The washing machine 'liberated women'

This may be one reason the church is declining, which reminds me, I have some laundry to do today while I work on my sermon and two powerpoints. I could not find a related article at the site for the National Organization for Women NOW.

I mentioned the article to my wife as she left for work this morning and she agreed with the article saying, "Yes, with the washing machine, she can be liberated and go to work and her husband who is staying home today can do the laundry because it is finally easy enough for men to do, so therefore it is liberating for women." I think I married her for her logic!!! and good looks, and, and, and................................

As International Women’s Day is celebrated, the Vatican had a novel message for the women of the world: give thanks for the washing machine. This humble domestic appliance had done more for the women’s liberation movement than the contraceptive pill or working outside the home, said the the official Vatican newspaper, Osservatore Romano.

“In the 20th century, what contributed most to the emancipation of Western women?” questioned the article. “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 article is entitled, “The washing machine and the emancipation of women: put in the powder, close the lid and relax”, taking its name from the Washy Talky, the Electrolux bilingual-talking washing-machine launched in India seven years ago, which would remind the absent-minded housewife how to use the appliance.

The Catholic Church was never likely to laud the pill for its transformative power on women’s lives. Since Pope Benedict became the leader of the world’s 1.1 billion Catholics, he has published a religious document condemning contraception for “negating the intimate truth of conjugal love, with which the divine gift [of life] is communicated” and has urged pharmacists to refuse to dispense the morning-after pill. The Osservatore Romano held the pill responsible for polluting the environment and contributing to male infertility.