Behind every liberated woman is a ... hard-working washer?

In time for International Women’s Day, described as a day to celebrate “the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future,” comes an article from the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano with the following introductory sentences:

“In the 20th century, what contributed most to the emancipation of western women? The debate is still open. Some say it was the pill, others the liberalization of abortion, or being able to work outside the home. Others go even further: the washing machine.”

Articles like this one have already covered the controversial lines. The article in the original Italian appears here; use your own translator of choice to parse the entire text.

If you read the rest of the article, the argument appears to be that the washing machine countered attempts made post-World War II by men who came home to find their wives had gone Rosie the Riveter instead of just staying home and tending the house and family left behind.

The washing machine, wrote Giulia Galeotti, was a technological development that meant anyone could do the laundry, which in turn meant women suddenly had the time to do what they wanted outside the home.

The logic behind the above statement boggles the mind. Really? Then what about baking mixes ( Duncan Hines is named for a man) and TV meals and refrigerators and the pill? Oh wait, the Vatican has nothing nice to say about that. Maybe that’s why they chose to honor the washing machine instead.

Galeotti added at the end that the creation of the laundromat transformed laundry into a social activity.  But haven’t washerwomen gathered at rivers and other bodies of water for centuries? Didn’t Jesus meet washer women in the Gospel of John? Did Renoir paint this from his imagination alone?