Thursday, March 12, 2009

Washing machine liberated women most?

Washing machine liberated women most?: "'What in the 20th century did more to liberate Western women?,' asks the article, which was written by a woman.
'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,' it says."

I would concur with that.
The old fashioned way was to take your clothes to the river and hit them on rocks for a while, eventually the rock was replaced by a washboard. I remember when having rippling abs was called washboard abs, not their called 6 pack abs, but when I was young we meant that the person had a beer belly. Weird how language changes.
Back in the Victorian era You would start laundry "day" on Friday night with an overnight soak with soda crystals, On Saturday you'd agitate and boil your clothes to get out the dirt, and they would have to dry for Sunday and for Monday you'd have to spend the day ironing to smooth them all out.
And now with electric motors, pumps and electronics you can wash and dry laundry in about 2 hours.
This is a massive savings of labor. The dishwasher is pretty good too and also adds the extra bonus of sanitizing your dishes which reduces infection.
Need to go with more detail here.

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