Newsflash: Vatican Newspaper Runs Unsurprisingly Patronizing Article

Making the rounds today is the news that the Vatican’s official newspaper, Osservatore Romano, published an article this past weekend declaring that the washing machine has contibuted most to the emancipation of western women.  And yes, it appears that this article (written by a woman, by the way) is serious.  Now, I expect this sort of thing from the Vatican, but not from everyone else.  London’s Daily Mail solicited a few opinions on what would have made a better choice, and here’s that list: freezer, automatic car, wet wipes, chardonnay, disposable diapers, and the dimmer switch.

Umm, what?  What about suffrage and the 19th Amendment, Title IX, Roe v. Wade, Rosie the Riveter and women entering the workforce, contraception, and heck, Gloria Stenem and the entire 70’s movement?   And that’s all just off the top of my head.  While the choices espoused by the Vatican and the Daily Mail might belong on a list of what has made women’s lives (and men’s for that matter) more convenient, it seems obvious to me that these other things have done far more to enable women to blaze their own paths, or “emancipate” them. 

And even if you are going to go with things that have made women’s lives more convenient, while the washing machine would be high on the list, I think I’d go with the tampon.