Today was the first night of my feminist theory course and so I decided to do a feminist blog post tonight.
1. I do not believe women are inherently inferior or should only strive to support and complement men. I do not believe the story of Adam and Eve.
2. I do not believe we live in an equal or post-feminist society; I see injustices in our world; I see sexism and misogyny everywhere.
3. While feminism is not perfect, I see in it the possibility for both the change and inclusiveness I seek.
4. It has given me a purpose and freed me from pressure to get married and have children on society’s schedule instead of mine, and allowed me to consider never following that path.
5. I once stood in a crowd of people and listened to a man tell the story of how he sexually assaulted me, and everyone laughed.
6. It has made me more knowledgeable of the world around me and, at the same time, made me more interested in learning and understanding more.
7. While I do not think I can change the world single-handedly, it only takes one person to make a change, and the more people involved, the greater the chance of success.
by 
I just want to say two things:
On point #1: I personally don’t see the story of Adam and Eve as having anything at all to do with that.
On point #5: I’m so sorry that both of those things happened to you.
@Lauren
You might not personally feel that story denotes men as superior,but many people use it (and other bible references) as evidence for women’s inherent inferiority and resulting servitude to men. She was created second, to be a companion and helper (not to be her own person). Then, Eve is the reason for the downfall, representing woman’s natural capacity for sin–not man’s. She is the temptress, and she must be punished. For thousands of years this story has been told by many people in such a way that they clearly blame woman for man’s downfall.
And about that second part, it’s a big deal that stuff like that happens, but I’ve come a long way to the point where it’s not something that affects or upsets me on a day-to-day basis. I think in most ways I’m most upset that a whole roomful of people thought it was something to laugh about. But thank you. 🙂
@Kathryn
But that’s other people reading what they want into a story, not what the Bible is saying.
“She was created second”
The order is irrelevant. Biblical Christianity hinges on humans being the most important creations on earth, but they were not created first. Light, land, water, plants, sun, moon, stars, fish, birds, animals were all created before man was in Genesis 1, and nobody points to that as being proof that plants are superior to human beings. Furthermore, there are MANY places in the Bible where God challenged the (then) cultural notion that being the firstborn had real significance. David is a good example of this. See 1 Samuel 16 to see what I mean.
“to be a companion and helper (not to be her own person).”
It’s true that God created Eve because Adam needed another creature like him. Some versions use “helper” here, others “companion”… the point being that it was not good for mankind to be alone. Adam and Eve were the prototype of marriage. But how is this sexist? I certainly would be insulted if you were to tell *me* that I was not my own person because I was a helper and a companion to my husband. That’s what a marriage is for. In the same way, he is a companion and helper to me. Why did the concept not get mentioned before Eve came along? There’s no evidence to suggest it’s indicative of anything beyond the fact that there was nothing to apply to concept to before there were two people in the world.
“Then, Eve is the reason for the downfall, representing woman’s natural capacity for sin–not man’s. She is the temptress, and she must be punished.”
Adam and Eve both broke the promise made to God, and they were both punished and cast out for it. God did not play favorites here.
“For thousands of years this story has been told by many people in such a way that clearly blame woman for man’s downfall.”
I completely agree with that. But there key part to that is the word “people”.
That’s all cool, and I respect you for having that interpretation, but there are churches in Christianity, and believers, that use the Adam and Eve story as a basis for women’s inferiority. I don’t say anywhere that all Christians believe that, but historically, that has been taught as what the Bible meant, and you will find people that say you are interpreting and their belief is exactly what it means. It comes down to perspective, but there is one such perspective (more than one?) that uses the Bible as a basis for discrimination against women, just like the Bible was used to justify slavery. Humankind’s reading of the words there (which differ to begin with) change over time, sure, but some things haven’t changed for the majority of people.
And I think it is still prevalent. I was at a wedding maybe three summers ago where the vows said by the woman were all about supporting and obeying her husband, because that is what the Bible teaches. The words “you are as inferior to him as he is to God,” were used. His vows were totally different and talked about being a good leader to his wife.