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Bringing up the family—today

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 August 2024

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There is nothing intrinsically virtuous about scrubbing a stone floor— nor about peeling potatoes—nor about doing large quantities of washing by nand. It is not sinful to put down a good plastic floor covering and wipe it over easily with a damp cloth. Using a potato peeler is not one of the seven deadly sins, and the washing machine was not invented by the devil.

When one makes such statements baldly, like this, they are so crudely obvious that it seems fatuous to waste one's breath uttering them. Yet there is a school of thought among Catholics in this country that makes it necessary to say such obvious things. Perhaps it would be better to call it a school of feeling, as there doesn't seem to be much real thought behind it. It may be as well to name no names; but there has been, and still is, a tendency among certain high-minded Catholics (male) to regard the scrubbing of floors as practically necessary to the Salvation of females.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © 1962 Provincial Council of the English Province of the Order of Preachers

References

1 A paper read at the conference on ‘Catholic Women in the Modern World’ at spode House, January, 1962