Feminism and Household Appliances- Say What?

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The Vatican Newspaper reported last month that women owe their liberation more to washing machines than to the pill or the right to work. And Andrew Chung in the Toronto Star today reports on others who claim a link between feminism and modern appliances.

Economist Emanuela Cardia has done a study that shows that home technology has had an effect on women's participation in the work force. Using 1940s and 1950s census figures, she looked at adoption of home technologies and concludes,"Household technology was important..it eventually did lead to women being able to work more."

There is no doubt that technology can free anyone from one job; but does it not just create the opportunity for another? Is that a shock?

When I was a kid, I knew nothing of women's liberation. I looked at my family and said what's up with that? Why is my mother doing all these things? Why doesn't my brother have to make his bed? If he doesn't, neither do I.

Did my thinking have anything at all to do with appliances? I think not. It's about equality. In fact everything is related to everything and everything is correlated in some way. But correlation is not cause- that's STATS 101. So what does it all mean?

Let's look at one more example. The Star article reports on another study that finds a correlation between appliances and fertility rates. I guess that one depends on the type of appliance they are talking about!