Gender and Religion - Creation Myths About Human Gender

Creation Myths About Human Gender

The creation myths of many religions contain stories about how humans came to have gender.

In many stories, man and woman are created at the same time, with equal standing. Some scholars suggest that one such example is the creation story in Genesis 1: "And God created the man in his image. In the image of God he created him. Male and female he created them.". Some commentators interpret the parallelism to be deliberately stressing that mankind is, in some sense, a "unity in diversity" from a divine perspective (compare e pluribus unum), and that women as well as men are included in God's image. The first man, Adam, has been viewed as a spiritual being or an ideal who can be distinguished as both male and female; an androgynous being with no sex. Some argue that Genesis' gender-inclusive conception of humanity contrasts sharply with the views of gender found in older literature from surrounding cultures. Some go so far as to suggest a higher status of women in western society due to Judæo-Christian influence, and based on this verse. Some scholars, such as Philo, argue that the “sexes” were developed through an accidental division of the “true self” which existed prior to being assigned with gender.

In other accounts, man is created first, followed by woman. This is the case in the creation account of Genesis 2, where the first woman (Eve) is created from the rib of the first man (Adam), as a companion and helper. This version is normally cited by Jewish authorities in support of patriarchy, and likewise by Christian interpreters. A similar story appears in the Qur'an. There is an interesting correlation between the two gender creation stories, both stories imagine the ideal of the unitary self. However, the unitary self is either androgynous or physically male; both of which are masculine in configuration. Thus male and female are to become one; meaning that she is to become male.

The second creation story of Adam and Eve became influential in regards to how women were viewed in Victorian society by means of the "Eva/Ave Palindrome" where Eva was woman in her weak and evil state, based on Eve in the Garden of Eden and Ave was Mary (as in Ave Maria), the new holy and pure ideal that was impossible for women to mimic. Historically, women have been placed into two categories; women and virgins. Women who become intimate with men are marked women, whereas those who do not participate in such acts and who are divinely inspired are considered virgins. Thus women can escape from being gendered as women if they participate in celibacy.

In Plato's Symposium, Aristophanes provides an account to explain gender and romantic attraction. There were originally three sexes: the all male, the all female, and the "androgynous," who was half man, half woman. As punishment for attacking the gods, each was split in half. The halves of the androgynous being became heterosexual men and women, while the halves of the all male and all female became gays and lesbians, respectively.