Eve and the Other

Western religion also influenced the negative perception of first woman, and its many mythic variations.
In the basic story, women as evidenced in the Judeo-Christian story of Eve being the Yahweh was
compelled to create the first human being, a male. He was called Adam and was given dominion over the
earth. Adam needed a companion, so Yahweh created Eve. This companion was taken from Adam's rib-
thus, she was flesh of his flesh. Although Eve was an afterthought and a mere companion, she was of
Adam's flesh and to some extent, an equal.

Together, Adam and Even were given a good life in the Garden of Paradise. They were warned not to eat
from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. A wily animal, usually taken to be the devil cloaked in the
form of a snake, seduced Eve to take a fruit from the tree and share it with Adam. Perhaps the snake
seduced Eve because it perceived that she was the weaker one or because she was more open to
listening. Whatever the reason, Adam and Eve were banished by Yahweh to live outside the Garden, and
it was their lot to toil for their food. Eve had caused the downfall of humanity because she had listened
to the snake. It must be noted that this story shows how a woman had deprived all humankind the
abundance that the Garden of Paradise had to offer. A woman's folly had brought suffering to man.

The same story template is presented in the story of Pandora. In the Greek myth, Pandora was the first
woman created by Zeus as a form of petty revenge on mankind because they had received the gift of fire
from Prometheus. Pandora was made to be the most beautiful Pandora was t and desirable woman ever
created and was given to Epimetheus as a gift. Epimetheus was warned by Prometheus not to accept any
gift from Zeus, but he was eventually persuaded to receive Pandora because his refusal would anger
Zeus. Zeus made Pandora foolish and idle. One day, she opened the jar where Prometheus locked away
the Sprites that can cause mankind grief such as old age, sickness, and vice. Prometheus warned
Epimetheus to keep the jar closed, but the foolishness of a woman let the Sprites loose, stinging
Epimetheus and Pandora and plaguing all of humanity. In both stories, women were perceived as the
cause of the downfall of mankind because of their weakness.

Miles links the fall of the goddess cult to the rise in discriminatory treatment against women; the
progression from diminished status. The fall of the mother goddess, the rise of goddess worship to
phallus worship may be connected to their phallocentric worship, and the negative implications of a
woman's role in the Christian Bible story fuel the negative perception of women. Women were viewed of
lesser value than men, or were deemed the root of all sufferings. They were perceived to be feeble.
minded, manipulative, or with no moral fortitude. In the most extreme sense, women had the potential
to cause the downfall of great men. As shown by the stories of Eve and Pandora, woman was casted as
the bearer of suffering because she was weak-willed and could not be trusted; she could not be allowed
to be left alone lest she cause some trouble. Women were the catalyst for men to lose their reason and
responsibility. Therefore, men convinced themselves that women were unfit or incapable to run
governments, set standards for literature and commerce, be priests, or be left to their own devices. This
sentiment can be seen echoed time and again in written texts from various cultures. Most cultures have
paranoia against women since the emergence of phallocentric societies. One may even suspect that
there appears a concerted but unconscious desire to suppress the possibility of women rediscovering
their own preeminent position in society.

The misogynistic treatment of women by Christianity, for instance, is puzzling. Jesus Christ was clearly a
person who believed in the capabilities of women and promoted their place as leaders among his
disciples. His close relationship with women, his respect for their authority, and the fact that some of
them even became his closest friends and followers empowered many women to become leaders of the
early Church. They even served as deacons. However, St. Paul in 1 Timothy 2:12, said that he would not
"suffer a woman to teach in Church" or have authority over man. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 11, St. Paul
stated that women should be silent in Church and should be subject to man. Many of the great religions,
especially when they were already established, seemed to have the inclination to marginalize women.

Despite the founder's respect for women, the subsequent leaders of these religions seemed to have the
need to denigrate women and assert their feebleness and inadequacy. A recognized great thinker like St.
Thomas shared this notion about women: "It was necessary for woman to be made, as the Scripture
says, as a "helper" to man; not, indeed, as a Mother works, as some say, since man can helpmate in be
more efficiently helped by another man in other works: but as a helper in the work of generation..
Among perfect animals, the active power of generation belongs to the male sex, and the passive power
to the female. And as among animals, there is a vital operation nobler than generation, to which their
life is principally directed; therefore, the male sex is not found in continual union with the female in
perfect animals, but only at the time of coition; so that we may consider that by this means the male and
female are one, as in plants they are always united; although in some cases one of them preponderates,
and in some the other. But man is yet further ordered to a still nobler vital action, and that is intellectual
operation. Therefore, there was greater reason for the distinction of these two forces in man; so that the
female should be produced separately from the male; although they are camally united for generation.
Therefore, directly after the formation of woman, it was said: 'And they shall be two in one flesh' (Gn.
2:24)."172

The passage is an expression of the low perception of the men of the Church on women. Others see
women as the consorts of the devil, the beguiler of men, and the potential cause of every human misery
by offending the holy with their impurities.

It is unknown if Eve and Pandora were the first expressions of the distrust of women, but they certainly
embody this disdain for the deceitful, dangerous, and flighty character of women. In these stories, there
appears to be a pervasive belief about women rooted in the foundational civilizations. People are
inclined to believe that women are dangerous and must be controlled if not suppressed. This belief is
especially true of their sexuality. In numerous and significant instances, women have been referred to as
the sex that seduces man and makes him lose his orientation toward the true good-which is the eternal
life beyond the flesh.
Although it is puzzling why some of the world's religions are so biased against
women, the fear theory offers some explanation for it. Miles speculates
that: ..."male supremacy does more than imply female inferiority; it demands
it. How then was that demand brought home to each and every woman? The
first step had to be the eradication of all traces of women's previous
superiority. This meant the onslaught on the worship of the Mother Goddess,
on her devotees, and by extension to women's right to rule or command.
Thus, the vicious suppression of women in many of the world's cultures can be explained. Religion is one
major aspect that contributed to this suppression as evident in the negative traits attributed to women
in many religious texts. A number of influential works of world literature also contaion references to the
beguiling beauty of women that distracts men from their good reason and their true work.