Magdalene Laundries: Society and the Catholic Church

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The 2002 film, Magdalene Sisters, written and directed by Peter Mullan, portrays the experiences of four young women who were sent to Magdalene laundries where they were expected to work to gain redemption through intensive labor, typically for the duration of their lives. These women were considered “fallen” for committing sins such as promiscuity, pregnancy out of wedlock, flirtatiousness and even for being victims of rape or incest. These inmates were beaten, dehumanized, humiliated and stripped of their dignity. This film, based on the documentary Sex in a Cold Climate, highlights the reciprocal influence of the Catholic Church and society that formed the views and treatment of women, which ultimately led to the creation and perpetuation of Magdalene laundries until 1996. Following the creation of the Irish Free State, the heavily intertwined nature of Irish society and Catholicism allowed for a strict interpretation of Catholic teachings which overtly condemned, dehumanized and sexually repressed women. Distorted catholic teachings that formed expectations for women deeply affected all levels of the operation of laundries including the greater society, the inmates and the nuns in a way that perpetuated and facilitated oppression and abuse.
Society viewed a respectable woman as having utility for marriage, reproduction within marriage and domestic work (McLoughlin 81). If a woman did something to violate her obligation it was as if she faced a moral death, losing all her value and connection to her previous life. These values are based on the extreme interpretation of Catholic teachings which were exerted on society following the independence of the Irish Free State in the 1920s and 1930s (Hayes and Urquhart 96). The unrestr...

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...100 years, it is vital that viewers understand that this is a flawed system and that this is not only the fault of the church. Despite this fact, most viewers will likely make the inference thatthe nuns were partially victims to this system themselves.
Overall, this film does an excellent job at integrating many components that contributed to the cycle of abuse in laundries. The director demonstrated how the teachings of the church were distorted in a way that controlled Irish society and created deeply intrenched situations of abuse. These views were not only held by society, but many many of the girls themselves who began to view themselves and dishonorable and undeserving. The unrestricted power of the church in the Irish Free State gave church leaders the power to shape societal views, which ultimately led to the desexualization and condemnation of many women.

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