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Vatican: Washing Machine Liberated Women

By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 9, 2009 2:14 PM CDT
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(Newser) – The Vatican’s newspaper appears to have come out in support of the washing machine as God’s greatest gift to women in the 20th century, Reuters reports. A weekend article in l'Osservatore Romano suggested that the time-saving gadget polls ahead of birth-control and suffrage in liberating the fairer sex. It’s called “The Washing Machine and the Liberation of Women—Put in the Detergent, Close the Lid and Relax.”

After finding its subject, the article contains a lengthy history of the washing machine, going back to its first iteration in 1767. “What in the 20th century did more to liberate Western women?” the author, a woman, asks. “The debate is heated. 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.”

Washing machines.
Washing machines.   (AP Photo)
Pope Benedict XVI.
Pope Benedict XVI.   (AP Photo)
Pope Benedict XVI reads a copy of L'Osservatore Romano on a flight.
Pope Benedict XVI reads a copy of L'Osservatore Romano on a flight.   (AP Photo)
A curious cow who got her head stuck in the drum of a washing machine.
A curious cow who got her head stuck in the drum of a washing machine.   (AP Photo)
A man looks at a washing machine at a shopping mall in Mumbai.
A man looks at a washing machine at a shopping mall in Mumbai.   (AP Photo)
A story in the Vatican newspaper credits the washing machine as the driving force behind 20th-century women's liberation.
A story in the Vatican newspaper credits the washing machine as the driving force behind 20th-century women's liberation.   (©PinkMoose)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 10 comments
Guest
Mar 10, 2009 7:19 AM CDT
But, as you've told us repeatedly, there's something wrong with women who aren't interested in you, since you are (you claim) a nice guy... And, you've told us, most women would prefer a physically abusive guy... (You need to understand the misogyny underlying your "nice guy" self-image.)
Guest
Mar 10, 2009 7:11 AM CDT
Excellent! I tip my hat to you, Derni.
riffran
Mar 10, 2009 4:57 AM CDT
*slap* get me a beer woman, and change the light bulb, and bring me some supper...*buuuurp*.......and just think some women actually put up with that behavior...If I tried that my wife would fall over laughing, or hit me in the head with a beer..rofl....it's ..50/50 in our house....with mutual respect for each other, a trait we hope to pass on to our daughter, so she won't tolerate that kinda bs either....as for the actual article....what a crock....

Another take on the revelation
Telegraph (UK)

The paper's English digest
Vatican: The Holy See

 
newspaper • Pope Benedict XVI • women • Vatican • gender stereotypes • washing machine

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