That’s News to Me!

I’m a liberated woman! That’s right, alert the media, call the gang at NOW and tell them that freedom has come to the backwards-thinking, homeschooling, stay-at-home mom, have a bunch of kids and be monogamous crowd. I’m not burning my bra, I kind of need that thing, but I’ll think of something to do in celebration.

When did it happen? According to the Vatican, it happened with the invention of the washing machine. That’s right. Someone at the Holy See can see the truth and knows that the washing machine is far more liberating than the Pill. I totally agree. Of course, I don’t think the Pill was liberating at all. I think it fundamentally changed the dynamic of relationships between men and women and lowered our worth from one of partner to one of an object of sexual gratification. I’m a bit one-sided on this debate.

I’m thankful for the freedom afforded by my washing machine, I would also like to thank my dishwasher and my vacuum cleaner. They have made me the woman I am today. Without these wonders of the 20th century, how much time would I and my fellow women spend on things like laundry, dishes and cleaning the floors? How much time would it take to wash the clothes of my medium to large family in a tub in the back yard with only a bar of lye soap and a washboard? There’s a reason that closets in old houses are small. Women didn’t want to do that much laundry. We still don’t.

We walk around complaining about the mountains of work that have to be done, and never stop to think that those mountains are made just a little smaller by the technology we take for granted. It is that technology which allows us the freedom and the time for fun things like blogs and reality TV and also for the important things like homeschooling. Where would my family be today without the washing machine? In school. I wouldn’t have time for all of them and their laundry.

I think the Vatican got it right. The washing machine is the liberator of woman and her mind. Without it there wouldn’t even be time to complain about the housework. We take these things for granted, but they have made possible the freedom of many hours in the lives of women and yet they go largely ignored. Thank you to the makes of appliances who have freed my mind and thanks to the Vatican for pointing it out!