Genesis 2:18-25 (ESV) Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made[h] into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. Genesis in Defense of Women Modern society often believes that the Biblical Book of Genesis demeans women and only attempts to establish an oppressive patriarchy over them. However, Genesis' account of the creation of woman reveals through its details how it prizes woman as the equal, complete, and perfect counterpart of man. Adam defines woman as his equal from the beginning. He calls Eve "bone of my bone" and "flesh of my flesh" (verse 23). "Bone" gives the human body its rigidity, and thus its form and shape. If Eve has the same "bone" as Adam, then she is no less than him in physical form. "Flesh" in the Hebraic context here means not just the muscle on Eve's bones, but the kind of thing which Eve is. Earlier in the story, Adam looks over all the beasts, but he cannot find a creature which is sufficiently like him (verse 20). This disappointment leaves him when he finds Eve. Eve is the same kind of "flesh" as Adam. He loves her not because she is different from him, but because he recognizes that she is his equal. Another common narrative about Genesis is that Genesis claims that a woman's only purpose is to bear children. Once again, Adam's description contradicts this, showing that Eve is complete in herself. Adam says, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife" (verse 24). This implies that each and every man will hold fast to his wife. If a man and a woman have children together, then, according to this example, those children will find wives and husbands for themselves. The couple's children will "leave [their] father and mother" as well. This means that each couple is eventually left only to itself, when the husband and wife have left their parents and their children have left them. Thus, the ultimate goal of the marriage is not only children, but rather the other person. Adam knows that Eve's purpose is not simply bearing children, because he knows that those children will leave them and he will still "hold fast" to her. This means that Adam chooses Eve not for the children she can bear, but for who she is herself. Eve is complete, and Adam loves her just as she is. The Edenic nakedness of Adam and Eve reveals that they are perfect counterparts. This passage concludes, "the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed" (verse 25). Adam and Eve's being "naked" is not only a physical nakedness. They are not wearing literal clothes, but they are also not wearing spiritual clothes. There is nothing about either of them that needs to be hidden by clothing. Neither Adam nor Eve has any evil in their souls, just as they do not have any blemishes in their bodies. This means that Adam and Eve are perfect physically and spiritually. This is confirmed by the next idea, that they "were not ashamed." Eve has no reason to be "ashamed" before Adam. She is the perfect partner for Adam, and she is perfect for him because she is no less good, no less valuable, and no less human. Genesis reveals that woman is neither God's afterthought, nor an instrument for man. Eve is Adam's equal, as much human as he in every way. She is complete, and she is the final purpose of Adam's marriage to her. She has nothing to be ashamed of to Adam, no deficiency in her body or mind. This is why Eve is the best and most perfect partner for Adam.