女性

按 Bible 在西方文化中之地位，《创世纪》可看作是西人文化之原典。

上帝造人见第一章：

26 God said, Let Us [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] make mankind in Our image, after Our likeness, and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the [tame] beasts, and over all of the earth, and over everything that creeps upon the earth.
27 So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them.

这里没有细节，说“God created man”，这里的“man”当译为“人”。因其后即说上帝所造为男、女。此可见男女平等。此处概述，无细节描写。

但是第二章又说：

5 When no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not [yet] caused it to rain upon the earth and there was no man to till the ground,
6 But there went up a mist (fog, vapor) from the land and watered the whole surface of the ground—
7 Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath or spirit of life, and man became a living being.

此章细述上帝以泥造人，吹气使之活。与中华传说女娲造人类似。此处尚见不出男女之分，联系后文知此处所造仅为男人。此等处就分出东西文化之差异。女娲当亦依自形而造人，然我中华传说，女娲造人乃批量生产，男女、妍媸、残整皆有。绝无为男人而造女之意味，与此章后文所言绝不类：

18 Now the Lord God said, It is not good (sufficient, satisfactory) that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper (suitable, adapted, complementary) for him.
19 And out of the ground the Lord God formed every [wild] beast and living creature of the field and every bird of the air and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them; and whatever Adam called every living creature, that was its name.
20 And Adam gave names to all the livestock and to the birds of the air and to every [wild] beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found a helper meet (suitable, adapted, complementary) for him.
21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam; and while he slept, He took one of his ribs or a part of his side and closed up the [place with] flesh.
22 And the rib or part of his side which the Lord God had taken from the man He built up and made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.
23 Then Adam said, This [creature] is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of a man.

以今日眼光读之，此等叙述颇觉难以接受。非曰其中神怪处难以接受，其对女性之态度过于偏颇：女性完全成了男性之附庸。

第6章中前4节如下：

1 WHEN MEN began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them,

这还是把女性当男性之附庸看。

2 The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair, and they took wives of all they desired and chose.

此更可恶，女性成玩物矣。

3 Then the Lord said, My Spirit shall not forever dwell and strive with man, for he also is flesh; but his days shall yet be 120 years.
4 There were giants on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God lived with the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

我读此节，颇怀疑 Son of God 是恶人，是坏蛋。“the sons of God lived with the daughters of men” 让我想到古典文学中恶霸强抢民女。

然此等思想亦深入人心矣，非但男人如此，女性亦自觉为附庸也，君不闻如是之言乎：“给他生个孩子。”“还想我为你/他生儿/孩子？”

自立何其难哉。