Adam's Rib: Bone of Contention

Abstract

“Now that the Genesis creation story is generally interpreted in religious rather than in historical terms, Adam's rib is popularly afforded little more than facetious comments. In what follows, such ribbing will be discounted in an attempt to look at significant treatments of the rib motif in the Judeo-Christian tradition. We can designate the various kinds of commentary under the heads of ‘androcentric,’ gynocentric, and‘egalitarian’ interpretations.”