Vatican: "Washing machine is more liberating than the pill for women"

// added March 08, 2009 // 29 comments //
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more from News and Politics:

http://www.smh.com.au/world/vatican-says-washing-machine-brought-righ...

The washing machine has had a greater liberating role for women than the pill, the official Vatican daily said in an International Women's Day commentary.

"In the 20th cenutry, 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," it added.

and some people say that religion is out of touch with society.
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29 comments // Vatican: "Washing machine is more liberating than the pill for women"

  • eden49
  • Owwmykneecap
    • 0
      Owwmykneecap  

    • as ridiculous as it sounds "labor" saving devices really are what helped open up society.

      Where life is easier and free time more abundant other issues can rise to the top.

    • 11 months ago
  • eden49
  • photochick
    • 0
      photochick  

    • Hysterical! But what about the sewing machine? And how about the ice box? Next we'll see the Washing Machine as an add-on for the Stations of the Cross!

    • 11 months ago
  • asherp
    • 0
      asherp  

    • To be fair, I think they might be right.

      If you've ever washed clothes the old fashioned way, you know what a labor intensive, tedious process it is.

      Doing one load of laundry can take all day, and then you're exhausted.

    • 11 months ago
  • Nephwrack
  • Ricky84
  • seanalyn
    • 0
      seanalyn  

    • Yeah youre right, Id rather have a washing machine than a pill that keeps me from having surgery every 6 months to remove scar tissue and helps me to not take massive amounts of pain killers every day. Yeah of course that ol washing machine is so much more liberating!

      Idiots need to realize the pill has done so much for women aside from letting them take control of their reproductive health....so until the Pope has a vagina, Im going to tell him to shove it.

    • 11 months ago
  • St_Alia_10191
    • 0
      St_Alia_10191  

    • Hey, we can play revisionist history all we want, but married women used to spend their whole days cooking and cleaning. Modern conveniences like kitchen appliances, the vaccum cleaner, and the good old washer and dryer created extra hours in a woman's day. It was a big first step towards equality and liberation, and I'm not afraid to say it.

    • 11 months ago
  • CalgarC
  • current89
  • marklemagne
  • sidedish
    • 0
      sidedish  

    • I don't foresee any catholic women actually changing their affections for the vatican after this. It's so sad to see such blind following of a group clearly dividing people from a personal relationship with their god.

      I would love to expose the contents of their vaults more than anything...

    • 11 months ago
  • Skate8boy88
  • oliholmes
  • currentlyreading
    • 0
      currentlyreading  

    • The scariest thing about the "Washing machine is more liberating than the pill for women" statement is not that the Vatican published such ignorance but that some people believe and live as if it were true.
      And I'm sure other religions have stuff like this going on behind the scenes.

    • 11 months ago
  • ClareW
    • 0
      ClareW  

    • the washing machine contributed most to women's emancipation? See, this is what I love about the Catholic Church, you don't even need to attack their ideology, they're digging their own hole.

    • 11 months ago
  • andyrobertsmusic
  • ksimpson
  • el_chivo
  • richjm
    • 0
      richjm  
    • Image...

    • Last week, Current.com user Seasaver posted a story on here about how scientists reckon all the female contraceptive hormones making their way into rivers via urine and all that are causing male fish to actually turn into female fish.

      Utterly petrifying. If I drink wine I apparently get cancer, if I use a mobile phone my head melts and now it turns out there's a good chance I'll grow ovaries if I drink from a tap. Dammit, science!

    • 11 months ago
  • unashamed_muse
  • ksimpson
    • 0
      ksimpson  

    • Inventions like the washing machine, the electric oven, and the hoover have all done a lot to liberate women's time and that's not to be underestimated, but I agree with Rich M - it's not in the Vatican's interest to big-up the contraceptive pill. The pill isn't all good news though - the strong hormonal effect it has on women is problematic, but it's now become the norm. I know people who have come off the pill after years and only realized then how depressed it was making them - purely due to the hormonal imbalance it caused. Bring on the male pill and share the responsibility!! And make men do housework too. That would liberate women. ; )

    • 11 months ago
  • julimc
  • kaecvtionr
    • 0
      kaecvtionr  
    • ksimpson:

      "Inventions like the washing machine, the electric oven, and the hoover have all done a lot to liberate women's time and that's not to be underestimated, but I agree with Rich M - it's not in the Vatican's interest to big-up the contraceptive pill. The pill isn't...good news"

      I agree. Good point ksimpson.

    • 11 months ago
  • fountaingoats
    • 0
      fountaingoats  
    • ksimpson:

      "Inventions like the washing machine, the electric oven, and the hoover have all done a lot to liberate women's time and that's not to be underestimated, but I agree with Rich M - it's not in the Vatican's interest to big-up the contraceptive pill."

      Whaaaaaaaat? Am I hearing this correctly? You say it's not in the Vatican's "interest to big-up" hormonal contraception. Why? Because it's in their interest to continue repressing women's rights, keeping women down, and generally making the world a less safe place for women to live? Is that somehow a valid excuse?

      Meanwhile, they claim that the washing machine has actually been somehow *more* liberating? A tool which has been marketed to women for housework, and the advertising of which has served to help cement the cultural notion that a woman's role is in the home, doing laundry?

      I agree that the pill has a lot further to go before it's ideal, and that men should share responsibility of contraception. But still, there's no denying the huge role that hormonal contraception has played in freeing women to live their lives as they choose, not as some ancient patriarchal entity such as the Vatican deems appropriate.

    • 11 months ago
  • ksimpson
    • 0
      ksimpson  
    • ksimpson:

      fountaingoats - not sure what your point is, but I'm not agreeing with the vatican - I was pointing out, as Rich was, that they are bias. So "not in their interest" i.e. they don't support contraception, so they would never promote it. However misguided that is... it's just a statement of fact.

    • 11 months ago
  • abbym0308
  • richjm
  • Humdrum
  • richjm

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