Slippery tongued Witches by Claire Bullion

“It is still Eve the temptress that we must beware in any woman” St Augustine (354-430 CE)

I’ve been annoyed recently by suggestions that the ‘feminization’ of institutions  involves increased deceit and manipulation because of an inherent deviousness to be found in women. Why is the idea of the manipulative woman still so powerful in our culture? When 165 of the 193 countries with UN membership are led by men and the top 10 richest people in the world are all men, why are these manipulative women doing so badly? Are men manipulating women to think they are manipulative? Both  Helen Andrews (2025) and J. Stone (2019) in their essays, which insist that the increase representation of women in institutions is ruining the world, quote the work of Harvard Lecturer Joyce Benenson as evidence of this inherent feminine deviousness that needs to protected against.

“Woman, by her nature, is the instrument of the devil. A woman’s voice is the hissing of the serpent” Pope Urban II (c.1035-1099CE)

Benenson’s interesting and extensive research lead her to conclude that women and men have evolved different survival behaviours (Benenson, 2014, p.17), women specializing in avoiding conflict and excluding competitors. This has been used to reinforce the stereotype of devious women using indirect means of aggression against other women as well as social exclusion – think malicious gossip and cancel culture. While Benenson’s research is impressive in its scope I do find her conclusions problematic. They read more like one interpretation of some information, rather than inconclusive proof. Looking at Benensons research paper “Self-protection as an adaptive female strategy” I found the references she presents as facts were often ambiguous pieces of work; for example evidence of women competing with other women for resources was based on co-wife conflict in polygynous families, which I would consider quite a specific situation to generalize from. Some of her evidence for women as malicious gossips was based on a  study of the Aka foraging tribe of Central African Republic where the results only became significant once anger “was controlled for”. Surely taking anger out of the equation is beside the point and I question whether a western researcher was really able to get an insider’s view of this culturally distinct tribe. Michele Hoffnung suggests Benenson exhibits an androcentric view that “seems to come from another era”, concluding “Benenson does not present clear and convincing evidence that these differences are biological or essential”.

I remember bringing up my two daughters, hearing women with sons say they were glad they didn’t have to deal with the bitchiness of girls, which surprised me because my daughters were in a predominately male primary school where the boys teased each other (and the girls) relentlessly. Is it a question of semantics, bitchy gossips rather than laddish banter?

It made me think of the witch trails and the accusations of deceitful, envious women. “When a woman thinks alone she is evil” (Kramer, 1486). Putting secret hexes on the innocent, stealing men’s penises and keeping them in birdboxes. Nick Koning’s research found the traits of deceit and envy are universally attributed to witches, over time and across cultures. He explains how a fear of deceit and envy is an inherited adaptation which protects social cohesion, developed in our prehistoric past within small nomadic foraging groups. He warns “demographic-economic crises could rekindle fear of witches” (Koning, 2013). Could it be that the old deceitful witch accusation is being used once more to scapegoat strong independent women when some sections of society need someone to blame for their perceived misfortunes? This makes me think of  the ‘ditch the witch’ campaign in Australia against Julia Gilard and in the US, satanic witch accusations against ‘crooked Hillary’ Clinton. Historian Lucy Worsley suggests  “the prejudices that led to witch-hunts haven’t completely disappeared. It’s still the case that women – especially odd-seeming, mouthy ones – often feel the anger of the men whose hackles they raise” (2022).

“Everybody should boycott the @megynkelly show. Never worth watching. Always a hit on Trump! She is sick, & the most overrated person on TV” (Donald Trump on X, March 2016)

I’m further wondering about the influence of the patriarchy, capitalism and Christianity on the creation of the deceitful woman witch stereotype.

Silvia Federici, in her fascinating book Caliban and the Witch, describes how during the 16^th and 17^th centuries Women’s rights and status were eroded when they were no longer allowed to earn a wage for their work and lost their reproduction rights as a culmination of creeping changes that accompanied the rise of Capitalism. She tells us none of the tactics deployed against women would have succeeded “had they not been sustained by a campaign of terror. In the case of European women it was the witch-hunt that played the main role” (2004 p.116). Working class men were given ‘power over’ their wives and children to help them accept their subjugation to the state.

The Bible is a fascinating pot pouri of ideas, beliefs and instructions from which many different interpretations can (and are) drawn. One of the most famous bible stories involves the deceitful first woman Eve, created as an afterthought to be a companion for Adam but disobedient in nature. What a contrast with some traditional/pagan origin myths of a benevolent Mother Goddess who created our world and all of nature with love, generosity and equality. I think these foundation myths matter.

