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Glorious and Depraved (10): Male and Female
Though it is common now to see men and women moving toward a more equitable range of characteristics, the differences between men and women have not and cannot be erased. We know that there are biological and hormonal differences that make men and women distinct, and there are also developmental and socializing differences that make men and women distinct.
18 Yahweh Elohim said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper corresponding to him.”
19 Now Yahweh Elohim had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.
But for the man no corresponding helper was found. 21 So Yahweh Elohim caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took part of the man’s side and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then Yahweh Elohim made a woman from the part he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
23 The man said,
“This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man.”
24 For this reason a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.
25 The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame. (Genesis 2:18-25)
God made Adam first and allowed him some time working in the garden to realize he was alone and needed a counterpart and a helper. Only then did God create Eve from Adam, not directly from the earth as Adam was, and Adam named her. Eve thus awoke to a relationship with Adam that was already defined, to a work that Adam had already been doing, to an animal world Adam had already been ruling, to a God whom her husband already knew, and to a restriction God had already given to Adam, all of which could not help but create a unique way she related to life. They were different.
But they were also alike. Eve is described as “comparable to “Adam (corresponding to him, equal to him and adequate to him, yet different) and as “bone of Adam’s bones and flesh of his flesh” (like him in all respects and yet their anatomical differences were quite apparent). There was no shame, Moses tells us, in their being naked before each other. There was no competition, no reason for shielding oneself, but rather total openness and safety with each other.
Already in this relationship Adam has a place of leadership over Eve. There is an over/under nexus to the relationship that can’t help but create differences in the way they engage their world.
Though the physical differences between them are not spelled out, we can see how the differences also shape the way they engage life:
- Skeletal structure: Males have a stronger, thicker, heavier skeletal structure, making them more steady, strong and stress resistant, able to overcome greater physical obstacles and carry heavier loads. This naturally encourages a more physical engagement with the environment and seeing strength and power as one’s first resource for dealing with life. The female skeletal structure is more rounded, less sharply marked, finer, thinner, and less rugged, which encourages less aggressive engagement with the environment and seeing one’s intellect as the first resource for dealing with life.
- Muscular structure: Similar to the skeletal structure
- Integumentary structure: The female’s skin is softer, smoother, less hairy and more sensitive, again encouraging a softer approach to life.
- Primary sexual organs lead men to take a generally more assertive role and females a more submissive role. Arousal for males is normally quicker, more visually oriented, more forcefully resolved, and not immediately repetitive, whereas women are more process-oriented, emotionally connected, with prolonged and repetitive resolution of arousal. This inevitably determines the way you behave and deal with life.
- The reproductive process, as we now know, recreates, in some ways, the sexual experience, the sperm traveling and aggressively surrounding the female ovum which awaits penetration by one sperm. Only the female carries and nurtures the growing life in the womb, creating a unique physical bond that is furthered by breast feeding while the child feeds on the mother’s own body. Male connectedness is more aloof initially, requiring a more assertive approach to bonding and leaving him with more freedom from the child’s initial dependency in a bodily sense, though not in an emotional or physical sense. At the same time this makes the female more dependent, as well, on the male’s care and provision, her preoccupation being more immediately about nurturing the child.
- The hormonal system for males is dominated by testosterone resulting in coarser hair and skin, a deeper voice, and a more aggressive approach to all relationships. The female’s estrogen and progesterone dominance results in more sensitive skin, a higher voice, and a repetitive menstrual cycle often attended with discomfort and an altered mood, which acts as a constant reminder of the maternal function and its painfulness, and which can inhibit a woman’s interaction with her world.
There are chromosomal differences between males and females that normally determine male and female development from the womb on. Being made in the image of God we have many similarities but also each have unique personalities and gender characteristics, much as the members of the Trinity are alike and yet different. Indeed, our gender differences may reflect the differences within the Trinity, male and female humans somehow being a more complete picture together of the triune God (Genesis 2:7, 15-17, 18-25).
About the Author Randall Johnson
A full-time pastor since 1979, Randall originally graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary (ThM) in 1979 and from Reformed Theological Seminary (DMin) in 1998. He is married with four grown children and a pile of epic grandchildren.
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