Those defending accused witches relied on the same antifeminist assumptions as their persecutors

Evidence

“Science,” in the form of naturalistic explanations of witchcraft, brought forth in defense of the accused during the 1560s, has been judged to be the only sane, “objective” viewpoint in an age blinded by superstition. But it has not been generally recognized that those who defended women against accusation and trial did so by utilizing the prevailing antifeminist arguments. — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature, 577

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the theme that even reform-minded critics (colonial inspectors of forced labor, ‘humane’ Enlightenment thinkers) reproduce the structures they critique — cross-polyad parallel.
• ADDENDUM: Relates to the immodesty article’s theme that apparent reformers often imported the very norms they claimed to transcend.