March 9, 2009 12:10 PM
Vatican: washing machine more liberating than the Pill
Causing all kinds of controversy today - The Vatican threw a wrench into the celebration of International Women's Day (who knew?) by opining that the washing machine was more liberating than the P See also The Vatican is right about washing machines!See also
The Vatican is right about washing machines!
Vatican: Birth control or washing machine? (poll)
I may be a minority, but ya know what? - I'm inclined to agree! Look for my next few posts as I explain why.Washing machine 'did more to liberate women than the Pill'
It may send feminists into a spin but the Vatican's official newspaper has pronounced the washing machine more important for the liberation of women than the contraceptive Pill.
In a long editorial marking International Women's Day, L'Osservatore Romano, the mouthpiece of the Roman Catholic Church, said washing machines had freed generations of women from the drudgery of housework.
"The washing machine and the emancipation of women: put in the powder, close the lid and relax," said the broadsheet's headline, above a black and white picture of two women in the 1950s admiring a front-loading machine.
"In the 20th century, what contributed most to the emancipation of western women?" asked the editorial.
"The debate is still open. Some say it was the pill, others the liberalisation of abortion, or being able to work outside the home. Others go even further: the washing machine." The first rudimentary washing machines appeared as far back as 1767, noted the article, with the first electrical models being produced at the beginning of the 20th century.
The eulogy to a domestic convenience which most women in developed countries now take for granted quoted the words of the late American feminist, Betty Friedan, who in 1963 described "the sublime mystique to being able to change the bed sheets twice a week instead of once".
Read entire article here.
And btw, do you think the brouhaha is because the Vatican said it - as opposed to maybe Angelina Jolie?
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Comments
The pill didn't liberate anyone. It enslaved women to the desires of men to the detriment of both.
Posted by: Tony | March 10, 2009 12:14 PM
Personally, I'm not offended one bit. I much prefer the washing machine to beating my clothes against a rock, altho I am headed there when the economy gets so bad that I can no longer afford water and electricity!:)
Posted by: Christi | March 10, 2009 4:00 PM
I love the way people say that the pill freed women to be "equal" with men.
Only with bad men, ladies. Since when was promiscuity a good trait for men? Or, now, women?
Anyone have any thoughts on this?
Posted by: Kara | March 28, 2009 8:09 AM
