I think I’m not a qualified person to talk about this, as I am a cis, white, middle class, straight-passing, able-passing individual who has never experienced oppression due to who I am. Let’s look at the definition of oppression:
“Oppression can refer to an authoritarian regime controlling its citizens via state control of politics, the monetary system, media, and the military; denying people any meaningful human or civil rights; and terrorizing the populace through harsh, unjust punishment, and a hidden network of obsequious informants reporting to a vicious secret police force.
Oppression also refers to a less overtly malicious pattern of subjugation, although in many ways this social oppression represents a particularly insidious and ruthlessly effective form of manipulation and control. In this instance, the subordination and injustices do not afflict everyone—instead it targets specific groups of people for restrictions, ridicule, and marginalization. No universally accepted term has yet emerged to describe this variety of oppression, although some scholars will parse the multiplicity of factors into a handful of categories, e.g., social (or sociocultural) oppression; institutional (or legal) oppression; and economic oppression.”
(Source)
And here’s a bit more on what social oppression is.
I will acknowledge one thing: Witchcraft can be controversial. I have had people become hateful or strongly opinionated about my practice and I’ve been in situations where it felt risky for me to talk about it, so I stayed quiet. There are people who won’t understand and may lash out (this is true with most things). But I feel that isn’t anywhere close to being the same thing as oppression.
I would welcome the viewpoint of people who are part of an oppressed minority if anyone feels called to add on or share a different opinion. I don’t want my voice and opinion to be the loudest and only one seen just because I have a lot of followers!
If you’re in a place of privilege (like me) and feel strongly against what I’m saying, I’d encourage you to reflect on why that is. There is nothing glamorous about being oppressed and a common theme I see with people who experience the guilt of being more privileged than others is they will find a way to consider themselves less privileged. Privilege isn’t inherently a bad thing, it just shouldn’t exist. Where we are right now is something everyone deserves and it’s our role to fight for that, not to hide and try to convince ourselves we’re less privileged than we are.
I appreciate the points that multiple people (tagged below) have brought up about the oppression of faith due to many of us living in a part of the world where a majority of the people and institutions that have power are Christian.
I do think it’s important to acknowledge that witchcraft is not inherently religious, but for some it is and therefore they may experience the same type of disadvantages as other people of non-Christian faith.
I did not consider this point as I do not practice 100% openly and haven’t experienced attacks based on presenting as someone who practices one of the many religions beside Christianity, so I appreciate your views.
All of @earthmoonlotus‘s thoughts are shared in the comments, @lumina-auream‘s thoughts can be found (here), @musaeadaa‘s/ @wearebornmagic‘s thoughts are shared both in the comments and (here).
Heatherwitch 