DMing the Bible: Gender Games

Introduction:
Last time we looked at the beginning of the Bible and the first of the creation stories. This time I thought we might look at the second of these stories. The first creation account is poetic, almost liturgical, which is appropriate as the first story is believed to come from a scripturally forebear known as the "priestly source" or "p-source." The account that is featured in chapter 2 is drawn from what Christian Biblical Scholars call the Yahwist tradition or the "j-source" (because when Germans transliterate Hebrew the letter 'yod' becomes a 'j'). The account is more personal, a little more fable-like, and the one the one that is easier to put on Sunday School felt boards.

The Text:
God again creates the world out of an extant collection of matter. In the first tale the material was described as water; this time the land is described as barren and desolate for lack of moisture. God makes a man-creature, a dust-thing, as one of the first creative acts. Notice I didn't say man; the word in Hebrew is most closely related to the word for dirt. In translation, the word is sometimes rendered human or human-being; what is most important to keep in mind is that until we get to verse 23 "the man" does not indicate a male gendered person.

God places this creation in a garden where all sorts of fruits and vegetables veritably spring out of the ground (can you tell this account was written by desert subsistence farmers?). The garden is feed by the four great rivers that provided water for much of ancient Mesopotamia.

God gives the creature the task of managing the garden. God decides that being alone on the earth is not the way life should be for the creature. God makes all the animals just to see if the a match for the creature. God brings each animal not just for a blind date, but also so that the human can name all the other creatures. God and the human run through every animal, but no partner was found. Male and female are created when God splits the creature in two (check out Rabbinic interpretations of this story for very specific ideas about how the split took place).

The Game:
Most games of Dungeons and Dragons use as backdrops richly detailed worlds that have at their hearts the late middle ages or Renaissance Europe. This was not a time well noted for sweeping equality between the genders. Truth be told our own time is not known for sweeping equality between the genders. The designers of the third (and later) edition D&D took great pains to distribute gendered language evenly making it clear the they were trying to describe a world where men and women were equal partners in the waging of war and the building of civilizations. My interpretation of the text (Genesis 2:4b-25) suggests that in God's world design the genders were also supposed to be equal partners

With all of that said, it is very difficult to fully eradicate gender roles from role playing sessions. Here are some suggestions:
1. Watch your NPC's: Are your bar keeps always wenches? Is the head honcho of the land always the King, noble Lord, or Herr Mayor? Try writing against the period stereotype. If you use pre-generated materials see if they are balanced--most materials can be gender swapped on the fly (just give the physical description a look-see first, and tweak as needed
2. Consider the options: If there is simply no way to even the actual distribution of males to females, check out the wide spectrum of masculinity and femininity. Is it possible the Master at Arms is a gentle and nurturing man? Can the mayor's socialite wife lead the local athletic efforts?
3. Roll with it: Be unambiguous about the values of a society that does not hold either males or females in high regard. Use the tensions of unjust gender roles as a plot point or opportunity for players to shine in problem solving or role playing.