From Bitches to Witches / Margaret Hawkins

Ginny Stanford, “Portrait of The First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton,” 2006, acrylic on canvas, gold leaf on wood, 108 x 81 1/4”. Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.

On March 28th the world awoke to a refreshing op-ed in the New York Times. Hillary Clinton, who has been mostly absent from the political stage in recent years, skewered the by-now infamous Signal group chat in which highly placed government officials discussed their plan to bomb the Houthis in Yemen. Incredibly, the text chain included not only Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, but also, by some fluke, Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic. Discussing war plans on a platform as insecure as Signal, even without copying a journalist, constituted a monstrous security breach that endangered the lives of American servicemen and women.  

Clinton was uniquely qualified to comment. Investigation into her own milder security breaches probably lost her the 2016 election. That exaggerated scandal inspired multitudes to chant “Lock her up!” every time her name was mentioned. The refrain seems even more ridiculous now. (Note that the same crowd is not calling to lock up Hegseth, despite additional, earlier accusations of sexual assault.)

Andres Serrano, from exhibition “The Game: All Things Trump,” 2019, fake dollar bill signed by Donald Trump showing Hillary Clinton behind bars. Courtesy of the artist.

For a moment, the old acerbic, hyper-articulate Clinton resurfaced. Her brief return made me remember why I love her, despite all the reasons not to. For starters, she’s such a good writer. Her lead: It’s not the hypocrisy that bothers me it’s the stupidity. 

I miss that voice. Hearing it again pains me, makes me think what a waste it was, and is, to lose the brilliant leadership she offered. It was there for the taking but for James Comey’s last minute reopening of the investigation into her emails, plus maybe a missed campaign stop in Michigan and qualms about her “style.” (Read: being female.) Sure, she had baggage and not only her emails; but her opponent’s baggage exceeded hers many times over. In retrospect, Clinton’s seems like the lightest of carry-ons compared to what came next. 

Video clip of UNCF  public service announcement: A mind is a terrible thing to waste.

Reading her piece, a particular sorrow descended on me at the thought of what might have been. It wasn’t only sorrow for every terrible thing that’s happened in this country since Trump’s second inauguration, though there’s that. It’s also sorrow for the waste of one woman’s full potential, what it could have meant for the world. Maybe, too, my pain was compounded by the project I was working on that morning. I’m revising a book about my sister, whose life was derailed by schizophrenia. Reliving that story makes me think of the derailed lives of so many that have been sidelined and silenced, especially women. But schizophrenia is an incurable disease that results in lives that don’t fully bloom. It’s terrible to think that natural human ability is far more often sidelined by choice and prejudice — racism, antisemitism, sexism.

Of course, people have treated each other unfairly throughout history. Power and opportunity have never been distributed evenly. And Clinton has lived a life of extraordinary privilege and accomplishment. Being underestimated is nothing compared to the cruelties visited on whole populations, few of them among the upper class. But her unique case makes me think of women in general, possibly the single largest brain-drain in history. Hillary contributed much. But as president of the United States, she could have done far, far more, for far, far many more of our own citizens and people throughout the world.

Some will remember the public service announcements from the United Negro College Fund that ran on TV in the 1970s and ‘80s: “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.” It still holds true. 

Yoko Ono as a witch with John Lennon at the Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus, 1968.

Hillary’s brief reappearance recalls another controversial and powerful woman who has returned to the news lately, a woman also connected to an even more powerful man. Yoko Ono, now 92, is seemingly everywhere these days. Her retrospective, “Music of the Mind,” closed at the Tate Modern last fall and is coming to Chicago in October 2025. “One to One,” a new documentary about her life with John Lennon has just been released in a few theaters and will be available on streaming soon. Fifty years after her villainization, Ono’s image is under repair. 

Ono, you will remember, was castigated for supposedly breaking up the Beatles. She was derided for stridency and aggressiveness and weirdness, for being a conniving, ambitious woman who emasculated and domesticated her rock star husband. She was characterized as a kind of sorceress who put Lennon under an evil spell. The documentary argues that, if anything, Ono was responsible for delaying the band’s inevitable breakup. She grounded Lennon, it claims. If not for her, he would have left sooner. 

“One to One” presents a picture that was always clear to anyone who followed their story. Lennon wasn’t kidnapped. He chose to be with Ono. He loved her talent. He wanted a creative partner, not another fan. In many ways he was a true male feminist, despite his myriad personal problems. He wasn’t especially nice. But he always defended her. He acknowledged her as his collaborator, an edgy and successful artist before she ever met Lennon, who was seven years her junior. Perhaps it was this level of talent and success that was most threatening to a public accustomed to seeing male rock stars hanging out with smitten groupies. Race prejudice didn’t help. 

Francisco Goya, “Witches’ Sabbath (The Great He-Goat),” 1821-23, oil on canvas, 55 3/8 x 171 1/2”. Courtesy the Museum del Prado, Madrid.

But that was 50 years ago. Not enough has changed. A woman like Ono was dangerous then and she still is — too smart, too independent, too powerful, too outspoken. In a promo clip advertising the movie’s release, young Ono sums up public sentiment: “I used to be considered a bitch in this society. Since I met John, I’ve been upgraded to witch.”  

Right. Blame a woman’s talent on dark supernatural powers. Promote bitches to witches. We know what happens to them.

Margaret Hawkins is a writer, critic and educator. Her books include “Lydia’s Party” (2015), “How We Got Barb Back” (2011) a memoir about family mental illness, and others. She wrote a column about art for the Chicago Sun-Times, was Chicago correspondent for ARTnews, and has written for a number of other publications including The New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, Art & Antiques and Fabrik. She teaches writing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Loyola University.

Visit Margaret Hawkins’ website.