Aspects of Eve

To have been one
of many ribs
and to be chosen.
To grow into something
quite different
knocking finally
as a bone knocks
on the closed gates of the garden—
which unexpectedly
open.

Linda Pastan (b. 1932)

Dante Rossetti

Is that the Con? That we started out in Adam’s rib cage. Protecting his heart and lungs. Is that why women need to be watched, monitored, put in their place? Because we started out in a line up?

If we started out as part of a whole, are we not to be trusted to go out on our own to establish ourselves in a singular manner?  We are told that if we get out of line, then the whole system falls apart. Even though, we were not the ones who voluntarily left the group. We were pulled out by our long tresses. No choice. No discussion. Grabbed. Twisted. Yanked. Were we deemed less than? Not good enough to live in the host?

And what of the host? If he had a missing rib, was he not less than? Incomplete? Tender. Vulnerable? Words that scare the host. That is not the way it turned out. The host told himself he was stronger by virtue of losing the weakest link. And with his new found strength, he put himself in charge. Pretending not to need that missing rib. Imbued himself with all the answers, leaving him with no need to ask questions, not even ask for directions. Does the host always feel like something is missing? Maybe he is jealous because the rib can stand on its own, thank you very much. Although The Con would have us think otherwise.We are asked to support the host without question. But the crutch by virtue of its very being is stronger than the host. It holds up the whole world and is resented for its necessity.

If that rib was, indeed, snatched from Adam, that was when we lost the level playing field. That womanly rib came into being at a cost. The host sacrificed so that women could exist. Or so the story goes. We’ve had to pay for that. Our existence doesn’t come cheap, nor does it come with a birthright. The price we have paid is exorbitant. Sometimes with our lives, for sure with our self-esteem, dignity, and self-image.

Our strengths went into the manmade negative column, in ink, in red.

Rebekah Spivey for The Poplar Grove Muse