Eve and Adam

Recently, I wrote an essay (in Dutch) in which I criticised, in good feminist fashion, lingering gender patterns and power inequality between men and women worldwide. My experiences in Southeast Asia, where men continue to hold power and reinforce conservative sexist structures while women generally do most of the work (and, de facto, run the economy), inspired me to write this, as well as my general interest in the ways in which identity is constructed and enforced, and power structures are legitimised. Of course, as a student of religion, I am quite familiar with sexist worldviews, as they figure prominently in most religious ideologies.

I do not wish to suggest that all men are bad creatures, while all women are saints. The picture obviously is more complicated than that. However, I do believe that in many places in the world women continue to be structurally maltreated, and by no means have the same opportunities as men - not even in the self-proclaimed 'enlightened' countries of Western Europe. Moreover, I believe that, in general, women possess some qualities that few men have, and that we can actually learn something from each other - provided that we are willing to question the sexist myths and prejudices with which we are brought up. Let us begin by actually listening to each other, for a change.

Although my essay was quite polemic, I by no means intended to uncritically adopt the simplistic male-female dichotomies employed by some (radical) feminists, and their dogmatic assertion that men are aggressors, and women victims, by definition. On the contrary, I am interested in creative attempts to question and overcome such essentialist dichotomies, as they tend to reinforce the very gender patterns they criticise. Those who fight monsters may well become monsters themselves, as Nietzsche stated, and women are no exception to this rule. However, I do strongly sympathise with those feminists who realise that women continue to be marginalised, and suffer from (domestic) violence, on a large scale (even in 'Western' societies) - and are willing to fight for a better world. In the Netherlands, a politician like Femke Halsema may be ridiculed by the right-wing elite for continuously (and, according to some, stubbornly) drawing attention to this matter, but I admire her for it (not only for this reason, by the way, but we will talk about Dutch politics some other time). Gender inequality is a problem that needs to be addressed by politicians and opinion makers alike, for it continues to create much suffering worldwide, even though many powerful persons may refuse to acknowledge this fact.

One of the main means by which gender ideology - or, for that matter, any ideology - is communicated and enforced is myth. When I use the word 'myth', I do not mean 'a story that is not true'. For, as a matter of fact, I do not believe human beings are capable of knowing absolute truth, provided that it exists at all (which I seriously doubt, but I have no way of knowing it. Maybe I am wrong, and there actually is such a thing as absolute truth 'out there' - but then, if there is no way of knowing it, it is irrelevant anyway). Rather, I use the word myth in the Barthesian sense of the word: a story that serves to communicate an ideological message, but is not recognised as such - it is 'depoliticised' in the sense that people perceive the stories as self-evident, and do not realise the politics underlying them. For instance, stories about God/gods usually serve to explain and justify the existence of particular social and political patterns, relationships, and behaviour, while being perceived as supernatural accounts of, say, the origins of the world or the history of a 'chosen' people. And yes, that applies to Christian myths as much as to the myths of, say, ancient Greece.

One of the world's most famous myths is undoubtedly the Judeo-Christian origin myth, as it is told in the first chapters of Genesis. This myth has a clear sexist subtext, which has been recognised by many: first, God created man in His image; then, he created woman, the inferior being, from one of man's ribs. More importantly: woman is responsible for man committing original sin, as she is intrinsically weak and therefore cannot be trusted. There is no need to explain why this story is sexist, I assume.

However, one of the interesting features of myths is that they are never static. They may be written down, but they continue to be retold, reemployed, and reinterpreted in different ways, and adapted and adopted in different social and historical contexts. Stories are never finished; powerful as they are, they can always be reinvented and told anew (the most famous example is of course Walt Disney's reemployment of famous European fairytales). As long as there are people who tell them (in whatever way) and interpret them, they continue to exert influence - thus, they continue to change. Myths may be claimed, but they are possessed by nobody, and we always have the opportunity to reappropriate them. Accordingly, in my essay, I have decided to rewrite the myth of Adam and Eve from a different perspective than the version most of us are familiar with.

I wrote my version of Genesis in Dutch. Fortunately, a couple of days ago, my former Leiden classmate Selma discovered it, and offered to post it on her weblog and translate it into English. I think she did a nice job, so I would like to publish her translation on Rotsblog, so that those of you who do not read Dutch can read it as well. I made a few minor changes, but all credits for the translation go to her. Thanks, Selma!

Here it is.



Genesis

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was waste and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

And God said, 'Let there be light'. And there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good. And God called the light Day, and the darkness Night. Then the first day was at an end. God was tired and went to sleep.

The following day God created the heaven and the sea, the mountains and the rivers, the beach and the forests. And God got excited, and created the fjords, the canyons, and the barren deserts. And God saw that it was good.

On the third day, God awoke and looked at all the beautiful things. They were still a bit empty. And God created the fish in the sea, the birds in the trees, and the little creepy crawlies in the sand. And God saw that it was good.

Gods creating skills improved, so God created the horses and the elephants, the sabertooth tigers and the dinosaurs, the armadillos and the tapirs. And to crown it all God created the blue whales. And God was tired but satisfied, and the fourth day was over.

