God's gift to women

In case you were unaware, Sunday was International Women's Day. Slate did a slideshow of famous women in the literary world. Stories of women gathering to observe the occasion (that I had no idea even existed) worldwide popped up on my Google reader all day long.

And then comes this article from The Independent about the Vatican getting in on the act.

As International Women’s Day is celebrated, the Vatican had a novel message for the women of the world: give thanks for the washing machine. This humble domestic appliance had done more for the women’s liberation movement than the contraceptive pill or working outside the home, said the the official Vatican newspaper, Osservatore Romano.

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

Lovely! I mean, I get that the Vatican would not be any sort of proponent for the Pill. Or legalized abortion. Those are all topics that I fully believe everyone is entitled to their own opinion about...

But what about suffrage?! Or the right to equal work for equal pay - a privilege for which Alabama's own Lily Ledbetter fought all the way to the Supreme Court?

I'm uncomfortable with the word feminist because of the spectrum of different meanings it insinuates. But really - WTF? You don't have to be a feminist to find this laughable... or insulting?