to think the washing machine has liberated women more than the pill?

[bettybosseye]

I'm serious, think about it, there are alternatives to the pill but only one to hours spent every day hand scrubbing and wringing piles of washing.
The pill is held up as something that gave women control and this is undoubtedly true but the humble washing machine has emancipated us from hours of drudgery every day and like i say it is unrivaled. The washing machine rules!

Yours probably right although I think that the pill gave men more freedom than it did women.

An unwanted pile of laundry is easier to solve than an unwanted pregnancy.

It is also possible, this is just hearsay as I have never witnessed it myself, that men can do laundry too.

No, I'd agree.

And yet still some women still end up spending hours doing the washing/ drying and ironing.

With gadgets to make life easier, expectations rise.

All the pill has done is make it all about the woman having to control when she gets pregnant rather than the man taking responsibility as well.

You'd be surprised, Annapolly. I lived for a while in part of the world where you had to bring in your own water from the pump, heat it, and then wash your clothes by hand. It really was an entire days work, and made me realise just how important 'wash day' must have been to our grandmothers / great grandmothers.

id rather have a washing machine than the pill anyday

and a dishwasher :)

annapolly I think i did say that there are alternative ways to prevent unwanted pregnancies. And it's a pretty safe bet that it's mostly the women in households who do the laundry.

YANBU, however women didn't die washing by hand like they did in childbirth. There is now an alternative to the pill but there wasn't a way that a woman could be in control of her fertility, other than abortion. We can not imagine what life was like before contraception and the freedom to use it, which still isn't universal.

An alternative to the washing machine?, get the dcs to do it

Well, I think the pill has had an overall better effect on women's liberation.

But, as I leave my house for work each morning with my washing machine, dishwasher, bread maker and slow cooker doing my 'daily chores' for me, I am eternally grateful that I can get my domestic duties done while out earning money! Women would be far less able to work freely if it weren't for modern technology. And no amount of bleating that 'domestic chores are men's responsibility too' will change that. The whole shift in mentality that women don't need to be at home, and could be at work may not have happened if housework still took all day to do.

GrendelsMum That's exactly what I'm talking about.

you are probably right. Which is a shame as it means that even today, laundry is considered a womans role.

that a washing machine would have liberated women rather than merely being a fabulous time and labour saving device.

YABU and a bit silly, the pill was a million times more liberating than the invention of the washing machine. It has saved lives, given women control over fertility and as a consequence of that enabled women to have careers that might not have otherwise been possible.

The washing machine just er washes clothes.

Its not silly
You are right. I can find many options for contraception , sex i can do without but a few days without my washing machine......nooooooo

If the washing machine has a particularly good spin cycle you don't need the pill or a man

GastonTheLadybird "the washing machine er just washes clothes" well du! but my dear without it you and all the other household technologies you wouldn't have time for the careers you talk of.
You would still have control over your fertility as there are alternatives to the pill( my op was very specific about the pill), but you would, as in generations gone by, be a slave to domestic chores.Silly!

Thank you coccyx

On the other hand, female contraception does appear to have been available in England, if not widely, from at least the 18th century - so what about the pill made its use widespread and socially acceptable? Was it that it arrived at a time when family planning was seen as desirable?

Gaston - are you not imagining how much time washing clothes would take without a machine?!

YANBU, so much so that I learned that the invention of labour saving devices was an important factor in the emancipation of women in GCSE history, many years ago!

DH won't ever share giving birth, but if we didn't have a washing machine we'd both be bonded labour to the laundry!

But then maybe that's because contraception has enbled me to escape pregnancy long enough to get qualified and a good job.

Don't forget the type of hard labour men would have been doing before the advent of affordable technology - hefting mangold wurzels, mining with a pickaxe and a canary etc.

Although contraception was available it was usually decided by the husband if his wife used it. Never underestimate the part that religion played in the control of women.

Women, even those with money, were largly powerless in society. It was considered shamefull not to be married or producing children. At the turn of the 19th century at least 1 in 10 women died in childbirth. Pregnancy around the world can be the equivalent to a death sentance.

Without the invention of the contraceptive pill I suspect we wouldn't have the array of contraceptive options we have now. And yes, washing may be time consuming but not as time consuming as many unwanted children/babies.

If I had to pick today between a contraceptive pill and my washing machine then yes the washing machine might win but if you're trying to take a deeper historical look at it then the pill would win every time.

Without the invention of the contraceptive pill I suspect we wouldn't have the array of contraceptive options we have now. And yes, washing may be time consuming but not as time consuming as many unwanted children/babies.

If I had to pick today between a contraceptive pill and my washing machine then yes the washing machine might win but if you're trying to take a deeper historical look at it then the pill would win every time.

But what about single men who own washing machines

YANBU

I reckon the jury's still out on whether the pill has actually furthered the cause of men more than women.

Some of you are missing the point! (GoldenBeagle that would be you!) I'll say this ONE MORE TIME, THERE ARE ALTERNATIVES TO THE PILL BUT NOT TO THE WASHING MACHINE! Without the pill your DH wouldn't have to share chidbirth because there are alternatives, condoms, the coil, implants etc..but loose the washing machine and you are slaves to laundry.