Three Cheers for the Washing Machine!

MSN has picked up a piece about washing machines from the Good News newsletter, a subsidiary of Vox that I'd never heard of.

This one is well worth the read and definitely one to keep in mind the next time someone sneers about household appliances being mere "conveniences."

A good taste of the article comes from its discussion of a fact that might surprise many of those unknowingly liberated naysayers in the West.

Four billion people worldwide have to hand-wash their clothes:

Hand-washing isn't a quaint throwback; it's a time sink and a health risk, one overwhelmingly borne by women and girls. Time-use data gathered by TWMP [The Washing Machine Project --ed] in multiple countries is brutal. In Kampala, Uganda, people reported spending an average of 147 minutes per load -- nearly 13 hours a week. In refugee communities in the Republic of the Congo, it was 149 minutes per load, with some women spending 20 to 24 hours each week on laundry alone. All that time displaces hours that could be spent in school, on making money, on caregiving, and even just on resting.

Hand-washers in these countries don't just have to do the laundry -- often, they need to find the water themselves. In the Ugandan capital of Kampala, hand-washing used about 14 gallons per load. In Mexico, measured use reached 16 to 53 gallons -- far more water than might be used for drinking alone. Fetching that water can be dangerous. Surveys in refugee camps in Greece found 35 percent of respondents feared harassment or theft during collection, while those in the Congo named risks from robbery to gender-based violence.

Then, there's the back-breaking nature of the work itself. In a refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesvos, 87 percent of people reported physical pain from washing clothes -- hands and backs for all, legs for most -- plus skin damage and injuries from rough tools. [bold added, links omitted]

The article notes earlier that women did most of the clothes washing before the advent of the washing machine in the West. The washing machine and other time-saving machines and innovations resulted in such enormous time savings that America effectively doubled its labor force as women were able to pursue more meaningful and profitable work.

The West is in some ways a victim of its own success. Most people here have no clue how difficult their lives would be without such machines, which too many take for granted.

The next time someone natters about the "laziness" caused by these mere "conveniences," know that that person needs liberation of another kind. You may not be able to cure them of a propensity for pearl-clutching, but you can help them break the chains of ignorance about this topic by mentioning some of the facts from this informative and engaging piece.

-- CAV