The Magdalene Laundries Of Ireland: A Case Study

It is just a fact. Women are heavily oppressed in societies around the world. Some would think that, as a result of this fact, the government protects the rights of women and thus prosecute the offenders, but this is not the case. Women are frequently not given justice in cases of women’s right all around the world. This truth will be explored through the case of the Magdalene Laundries of Ireland, which took place for over 200 years, as well as other small events that show true patriarchal prevalence throughout the world. Women are not given justice in cases of oppression because of the four pillars. Aronson argues that race is constructed because, “Physical differences matter.” And also because it is believed that, “Each group has a distinct
From the years 1765 to 1996 disobedient young women were sent by their parents to work in the laundries in hopes that they would be reformed. These laundries hurt and tortured the women if their parents turned them in for reasons such as sex outside of marriage, stealing out of hunger, and even if they had been raped. These women once put into the asylums were condemned to a life of work and cruelty. There was little to no chance of getting out, and the only possible way to get out (without the nearly impossible idea of escaping) was if a family member came to the laundry to get you out. Some women were fortunate enough to have family members track them down and take them out, but most of them were not. According to one of the 277 Magdalene survivors, the laundries would send a faulty report home, informing the parents of how the child was doing in school, or behaviorally. These women report that they were never taught anything school related. They were condemned to work. “The moral horror of the Magdalene laundries is that the abuses they perpetrated were not the outgrowths of simple sadism, or even of unmindfulness, but of a belief that they were intended for the victims' own good” (Lerner 280). This was the sad part. These nuns weren’t trying to torture these women. They were trying to show them the difference between right and wrong so they wouldn’t be prostitute or thieves,
Each pillar applies directly to the case of the Magdalene Laundries. First, “Physical differences matter” (Aronson 3). This, as seen through a wide lens, explains every form of oppression. Females, specifically, are oppressed by men and by society due to physical differences alone. This becomes known because females and males have the same mental capacity, though they are wired differently. Thus, the only difference that could cause these prejudices is physical differences. Second, “The differences in our bodies cannot change. People could argue with the truth of this from an anatomical standpoint concerning men and women, but nevertheless, it is absolutely true on a cellular standpoint. Males contain a Y chromosome while women do not. This is a difference that causes prejudice all around the world. The simple inheritance, or lack of, a Y chromosome causes people to be cruel to each other. The third point, which I have already hit on, is as follows: “This is because they [physical differences] are inherited”. And the last point is this: “Each group has a distinct level of brain power and moral refinement, thus they are naturally and unchangeably ranked”. This statement is believed by many, in order to prove that women, because they are physically different,