Between 1905 and 1915, artists tended to portray witches as beautiful sorceresses with blushed cheeks and ample curves. ... Daniel Gifford [an expert on American holidays who works at the National Museum of American History] has his own theory as to why this trope was so appealing. Rather than writing them off as superficial, Gifford sees these beautiful witches—images that were passed from woman to woman—as part of a shrewd power play, considering the historical context. This is the period of the New Woman—the woman who wants to have her say, to be able to work, marry who she chooses, to divorce, and, of course, to be able to vote, Gifford explains. There are lots of questions about how much power women have at this time. What sort of boundaries can they push? How far can they push them? What sense of control do they have over their own lives and their own fate? Witches, traditionally, were seen as having lots of power, and perhaps women wanted to subsume some of that without seeming ugly for doing so.
Posted on: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 17:21:31 +0000