Women were barred from becoming Bishops in the Church of England until 2014, the argument that women are not fit to teach men because Jesus only chose men as apostles. Further evidence is quoted from in a line in an iffy part of the new Testament (letters possibly from Paul (but probably not) and recorded by Timothy) “I do not permit a woman to teach or assume authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet” (1 Timothy 2:12). Whereas Paul is believed to have actually written the more egalitarian sentiment “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galations 3:28). The delay in recognising women’s authority in the church shows which interpretation has been historically favoured by leaders.

“The Bible teaches that women are not permitted to hold authority over men in the church. This restriction is placed on them by divine command and reflects their created order” Wayne Grudem (b.1948 CE)

These sort of debates could even lead you to wonder if men are infact more devious and deceitful than women, they certainly seem to benefit more within Western culture. Interestingly most studies into deceit find little difference in terms of gender although a few find men to be more capable of deception and deceit (Leisge et al, 2025, Waddell et al, 2020, Grosch and Rau, 2017). The popular personality test of negative traits, the Dark triad categorises deceitful traits as ‘Machiavellianism’ named after a famous 16^th Century Italian devious Man. So why does this trait stick so firmly to women?

“It was treachery with a smile on it’s face” Margaret Thatcher (BBC 1993) Talking about being forced from office by her all male team.

Who is more deceitful and manipulative by nature – men or women? I can’t help coming back to the fact we are all basically humans shaped by our culture and environment. How we see the genders currently doesn’t have to be the way they are always perceived. Allowing everyone a voice could help people to reach their best potential and I think society would be so much stronger if everyone was respected and valued. Certainly deceit and manipulation would be less necessary. Glastonbury Goddess Temple Priestess Kathy Jones has a vision of ‘Motherworld’ “the society where the patriarchal structures and values of dominance, power-over control and coercion, greed, excessive profit, destructive competition, violence, rape, war, slavery, suffering, hunger, poverty and the pollution of Mother Earth and Her atmosphere, are recognized as shadow expressions of humanity, which need to be challenged, deconstructed, transformed and healed”. This strikes me as a more feminized vision of the future.

Let us be awake or ‘woke’ to these insidious female stereotypes and challenge them. My last appeal is to women reading this, let’s reject the patriarchal idea that women need to compete with each other and instead raise each other up, listen, support and love for the benefit of us all.

References

Andrews, H. (2025) The Great Feminization. Compact. Available online compactmag.com/article/the-great-feminization.

Benenson, J., Webb, C.E., Wrangham, R.W. (2022) Self-protection as an adaptive female strategy. Behaviour and brain sciences. 45. E128: 1-65 doi:10.1017/S0140525X21002417

Federici, S. 2004. Cliban and the witch, Women. The body and primitive accumulation. Penguin modern classics.

Grosch, Kerstin, Rau, Holger A., (2017) Gender differences in honesty: The role of social value orientation. Journal of Economic Psychology 62 258-267 doi.org/10.1016/j.joep.2017.07.008.

Hoffnung, M. (2015) Theorizing gender differences: genes or misogyny? PsycCRITIQUES February 2 2015, Vol. 60. No.5, Article 6.

Koning, N. (2013) Witchcraft beliefs and witch hunts. Human Nature 24:158-181 DOI 10.1007/s12110-013-9164-1

Kramer, H. (1486) Malleus Maleficarum

Leisge, K., Heggenberger, A., Kaczmarek, C., Pitsch, W., Schaefer, S. (2025) Tracing the lines of deceit. Male cheating behaviour increases online versus face-to-face environments over time. Acta Psychologica  259 105373 doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2025.105373.

Waddell, C., Van Doorn, G., March, E., Grieve, R. (2020) Dominance or deceit: The role of the Dark Triad and hegemonic masculinity in emotional manipulation. Personality and Individual Differences 166 110160 doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110160

Worsley, L. (2022) writing in Radio Time but re-quoted in a Guardian article 17^th May 2022.

Thank you to Ed Gaskin for publishing online a list of Bible quotes about women.

BIO: Claire Bullion I live in Norwich, Norfolk, UK with my husband, two daughters and a cat. I am interested in Goddess spirituality and have been a part of the Norfolk Goddess Temple for about 15 years. I’m also fascinated by folklore and history. I am an environmentalist, feminist and trained person-centred counsellor.