The image is everywhere. You’ve seen it on tote bags, neon signs in trendy Brooklyn bars, and probably on your Instagram feed every October. "We are the granddaughters of the witches you couldn't burn." It's a catchy slogan. It’s powerful. Honestly, it’s also a bit of a historical mess, but that doesn’t seem to matter much to the millions of people who have embraced the witch as a symbol of female defiance.
How did a figure that was once used to justify mass state-sponsored violence against women turn into a mascot for the "Future is Female" era? It wasn’t an accident. It was a very deliberate, century-long branding pivot.
The truth is, witches became modern feminist icons because they represent the one thing women are still often punished for: having power that doesn't come from men.
The Great Rebrand: From Monster to Martyr
If you went back to the 1600s and told a woman she was a "feminist icon" because she was a witch, she would have been horrified. To the people of the Early Modern period, a witch wasn't a rebel or a herbalist with a cool aesthetic. She was a person who had literally signed a contract with the Devil to harm her neighbors.
The shift started in the 19th century. You can largely thank a French historian named Jules Michelet. In his 1862 book La Sorcière, Michelet flipped the script. He argued that the witches of the Middle Ages weren't evil; they were actually folk healers and rebels who kept ancient, pre-Christian knowledge alive while the Church tried to crush them.
Michelet wasn't exactly a rigorous historian by today's standards. He was a Romantic. He liked a good story. But his narrative stuck. It gave the burgeoning feminist movements in Europe and America a historical "ancestor."
Suddenly, the witch wasn't a monster. She was a victim of patriarchy.
Matilda Joslyn Gage, a suffragist who worked alongside Susan B. Anthony, took this even further in her 1893 work Woman, Church, and State. Gage argued that the "witch-hunts" were actually a war on women’s intellect and professional capabilities. She saw the witch as the original scientist and doctor, burned by a Church that couldn't handle a woman who knew how to heal people with plants instead of prayer.
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Why the Symbol Exploded in the 1960s and 70s
Fast forward to the second wave of feminism. This is where things get really loud.
In 1968, a group of activists formed W.I.T.C.H. (Women's International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell). They weren't actually practicing magic. They were performance artists and protesters. They wore capes and pointed hats while hexing Wall Street or protesting the Miss America pageant.
They understood something crucial.
The word "witch" has teeth. It’s an insult that women decided to wear as armor. By calling themselves witches, these feminists were basically saying, "If being a strong, independent, loud-mouthed woman makes me a witch, then fine. I’m a witch. Now get out of my way."
This era also saw the rise of Wicca and Neopaganism. Gerald Gardner and Doreen Valiente helped popularize a version of witchcraft that was inherently Goddess-centric. For women who felt alienated by the "Old Man in the Sky" vibes of traditional Christianity, the idea of a religion where the primary deity was a woman was life-changing.
Silvia Federici, a scholar who wrote the seminal book Caliban and the Witch, added a layer of economic reality to this icon. She argued that the witch hunts were essential to the rise of capitalism. By destroying the "wise woman" of the village, the state was able to force women into domestic roles and take away their control over reproduction.
When you look at it through Federici’s lens, the witch isn't just a spooky figure. She’s a labor rebel.
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The Modern "Witchy" Aesthetic and Its Problems
You can’t talk about how witches became modern feminist icons without talking about TikTok and Instagram. #WitchTok has billions of views. You can buy "Starter Witch Kits" at Sephora.
It’s easy to be cynical about this.
There is a massive difference between a woman being hanged in 1692 for "bewitching" a neighbor's cow and a 22-year-old in 2026 buying a $45 amethyst crystal to "manifest" a promotion. Some critics argue that we’ve commercialized the trauma of the past. They say that by turning the witch into an aesthetic, we’ve stripped away the radical politics that the 1970s feminists worked so hard to establish.
But there’s another side to it.
For many, the "witchy" lifestyle is a gateway to environmentalism and bodily autonomy. The core tenets of modern witchcraft—honoring the Earth, listening to your intuition, and reclaiming your body—are inherently feminist.
It’s about "the gaze." Traditionally, women have been the objects of the gaze. The witch is the one who gazes back. She’s the one with the "evil eye." In a world that still tries to tell women how to look and behave, the witch represents a refusal to be "pleasant."
Why This Icon Matters Right Now
We are living through a period of intense anxiety regarding women’s rights. From the overturning of Roe v. Wade in the US to global crackdowns on female education, the feeling of being "hunted" isn't just a metaphor for many people.
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This is why the witch icon keeps coming back.
She is the ultimate survivor. She lives on the edge of the woods. She doesn't need a husband. She knows the secrets of the plants. She is dangerous because she is free.
Even if the "Granddaughters of the witches you couldn't burn" line isn't historically accurate (most people executed were actually quite religious Christians, not underground pagans), the sentiment is real. It’s about a lineage of resistance.
How to Engage With the Witch Icon Authentically
If you find yourself drawn to this symbol, don't just buy the t-shirt. There are ways to actually honor the history and the feminism behind the icon without falling into the "aesthetic" trap.
- Read the actual history. Look into the work of Stacy Schiff or Mary Beth Norton. Learn about the Salem trials and the European hunts. Realize that these were real people, mostly poor and marginalized, who suffered.
- Support bodily autonomy. If the witch represents control over one's own destiny and body, then supporting reproductive rights and healthcare is the most "witchy" thing you can do.
- Connect with nature. Skip the plastic-wrapped crystals and actually learn about the local plants in your area. The original "witches" were respected because they knew how the world worked.
- Interrogate the "Witch" label. Think about who is called a witch today. Usually, it’s still the women who are deemed "difficult" or "nasty." When you see a woman being attacked for her power, recognize the pattern.
The evolution of the witch from a figure of fear to a figure of liberation tells us more about our society than it does about magic. We no longer fear the woman in the woods. We want to be her.
We’ve realized that the "monstrous" qualities the patriarchy assigned to witches—independence, knowledge, and anger—are actually the tools we need to build a better world.
The witch isn't coming back. She never really left. She just changed her outfit.
Next Steps for the Interested Reader: To dive deeper into the historical reality versus the feminist myth, start by reading Witches, Sluts, and Feminists: Conjuring the Sex Positive by Kristen J. Sollée. It bridges the gap between the dark history and modern pop culture perfectly. After that, look up the transcripts of the Salem Witch Trials via the University of Virginia’s digital archive. Seeing the actual words of the accused provides a sobering, necessary perspective that no Instagram filter can capture. Finally, evaluate the "witch" archetype in your own life: where are you still playing small to avoid being "too much," and how can the symbol of the witch help you reclaim that space?