“The Right Step towards a Woman’s Satisfaction?”: Washing Machine as a New Piece of Technology and the Construction of the Role of Women as Housewives in Socialist Slovenia

Abstract

This article discusses political implications of the fact that technological development and consumption in socialism are nowadays shown as a failed project of the socialist production. This generates a view that the Yugoslav socialism was never a part of modernity. The paper also argues that, unlike in the case of non-mechanical hand washing, the washing machine as a new piece of technology enabled the participation of men in doing laundry for the first time because of the stereotypical relationship between men and technology. The article also discusses ambiguities in understanding, using and relocating the time saved by using a washing machine (which promised the reduction of time) used for housework.