But on the fifth day God felt a bit lonely. God wanted someone to talk to, a friend. And God created man, and called him Adam. And the fifth day was over, and God went to sleep, only after saying 'Good night' to Adam. And God thought that it was good.
Adam watched his reflection in the water. He was quite pleased with himself. He had a nice full beard, white teeth, clean nails, and muscled arms and legs. 'I am so beautiful,' Adam thought, 'I must look like God. God has created me in His own image'

And Adam walked around, and he saw the creepy crawlies in the sand, the birds in the trees. He saw the sabertooth tiger and the armadillo. 'I am like God,' Adam said, 'but you are not, because I can talk, and you cannot. That means you have to obey me. I am the perfection of Creation.' And Adam was very pleased with himself.

Then he felt something under his foot. It was a little crawly animal, but now it was dead, because Adam had stood on it. Adam got cross. 'Why are you in my way!' he barked. 'Now you have soiled my foot, created in God's own image! Now your dirty little black corpse is on my sole!' And Adam went to the river to wash himself.

When he arrived at the river he saw a fish. He grabbed the fish with his hand. 'What are you doing in my river?' Adam asked. 'This is my river, God promised me this river. He also promised me the land. So all animals must obey me.' He ate the fish. And all animals were scared.

God called for Adam. 'Adam, I want to talk to you, you don't understand!' But Adam did not hear the call, because Adam was too busy bossing around all the animals. God was sad. God had created someone to talk to, but now felt lonelier than ever before. 'I have made a mistake,' God thought. 'I have given man the gifts of speech and thought, but I did not give him the ability to listen, nor to love. How do I make up for this?'

God thought. 'What if I make a second human... one that can love and listen, and can teach Adam how to do that?' And God created the second human, and God called her Eve. She was even more beautiful than the first one.

Adam saw Eve. She was beautiful beyond words. Adam approached her. 'I am Adam,' he said, 'and you have to obey me, because I was created in God's own image.' Eve looked at him. She smiled. 'It's okay,' she said. 'Go to sleep. The sixth day is almost over. Now it is time to rest.'

Adam did not understand what she meant. Her smile scared him. Who was this? 'Who are you?' he asked.

'I am Eve,' said Eve. 'I would like to be your friend. I would like to hear your stories, if you'll listen to mine.' Adam did not know what to say. She was stunning. Her eyes seemed to look straight through him. Her hair was long, and her body was so round and so much more beautiful than his. All of a sudden he was ashamed of his own square body, and of the hair on his face and his chest. For the first time in his existence he felt ugly.

'Go away!' cried Adam. 'I don't want to see you, I want nothing to do with you!' That was a lie. He wanted nothing more than to be with her, look at her, and touch her strange body. But he was afraid to say so. 'Go away!' He cried angrily. Eve was scared, and ran away. She cried. Why wouldn't he listen to her stories? Why did he scare her so?

God called them, but was not heard. Adam and Eve were too involved with themselves and each other, they were no longer able to hear God.

'How can this be?' Adam thought. 'She looks just like me, but still she is so different. We both have two eyes, a nose, and a mouth. We both have ten fingers and ten toes, we both have a bellybutton. We speak the same language but still we cannot understand each other. Why will she not accept my authority? Why is she more beautiful than me?!'

He approached her. She had stopped crying. She had gotten hungry and had taken a piece of fruit from one of the trees. It was delicious. Seeing how much she enjoyed this foreign fruit infuriated Adam. How could she take pleasure from something he did not know? Why hadn't she first asked permission to eat from that tree?

'Why didn't you ask me if you could eat from that tree?' cried Adam. 'That is not just any tree, that is a sacred tree! It is forbidden to eat the fruit, God has told me that in person!' Eva jumped. She did not know that. But how could something that tasted so good, that was sweet and sour and thirst-quenching, be forbidden? Didn't God allow them the good of Creation?

'Now God will always be angry with us,' Adam spoke with a strict voice. 'With us, and with all future generations. And that is your fault. From now on you must obey me, so you cannot commit a sin again. From now on you are my possession. If you refuse I will kill you, like you were a creepy crawly. If you follow me, I will be good to you. Whichever way, we have to flee, away from the tree of God, because God does not want to see us anymore.'

Eve was scared. She did not want to die. He looked dangerous, and strong. She did not want to fight. She wanted to know him, she wanted to see what was hidden behind those cold eyes. Maybe, if she followed him, she would be able to teach him, little by little, to listen, and to love.

'Alright, I'll go with you,' she said. And Adam and Eve left the place where they had met, and fled. They ran from an angry God that they were imagining.

And God saw how Her children ran away, and cried silently. But God knew that parents must learn to let their children go, and that sometimes they cannot hear their parents' voices. And God knew that they were not perfect, but She hoped they would learn to understand each other, learn to love, and that they would not hurt each other too much.

And Adam told his children the story of the sacred tree, and of Eve's guilt, and of the angry God. Eve averted her eyes, and said nothing.

And the children related the story of the tree and the fruit to their children, who then told their children, who told their children thereafter. And none knew what had really happened.


Illustration: Gustave Doré, 'Paradise Lost'