I've been really curious to why the majority of victims were female? I heard of the reasons for the outbreaks that started were political and economical reasons + weather conditions... so I'm still lost as to why it was one gender more than the other being persecuted as witches? Or can that just not be explained?
(Sorry, was just interested in the topic, but couldnt seem to find anything - Although I do understand not ALL the victims were female)
hi! not discouraging further discussion here, but you may get something out of these earlier posts
Why were most witchcraft accusations directed at women? - /u/JosephRMcCarthy looks at cultural biases against women
Why were the victims of witch-hunts mostly women? - /u/skgoa continues the cultural bias theme; /u/Ada_Love suggests widows targeted for their land
How gendered were the anti-witchcraft movements of the 15th-17th centuries in Western Europe? - /u/Viae again raises the issue of property; /u/mormengil gives stats from the Salem witch trials
In medieval England, was anybody ever employed as a "wizard"? - /u/oxfordkentuckian quotes some law codes
Sorcerers, Witches and Magicians - What did these people actually do? - /u/idjet quotes an illuminating law
Were there ever any cases of "Wizards" being put to death during the period of hysteria about witchcraft? How were they treated as opposed to the women in their "trials"? - /u/idjet provides some stats
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BBC Radio 4 had a very interesting programme on this topic called 'Witchcraft', it's available on their website now. It seems that it was a result of misogyny based on interpretations of gender from the Bible, Eve being the one to give in to temptation first. It was accepted that women were more susceptible to the Devil's temptations. Kramer's writings are particularly misogynistic, he (a witch finder and priest) talks about 'women's slippery tongues' and their uncontrollable sexual desires. The relation to the harvests is to do with fertility, it was believed that sexual relations with the devil (or other sinful sex) would lead to crops failing, infant death, infertility and miscarriage. Older single women without children were also easier to target, who was going to protect them from scapegoating?
Source: Bragg, Melvin. “Witchcraft, In Our Time - BBC Radio 4.” BBC. Accessed April 20, 2015. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p004y2b0.