This may be the best bumper sticker I have ever seen. My youngest sports one on her car, a fact which does worry me somewhat since she lives in the South where good Christian women are taught to be seen and not heard, to submit themselves to their husbands and never to question male authority. While not all Southern men adhere to this sort of medieval autocracy, there are plenty of them still around. I was raised by one, have a sibling who fervently embraces this philosophy, and have, sadly, actually worked with a few of them. And in all fairness, this belief and mind set is not exclusive to Southern men.
I think Eve really was framed. Organized religion has demonized that poor woman, blaming her for all of mankind’s woes, from the fall from grace in the Garden of Eden to every imaginable bad event thereafter. But I have to ask this question: Where was Adam in all this? Did Eve force feed him the apple? Get real. Adam was simply the first in the long line of humanity to refuse to accept responsibility for his own actions. I can hear him now. “God, it wasn’t my fault. She made me do it!”
Yes, Biblical scholars, I know Eve blamed it all on the snake, so it is also true that Eve didn’t want to accept responsibility for her actions either. But I find it so interesting that the churches, synagogues and mosques - all run by men for hundreds of years - have conveniently ignored or forgotten Adam’s equal role in that ancient story.
Religious texts are full of stories of human failings and frailties, with men in most of the staring roles. But in so many of them, it is the evil woman who is responsible for the man’s weakness - Delilah and Bathsheba just to name a few - and only the man who ultimately finds redemption. What is that supposed to mean?
I have issues with organized religion for many reasons, but certainly the way women have been treated in the name of God ranks pretty high up there. Even today there are many churches where women are excluded from the Deaconate, and are prohibited from teaching adult Sunday School classes. In those religious communities woman are basically seen as the man’s servant. It’s no wonder so many men are conflicted by the Madonna - Whore complex. What other option has religion offered them?
My daughter is a stickler for the First Amendment, and the heart of a feminist beats strong within her, so naturally she loves her Eve Was Framed bumper sticker and thinks it makes a great statement. While I agree with her, I also worry a bit about her safety because the first Eve Was Framed sticker that graced her car bumper was defaced. When one’s religion teaches that original sin originated with a woman and places mankind’s problems at her feet, when one’s religion teaches that women are less than men, and when one’s religion calls a woman a whore and a man engaging in the same behavior just a guy sowing wild oats, is it any wonder that woman are abused? And it’s not much of a stretch from defacing my daughter’s bumper sticker to harming her for daring to place it on her car.
Before you dismiss my thoughts as histrionic, think about what is going on in the world. ISIS and the Taliban kill women for any number of reasons including daring to be educated or showing their faces. In many Arab countries it is illegal for women to drive, and having multiple wives is par for the course. In certain countries female children are left on the hillside to die, or are aborted simply because of gender. And this country is not immune. Go to any fundamentalist or conservative church and see how women are perceived. They are not afforded equal status with their male counterparts, either in church or in the home.
Yes, Eve Was Framed is an amusing bumper sticker. But it’s a frightening one as well.
A note about the picture accompanying this essay: This is a picture of the first varsity women’s rowing team at the University of Alabama. These women worked hard and within the first few years competing at the national level won silver and bronze at the Head of the Charles. My daughter who inspired this essay is on the far right. She coxswained both wins.