The washing machine 'liberated women'?

From The London Independent...

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”...

I very much beg to differ. The washing machine and all the other devices invented to make women's work easier actually brought about the enslavement of women to the idiocy of feminism. Before these devices were invented women had a lot of work to do, but then so did men. Women wanted to know their work was appreciated, so they complained. They didn't complain because they wanted the work to go away, they complained because men, as a rule, don't voice their appreciation all that often. Men men, as a rule, do approach complaining from the standpoint of a problem must be solved. so rather than express their appreciation for the work women did, they invented machines that took most of the work away.

Now, the work that men did went through changes too, but as machines took harder work and danger more and more out of the equation, it also created other work, they could dive into and enjoy. Men, traditionally, derived their identity and their self-esteem from their jobs. Woman, however derived their identity and self-esteem from their homes (which includes as the prime ingredient--the family). But as machines took away the work women did at home, they could less and less feel of it as their work. Thus began a crisis.

Unfortunately, women still had that problem of not speaking the same language as men. They complained of the work, expecting men to show more appreciation, and instead got replaced by machines. Now they complained even more. But before men could respond, this dumpy, ugly, bitter, outspoken housewife wrote a book called "The Feminine Mystique" whereby she got pretty much everything wrong, and cemented the idiocy of feminism in our culture.

Betty Friedan was like most women, she hadn't a clue what she really wanted, but loved complaining about it. But unlike other women, she took it a step further and attempted to find a solution. Without the work, women felt useless, whereas before they simply felt somewhat unappreciated. Freidan's solution? Women should become men. Women should abandon their homes, children, families and go get jobs like men.

For some strange reason millions of women actually fell for the bilge Friedan was pumping. The trouble was in order to do what Friedan was recommending, women had to abandon most of what made them feel like a woman. They could pretend for a while that a career was enough to establish their identity and self-esteem on, but in truth in wasn't, and never would be. Femininity was replaced with the fictional "feminism" which was nothing more than women trying to be men.

But when the reality of the utter foolishness of feminism hit women, some responded by abandoning it, others responded by becoming aggressive in their defense of it--blaming men for any and all problems that stemmed from the foolishness of feminism. They began demanding that the principles of feminism be taught in schools to children, so we'd have an entire society fully entrenched in its dogma.

So today we see women polarized, either rejecting feminism outright or embracing it to its extremes. Even feminism itself has become a meek and obedient hand-maiden to the dictates of Liberalism. While pornography victimized women, feminists give a tepid objection to it, sometimes. Radical Islam enslaves women, yet feminists can seem to muster the energy to offer even a tacit whimper against it. Feminist organizations have devolved into nothing more than pro-abortion/pro-lesbian activists groups.

Seriously, why would anyone in their right mind think that a lifetime of nurturing a family into a productive part of society be somehow less meaningful than churning out numbers at some bank, or making sure your company's latest, meaningless product appeal to the 15-25 demographic? Women left one of the single most important jobs anywhere, to become secretaries? Receptionists? Paper-pushing corporate fodder? Really, does that make sense at all?

That stupid washing machine represent generations of lost women, who continue to search for purpose and meaning in a society that insists they behave like men.

Posted by Danny Carlton at March 10, 2009 8:40 AM