It was only in the past five years that the Roman Catholic Church finally decided women still deserve respect if they choose to work outside the home, so it’s a given the pontiff doesn’t express the most progressive views on the female role in society.
But in its latest affront to feminine dignity, the Vatican has credited the invention of the washing machine with the emancipation of women. Seriously.
To commemorate International Women’s Day on Sunday, L’Osservatore Romano, a publication of the Roman Catholic Church, issued a lengthy editorial opining on the liberation of women. Since they had a centuries-long doctrinal practice of opposing equal rights for 50% of the world’s population, it’s really no surprise they evince little understanding of the hard-fought history of the movement.
“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 liberalization of abortion, or being able to work outside the home. Others go even further: the washing machine.”
And yes, the Vatican thinks we should go further in our thinking.
Clothes washing technology has improved to the point that there is now “the image of the super woman, smiling, made-up and radiant among the appliances of her house.” Because a liberated women still belongs in the house with her appliances, right?
So in the Vatican’s view, women have modern machinery to assist them with the “women’s work” that traditionally binds their gender identity to the household.
And when women discovered they had all this free time after popping their husbands’ dirty clothes in the Maytag, they decided might as well go vote, or own property, pursue higher education, and maybe get a job.
I would cite the development of modern household appliances as one small element in a larger mosaic of causation that helped the women’s movement along, but we’re really not talking about the cotton gin and slavery here.