She Was Hanged Because She Wouldn’t Submit to Her Husband’s Authority

Anne Hibbins is in the history books for being one of the women accused of being a witch and hanged in Salem, Massachusetts. Do you remember the famous Salem Witch Trials that happened in the late 1600’s? Well, according to History’s website, some 35 years before it became a trend to accuse random women of being witches and sentence them to death, Anne became a target  of her community. She was accused of being a witch and hanged all because she would not bow down to men, shut up and be a proper lady.

She moved to the Boston area from England with her second husband William in the early 1600’s. William secured a prominent position working as a deputy for Boston to the General Court, which offered Anne financial stability and stature in the community. Regardless of the respect the community had for her husband, no one liked her.

She was first marked as an agitator when she got into a dispute with a carpenter over the quality of the work he did for her. She went further than argue with him, she sued him and won. But she wasn’t finished. She decided to do much more than gloat. She made sure that his reputation in the community was damaged by implementing a smear campaign. Needless to say, the men in the community didn’t like this. It was the 1600’s and certain social rules were in place which limited the roles of women to supporters of their husband’s and nothing more. The act of filing a lawsuit and winning a case was typically the role of the husband and Anne had stepped outside of her role and caused a remarkable disruption. I’m sure the community leaders frowned on her husband William for not being able to subdue his wife.

But Anne didn’t care.

The elders in the community church felt they had to intervene to put an end to her mission. They called her in to meet with them and she boldly explained exactly what happened with the carpenter and did not apologize for her behavior.

The elders of the church could not do anything about it. Desperate to try to tame Anne they decided to bring her back before the church again. This time they questioned her about why she had usurped the authority of her husband. She had no apology for that either. She was ex communicated from the community for her behavior.

Anne didn’t care. She went on her way being herself every single day.

Her husband died some years later and without his protection the community leaders decided that they would be rid of Anne once and for all. Even though the accusation of witch craft was usually reserved for lower class citizens, Anne was accused, tried and executed.

Why?

The men were threatened by her and could not subdue her. They feared her. They wanted her to act like a lady, be quiet and allow them to tell her what to do. She would not. She died because of it.

How many times have you felt that you wanted to correct someone but did not because you did not want to cause trouble? How many times have you been disrespected by a man and held your tongue because you did not want to make him feel like less than a  man?

How often do you wish you could be your real self instead of pretending to be what a man wants you to be? What would this world be like if you could?

Every woman needs to speak the fuck up. If we did we would not have to initiate change like the Me Too Movement.

In honor of Anne Hibbins, who was killed because she would not sit down and shut up, I ask every woman reading this to take one week to intentionally dismiss all requests from men. Big or small, significant or trivial. Say NO.

We have to learn that we do not have to cater to the demands of men. We don’t have to be their dream come true. We can’t allow men to scare us into submission. We can’t allow men to drag us down and expect us to be quiet about it.

We are not against men. We love them and appreciate their loving support, however, sometimes men need to be reminded that our love for them is A CHOICE. Saying YES to their requests is a PRIVILEGE and not our DUTY.

So this week ONLY, ladies, we’re not doing a damn thing a man asks of us. The answer is NO.

Thanks Anne!