CLP: Brutal Treatment of Women at Ireland's Infamous Magdalene Laundries Is "All a Lie"

[hrmjustin]

By Anna Merlan-Village Voice

So, what's perpetually aggrieved Catholic League president Bill Donohue mad about this week? Is it gay people? Is it the "bizarre" notion of gay people getting married? Is it all those gay priests sneaking into the Catholic Church (who are the real problem over there, in Donohue's mind anyway, rather than all that child abuse)?

The man has a bit of a theme, is what we're saying. But Donohue switched gears yesterday, taking time away from his busy schedule of gay-hating and light art criticism to declare, bizarrely, that Ireland's infamous Magdalene Laundries were "a myth" and "a lie."

In case you're not up on your Irish history, the Magadalene Laundries were workhouses where women and girls were incarcerated, starting from the late 18th century and continuing till the middle of the 20th. Inhabitants of the laundries were referred to as "penitents." Contrary to popular belief, one that was helped along by a Hollywood movie about the laundries, they weren't solely meant for unmarried pregnant women or prostitutes; some of their inhabitants were also neglected children, some as young as nine or 10, referred by social service agencies. Women with minor criminal convictions were also sent to the laundries. And some of their inhabitants were simply desperately poor and voluntarily committed themselves. (You can see a few surviving photos of a typical laundry and its inhabitants here.)

Most women, though, had approximately zero say in going to these institutions; once they arrived, their lives were characterized by brutally hard work, rigid restrictions, spartan living conditions, humiliation, hunger, cold, and in some cases, an early grave. The survivors advocacy group Justice for Magdalenes writes, "These women were denied freedom of movement, they were never paid for their labour, and they were denied their given names and identities."

Read more at http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2013/07/catholic_league_1.php

[PDJane]

1. Sorry, it's a little late to whitewash the Magelene Laundries.

Too many people, too much time, too much information. It was precisely what it said it was.

[cbayer]

2. You would have thought they'd have learned by now

that cover-up and denial just makes the problems worse.

They need a lot of sunshine, and all this guy is supplying is dense shade.

[hrmjustin]

3. This guy lives in a world of denial.

[okasha]

4. Him again.

I knew there was a good reason I stopped watching TV years ago.

[hrmjustin]

5. He always lives in a state of denial.

[Dawson Leery]

6. 1700 years of corruption from a false church.

[hrmjustin]

7. False church?