Genesis Sets Back Feminism Thousands of Years

 

In the reading from this week, I came across a passage that talks about Adam and Eve and how that story may have inspired the notion that accused women witches are more dangerous than male witches. It got me thinking about how Eve is portrayed in the story from Genesis and how knowing the story impacts the way we think. And honestly, it makes me really mad. Men assumed women's bodies were weaker and therefore easier to fall to the devil. This thought probably comes from the Bible because, of course, it was Eve who was susceptible to the serpent and ate the apple. This was accepted as a given because the Puritans believed everything in the Bible and could only assume that women were the weaker sex. If it wasn't for this story in the Bible, would there have even been the Salem witch trials? I found this really interesting article relating Genesis and the treatment of women to Maleficious Malificarium attached below. 

Washington Post

The article relates the treatment of women during witchhunts to the way that Eve is portrayed in the creation story. Since Eve was created from Adam, she is thought to be a helper and a way to continue the human line. Furthermore, since Eve was created after Adam, there's a chronological importance, even though the animals were created before Adam. Once Eve talks to the serpent, many readers interpret this to mean that Eve had a weaker mind and gave in to temptation, but what if the snake talked to her instead of Adam because she had a freer mind and individuality? Then Eve gives the apple to Adam, and Adam begs God for their forgiveness. As seen in the picture above, Eve looks guilty as Adam pleads to God. 

I went to a Catholic elementary school and grew up reading passages from the Bible, and I wonder how this interpretation of Eve affected my mentality toward myself and other women. And how that interpretation would be different had the Bible not existed, or had been written from Eve's perspective. Another thing the article mentioned, was that a woman named Elizabeth Cady Staton tried reinterpreting the Bible from a feminist perspective. Shockingly, this did not gain much traction. It makes me sad that a story some people believe in can have such a profound impact on women thousands of years later. I wonder how society would be different had we not been surrounded by the creation story of Adam and Eve. 

The ways that Eve was portrayed in the Bible mimics why men thought women would be more dangerous as witches. During the witchhunts, and still today, women are viewed as more seductive and weaker-minded, which ultimately puts them in danger. Furthermore, as many men who led these witchhunts were Puritans and believed everything the Bible said, how could they not have blamed women and thought poorly of them. Complete belief and faith in an idea are much more dangerous than we give it credit for.