Oh yeah but what about the Maytag repairman?

Did The Washing Machine Liberate Women?

An article published in a Vatican newspaper argues that the washing machine did more to emancipate women than the Pill or employment

ZOSIA BIELSKI
Globe and Mail
March 10, 2009

Women, give your washing machines a squeeze.

An article published in a Vatican newspaper on Sunday, International Women's Day, argues that the whirring appliance did more to emancipate women than the Pill or employment. "What in the 20th century did more to liberate Western women?" asks the author, Giulia Galeotti. She goes on: "Some say the Pill, some say abortion rights and some the right to work outside the home. Some, however, dare to go further: the washing machine.

The lengthy ode, "The Washing Machine and the Liberation of Women - Put in the Detergent, Close the Lid and Relax," traces the rise of the humble appliance from a basic 1767 German model to more advanced machines.

"It's so disrespectful, but typical," said Katherine Spillar, executive editor of Ms. Magazine, arguing that nothing did more for women's lib than birth control and safe abortions. "For the first time in history, women could have real effective control over their fertility, and that's paramount to participating in civil society."

Readers have reacted differently to the article, which some believe is farcical. On wowowow.com, an online community for women, commenter "rocky rocky" said the article had a point, and recounted her own struggle with handwashing. "I remember cranking the wringer/washer my mom had in our tiny kitchen when I was younger than five years old -- it was a thrill to help her, but my arms got very tired."

Not as impressed was "rosiebond," a commenter on The Independent's website in Britain: "The economy of the household improved when women were able to control the number of children in the family, take a good job and keep it without feeling obliged to endure 'the divine gift' yet again."

Still another perspective came from "haywardsward"- "As a male with a family of six and having always done most of the laundry in our household, I am also allowed to feel liberated."