Witchcraft and Science

Paper Summary:

This paper compares at the experience of women accused of witchcraft in Europe in the 17th century to the experience of women in contemporary society trying to break into the field of science. The paper contends that women of the 17th century, who practiced medicine through their knowledge of herbs and natural healing methods, were perceived as a threat to the male-dominated field of medicine and society at large. It is also argued in this paper that women in science today are faced with the same set of beliefs and barriers that held the women of the 17th century back from their equal status.

From the Paper:

"Whenever one group of people obtain a majority interest in social order over another particular group, or over all other groups, the cries of outrage and abuse will soon be heard from both the dominant and the oppressed. The oppressed people of the group often have a legitimate point of contention. Possibly they were not the fastest to secure economic prominence, and therefore as the poor, they now need assistance to keep up with the leaders. Perhaps they simple lost a number of competitions, and became the follower rather than the leaders. In any case, those who are now in the position of following eventually begin to question the established social order. In order to bring about change, they often cry "discrimination" or "prejudice" of some other emotionally charged epithet in order to gain the public's support for their self induced plight."

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