Vatican credits gadget for liberating women

If only Circuit City had hung on a little longer, it might have promoted the hell out of this.

The Vatican's official newspaper, Osservatore Romano, has decided to credit a household gadget--the washing machine--with being one of main reasons for female emancipation in the 20th century.

The article enjoyed a headline that positively rippled with gaiety: "The Washing Machine and the Emancipation of Women--Put in the Powder, Close the Lid and Relax."

It suggested that the humble washing machine might have done more to liberate contemporary womanhood than, say, the contraceptive pill, or being able to get a job in an office with a bunch of unreconstructed, leering men. (Oh, I know at least one of you has watched "Mad Men.")

While I know that many might revere gadgets for making our lives easier and more enjoyable--men would not be men without the Rubik Cube mp3 player or the computer-controlled coffee roaster --I wonder whether the washing machine really can be ranked above, say, women getting the vote.

You just feel the emancipation the minute you set eyes on it, no?

(Credit: CC Blue Line Swinger)

The vote was not granted to women in, for example, Switzerland until 1971. This compares perhaps unfavorably with the timing of the world's first automatic washing machine, which appears have to have been introduced by the Bendix Corporation in 1937.

Perhaps the Swiss were waiting for all women to have a washing machine, so that they would all have an equal chance of popping down to the polling station.

Oh, in case you're wondering why the Vatican's newspaper took on such a challenging topic, well, March 8 was International Women's Day. And something had to be said to celebrate that, didn't it?

[alegr]

For Vatican, The Pill is as much the devil's work, as the hard drugs.

[ChrisMatyszczyk]

@alegr,

And let's not forget the evils of social networking...

Chris

[moleher]

Ah I get kicks out of fools who have never met a woman who lived in both the past and present

Sorry but I have such a woman at home. The washing machine and the dishwasher are two major wonder devices to her. And yes they have liberated her to a greater extent than the pill (side effects preclude her from using them) or the vote. She is not that interested in voting, but if she did want to vote she would tell me she would want TIME to read before doing any voting and time to do other things is the essence of what any woman would need to think about ideas of "liberation". So logically a washing machine is a huge asset to a woman who is at home taking care of a family because it gives her TIME.

Chris Matyszczyk should have to wash clothes by hand for a month in pennance for his sinful insults.

[ChrisMatyszczyk]

@moleher,

But, if you wanted to give the lady of your life time...um, well, why don't you do the washing?

I am off to the confessional now...:)

thank you for commenting,

Chris

[anthrogirl]

In the 1880s, the average middle class family had three sets of clothing per person. One set was in the wash, one set was used during the week, and the last set was for holidays and religious observance. Why was one set in the wash? Because it took at least three days to do the washing for a family of four or more people. The wash water had to be heated in copper tubs and all the dirty clothes had to be boiled. Then the clothing had to be dried; in winter that was done indoors. Clothes washing was so intensive that girls were usually pulled out of school on wash days in order to help- which meant their exposure to school was less than that of their brothers.
The increase of leisure time for women made it possible for them to go to school full time, have time for lectures and reading, open small businesses and go on outings. Cheaper washing machines made it possible fo women like my grandmother to hold down a job while raising 8 children, without requiring my mother, the oldest, to quit school in order to get the washing done. Becuse of this, women like my mother finished high school and were able to get good jobs, and o encourage their daughters to go to college. I am the first person in my family to have a Phd- and I am proud to say I owe it allto the simple washing machine. In another era, a black woman like myself woud be cleaning houses for a living- because of laborsaving devices, I don't have to do such things. In counties like Gambia, in introduction of simple grain-milling machines has made it possible for women to do everything from vote to leave abusive husbands to start businesses worth of micro-loans. Computers have not made anywhere near the impact on women's lives as has the washing machine and other home-based labor savers, most of which need little or no electricity in their simplest forms.

Maybe, when speaking on technology, you might want to look at the history of labor-saving devices and their impact on women. Historians and anthropologists have been discussing this topic for years. Washers, dryers and vacuum cleaners in their own humble ways completely restructured family life in technologically-advanced nations far more than did birth control or computers. If you want to check, just ask women in places like peru, Afghanistan or Cote d'Ivoire what they think would make it more possible for their daughters to gain an education and to start businesses in areas where the electrical grid is unreliable and leisure time is rare- a birth control pill or a washing machine? Which would help them have more time to grow food- the right to vote or a hot water heater? Or, don't even bother to check. Just do a week's worth of the family bedding and clothing using your bathtub, a wash board and pots full of water from the stove, after making your own soap from ashes and lye. If you have any time left over, you can write an article on how silly devices that help women are so much less revolutionary than the iPod. And don't forget to use a wood-burning stove for that authentic experience, in between cooking the family's three squares day while boiling all that water.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/1900house/index.html