Angelina Jolie on Why the World Needs More Wicked Women
What is it about the power of a woman free in mind and body that has been perceived as so dangerous throughout history? In the past, the Old Testament command “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live” was taken literally. Tens of thousands of people were executed for maleficia, the alleged crime of evil deeds through magic, from the witch hunts in Europe to the Salem trials in America. The vast majority of these were women.
Like the ultimate conspiracy theory, anything you
couldn’t explain—from a crop failing to a child falling ill—could be put
down to the influence of a supposedly wicked woman. These were often
destitute widows, eking out an existence as healers on the fringes of
society, or younger women whose seductive powers could easily be
attributed to magic.
Women could be accused
of witchcraft for having an independent sex life, for speaking their
mind on politics or religion, or for dressing differently. Had I lived
in earlier times, I could have been burnt at the stake many times over
for simply being myself.
The accusation of witchcraft has been used to control and silence women
in almost all societies and in every century. Joan of Arc was put to
death by fire in fifteenth-century France for idolatry and heresy,
including wearing men’s clothing. The initial charges against her
included witchcraft, and she was accused of dancing near a fairy tree at
night—textbook witchy behavior.
Since time immemorial, women who rebel against what
is considered normal by society—even unintentionally—have been labeled
as unnatural, weird, wicked, and dangerous. What is surprising is the
extent to which this kind of myth and prejudice has persisted throughout
the centuries and still colors the world we live in.
It
is startling how often women who run for political office in democratic
countries are described as witches. Bring together a group of strong
women, and before too long someone will brand them a “coven”—the
technical term, to be clear, for a gathering of witches meeting at night
to consort with the devil. Women who stand up for human rights in many
countries are still labeled “deviant,” “bad mothers,” “difficult,” or
“loose.”
In my work, I travel often to countries where I know that if I were a citizen there, my beliefs and actions as a woman could land me in jail or expose me to physical danger. Female human rights defenders across the world are incarcerated for their political views or for defending themselves or others, with courage I can hardly imagine. For all our modern advances, the independence and creative energy of women is still frequently seen as a dangerous force to be controlled, often in the name of religion, tradition, or culture.
Consider
the estimated 200 million women and girls alive today who have suffered
genital mutilation. Or the approximately 650 million women and girls
worldwide who were made to marry before they were 18 years old.
Thousands of women and girls are murdered by family members in so-called
honor killings each year, as a punishment for exercising their own free
will. And when thousands of Sudanese women took to the streets of
Khartoum calling for free elections in their country this summer, the
order went out to “break the girls,” leading to scores of alleged rapes
by security forces.
Jacket, Celine by Hedi Slimane.
None of this is to dismiss or downplay for an
instant the terrible abuses against men and boys—including modern
allegations of witch-craft. But looking across the world, we have to
ask, Why is so much energy expended to keep women in a secondary
position?
Looked at in this light, “wicked
women” are just women who are tired of injustice and abuse. Women who
refuse to follow rules and codes they don’t believe are best for
themselves or their families. Women who won’t give up on their voice and
rights, even at the risk of death or imprisonment or rejection by their
families and communities.
If that is wickedness, then the world needs more wicked women.
Trench coat, Galvan. Earrings, Bulgari. Bag, Celine by Hedi Slimane.
But it is also true that women don’t wake up every morning wanting to
fight. We want to be able to be soft and nurturing and graceful and
loving—not everyone is born to fight. And we don’t have magical powers.
What we do have is the ability to support one another, and to work with
the many great men who value and respect women as their equals.
I think of a father whom I met the first time I
went to an Afghan refugee camp in Pakistan, during the rule of the
Taliban. He had been beaten so badly for sending his daughters to school
that the whites of his eyes were yellow from the damage to his liver. I
think of a Syrian husband I met whose wife became paralyzed after she
was shot in the spine by a sniper. They were living in a refugee camp,
with no possessions and nowhere to go, but I do not think I have ever
seen a more loving couple or devoted husband. And I could not be prouder
of my sons for the men they are becoming, the way they respect their
sisters and are respected by them.
Who we are
meant to be in life is something we all have to work out for ourselves. I
think we can often go offtrack as women, because our instinct is to
nurture or to adjust ourselves to society’s expectations.
I
remember when that moment first came for me. I was in my twenties,
meeting refugees in Sierra Leone during the closing stages of a brutal
civil war. I understood for the first time the level of violence that
exists in the world, and the reality of life for the millions of people
affected by conflict and displacement. And I discovered my life’s work
and purpose.
I often tell my daughters that the
most important thing they can do is to develop their minds. You can
always put on a pretty dress, but it doesn’t matter what you wear on the
outside if your mind isn’t strong. There is nothing more attractive—you
might even say enchanting—than a woman with an independent will and her
own opinions.
With love to all the wicked women, and the men who understand them. —Angelina
Styled by Elizabeth Stewart; hair by Adam Campbell at the Wall Group; makeup by Toni G for Joe Blasco Cosmetics; manicure by EmiKudo for OPI; set design byJack Flanagan at the Wall Group; produced by Nathalie Akiya at Kranky Produktions.
This article will appear in the September 2019 issue of ELLE, on newsstands August 27.
Alex Lubomirski has become their preferred photographer. OUATIH and now Maleficent.
I’ve always admired Angelina Jolie’s tenacity and authenticity, how she uses her platform to make change, and how she doesn’t let others define her: “Who we are meant to be in life is something we all have to work out for ourselves.” pic.twitter.com/6FWhBwarg5— Nina Garcia (@ninagarcia) August 5, 2019
