Q: Is Hillary Clinton really a witch? A: No.

Even looking from a distance at the US Presidential race 2016, it is a damning indictment on American macho culture and keeping women in their place. But is Hillary Clinton a witch?

On Tuesday night at the Republican Convention, New Jersey governor, Chris Christie used all the alpha male swagger and posturing he possibly could in his speech to argue that having a totally inexperienced non-politician, who is completely out of touch would be so much better than a woman who has devoted her life to public service. The Guardian’s Angelina Chapin provides a real insight into the reality of the current Republican view on Hillary. Whether Hillary Clinton is the best person for the job of leading the USA, I could not say, I do not know enough about politics in the States. What I do know is that the hate-filled politics of many of the current Republican crop is not the way.

Politics in the US, as some might think, is often not about policy. It is about image and representing the interests of big businesses who fund your campaign, not matter how reprehensible those businesses or interest groups might be to some of us. Big business and the main interest groups are almost exclusively owned and run by men. We only have to look at President Obama and his failed efforts to curb gun crime. What gets to me in this Presidential run is the use of language to keep women down and not to have a real voice. I am not saying that it is all Americans. I have spent a little time in working in California and in Massachusetts. I found people showing respect and courtesy to their colleagues, regardless of gender. But the use of language must have an effect. Referring to Hillary Clinton as a witch provides an image of the witches in Macbeth, ‘ What are these So wither’d and so wild in their attire, That look not like the inhabitants o’ the earth, And yet are on’t?’  The history of witches appears to start in the Old Testament, Exodus 22:18 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. It is suggested that much of the references to witches were probably there to ensure that people of the Jewish faith, stuck to that faith and did not listen to the teachings of other tribes. Pope Innocent III in 1208 and later Pope Innocent VIII in 1484 really supported the murder of women as witches. Did they believe that women were casting spells and causing people, crops and animals to die, I don’t think so. My view is that it was about power over women by men. It’s always about power. Midwives were put on trial for witchcraft in Europe and the US right into the 1600s. Women could not enter university or train to be medical practitioners. As science advanced, midwives were left behind in developments that would have made birth safer. Women were demonised by the church and then by the medical profession. In the US, Midwives were banned by legislation in nearly all states in the early 1900s and it remained that way for decades. In 2000 there were only 5000 Nurse Midwives.

Hillary Clinton has also been referred to as a ‘bitch’. Well, to be honest she is referred to by every name that aims to keep women subjugated. Again, it’s the use of language. Women are referred to as dogs, suggested that a woman who is a dog is less attractive to a man, ‘as rough as a dog.’ I could go on, but all you have to do is think about the terms used for men and women and the images they conjure up.

In the UK, I am pleased that we have moved on from this petty approach. I would like to think that if politicians here were competing for high office, they would not be referring to the female in such terms. If they did, then I hope people would not support them and be horrified by their comments. We did not see this sexist behaviour in the recent campaigns to be the Conservative or Labour leader. What still happens in the UK is the endless comments on clothes, shoes, hairstyles and how one woman speaks for all women. Much of this comes from ‘red top’ papers. It is a more subtle way of keeping the focus away from a woman’s skills as a leader, and more on the ‘fluff’ to suggest, hasn’t a woman done well to reach a particular position in life. Yes, a woman has done well. They have had to work so much harder, so much longer and in many cases face so much more discrimination. So good luck Hillary Clinton, whatever your politics and views.