world shifted and women were fighting to redefine their role within that world.

But, when listing the achievements it reminds me of how far we have yet to go. 

Take the Miss America Pageant protests that took place in 1970 for example. Jo Robinson and her fellow feminists boldly protested and called for the objectification of women to be something consigned to the past. Yet, in 2017 we have social media sites where a so called celebrity is figuratively ripped to pieces because of the way they dress and the Miss America Pageant still prospers. Women in America are presently protesting regarding the right to have an abortion, an all too familiar protest that invokes ghosts of past protests in the sixties.

I run the risk of giving in to passion and a drive to launch into my third wave feminist rant, yet I am reminded that we too are in danger of looking at second wave feminism through a nostalgic point of view that is preoccupied with idolising women such as Germaine Greer, Betty Friedan and Jo Robinson because they had an impact on their circumstances and surroundings in the sixties and seventies. Feminism represents an excellent example of the questions surrounding if the sixties could really be defined as the period 1960-1969. Significant change occurred during these years and results were achieved, but it was not the end of the struggle for women in terms of achieving equality between the sexes. I like to regard the achievements and results achieved by these women and the feminist movements of the sixties as the foundations on which future generations such as a woman born in 1984 can hope to contribute towards during her lifetime

.

Will we ever be truly equal? Well that is a question, and as a history student I wouldn’t want to venture into Sociological arguments and rhetoric but I would like to think that the fight isn’t over and that flaming torch lit by first wave feminists, developed and nurtured by second wave feminists; can blossom into something us third wave feminists can proudly bring to a conclusion, but I fear my optimistic outlook could be challenging considering who is about to be inaugurated as the US President.

Photo credits:

Cattle Baron Restaurant and Longchamps Corporation Advertisement Campaign Poster

Joker’s Masquerade Costume from https://www.joke.co.uk/novelty-cuts-of-meat-dress-costume-beef~76884/

Looking for inspiration? Make sure you read….

‘ Going Too Far: The Personal Chronicle of a Feminist’ by Robin Morgan

 ‘Daring to be Bad – Radical Feminism in America 1967-1975’ Alice Echols

 ‘Embracing the Witch and the Goddess: Feminist Ritual-makers in New Zealand’

  By Kathryn Rountree

‘Sisterhood is Powerful: An Anthology of Writings from The Women's Liberation Movement’ by Robin Morgan

Questions and Comments are welcome.

“If you are a woman and dare to look within yourself, you are a Witch. You make your own rules. You are free and beautiful” W.I.T.C.H Manifesto

---

[1] ‘Who we are: Descriptions of Women’s Liberation Groups”, Pamphlet issued by W.I.T.C.H at the Lake Villa Conference, 1968