It’s Adam to Eve, not Adam and Steve

The poem referenced will be at the bottom of this essay!

Author’s note

Hello! This piece was one of my favourite pieces to write, and I think sums me up as a creative writer well! I felt such creative freedom; being able to play around with a topic which felt blasphemous to do anything but, take the words you see on the page. As a queer woman, being able to bend these words with the help of Justice Ameer felt empowering. I also feel extremely grateful I am in a space where this form of play is possible. Justice Ameer's poem was beautifully constructed and creative. Make sure to look out for more of our work on @nectarineblog on Instagram.

Between Justice Ameer’s (After God Herself,) and the Bible, a common theme is suffering. Through the poem, Suffering concentrated through a queer lens, therefore ‘queer suffering’ could explain what Ameer is trying to portray. Laura Sackton, senior contributor to Book Riot, explains that ‘queer suffering’ can mean “any kind of suffering caused by homophobia, transphobia, heterosexism, etc.”[1] Homophobia and transphobia are the biggest threats to queer people, and they are fuelled by heterosexism. Heterosexism was defined by Gregory M. Herek, American behavioural scientist, as “an ideological system that denies, denigrates, and stigmatises any non-heterosexuality form of behaviour […]”[2] Heteronormative society construct ideals towards queer people. The society make homosexuality invisible,[3] as a way to contain the normativity of heterosexuality. It alienates homosexuality. 

Considering the Old Testament, John McNeill, an influential catholic, explains that “voluntary acts of homosexual nature could not be tolerated.”[4] The intolerance surrounding queerness, has been an everlasting interpretation of the bible. So, it can be said that Justice Ameer was inspired by both hetero-sexism and queer suffering, relating this to ideologies regarding religion.

The aggressive language used through the extract like “choked”[5] and “hacking,”[6] can refer to the struggles which come with being queer in a heteronormative society. Alluding to the intolerant actions of making queer people invisible, it could metaphorically feel like the queer community are “choking,” trying to keep their identities suppressed in an unaccommodating society. This differs in the bible, as God “took”[7] one of Adams ribs in his sleep. There is a similar sinister undertone between both texts, as suffering shown through Adam in the poem, compares to the violation Adam may have felt in the bible when God took one of his ribs unconsented. Ameer takes this violation shown through the bible, and rewrites it with queer suffering.

The point of Eve being a part of Adam physically, could refer to identifying as transgender. Adam hacks up a part of his body, his rib, “they called it Eve.”[8] On the other hand, in the bible, when Eve is created, she is just called “woman.”[9] Naming in the poem is important, as it creates a new identity that has come from within Adam. But Eve only being referred to as woman through the bible is, a patriarchal ideal shining its way through the text. She is only created to serve a purpose for Adam, therefore doesn’t need a name. But through Ameer's poem, she is her own purposeꓼ Eve is “the creator of all things, the mother.”[10]

The overtly feminised language like “creator” and “mother” in the poem, queers the bible, as God “created”[11] everything in the world of the text. So perhaps, God can be interpreted as the mother of the world. This reverses the ideals of masculinity and femininity by playing with gender roles. It can be understood that in order to create a feminine character like Eve, God has to have the feminine within him, to distinguish between masculine and feminine. It reconstructs the ideals held by the bible, queering the text massively.

And with the reversal through Ameer's poem, it can be interpreted as Adam being transgender. Queer suffering is rampant within Adam. There is something inside him which is forcing itself out. And as Eve is born, femininity is bornꓼ masculinity is now in the foreground. To support this claim, Ameer writes “it takes the hacking of a body to make a woman.”[12]  Adam hacking, the queer suffering he went through, is what it took for him to come to terms with his identityꓼ it is what made the woman, Eve.

The repetition of “before the called me,”[13] emphasises the invalidation which is received from the heteronormative society. This explains how “they” (the intolerant society) didn’t adhere to Adams identity straight away. The homophobic language like fruity and faggot[14] came before being called a woman.[15] This part of the extract is designed to be uncomfortable and disturbing, as it includes what reality looks like for many queer people around the worldꓽ casting aside identities, making queer people invisible, and being forced to fit the mould created by a cishet society, is designed for queer suffering.

Ameer makes it clear that this part of the poem is designed to be realistic. By using personal pronouns, “they” and “me,”[16] Ameer is able to bring attention to how queer suffering is unnatural and unnecessary. It brings attention to the queer suffering which may have occurred through Justice Ameer's life, while also relating it to the rest of the queer community.

Eve within the bible had to endure suffering and consequence, before she received a name. She was only a “wife”[17] and deemed as property to Adam who will rule over her.[18] With the heteronormative society, also comes a patriarchal society. With this in mind, we see Eve, symbolising all women, being treated badly within the patriarchal system. She is a tool to increase the population, and bare children regardless of how painful she finds it. This suffering represented through the bible, is read as normal life for women. They shall submit to being ruled over, forever under the patriarchal ideals. They shall bare the suffering and consequence of being born a woman rather than a man, before given a name and identity.

Ameer plays with identity and gender roles, and reverses the masculinised Adam to the feminine Eve. In light of the structure that the bible has created for men and women through a heteronormative society, Ameer successfully reconstructs frozen ideals of identities with the use of queerness. Xe addresses how intolerant spaces result in queer suffering within the LGBTQIA+ community, and reflected this through the bible.  Xe has taken the inaccessible story of Adam and Eve, and has rewritten it through a queer lens. Taking a harmful text, and reconstructing it to challenge the harmful themes.

[1] Laura Sackton, ‘Beyond the Straight Gazeꓽ The Complexity of Queer Suffering in Literature,’ BookRiot, 12 July 2021 <https://bookriot.com/beyond-the-straight-gaze/> [accessed 3 November 2024].

[2] Gregory M. Herek, ‘The Context of Anti‐Gay Violenceꓽ Notes on Cultural and Psychology Heterosexism’, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 5.3 (1990), pp. 316‐333 (p.316), doiꓽ 10.1177

[3] Gregory M. Herek, ‘The Context of Anti‐Gay Violenceꓽ Notes on Cultural and Psychology Heterosexism’, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 5.3 (1990), pp. 316‐333 (p.317), doiꓽ 10.1177

[4] Harry A. Woggon, ‘A Biblical and Historical Study of Homosexuality’, Journal of Religion and Health, 20.2 (1981), pp. 156‐163 (p.159), <http://www.jstor.org/stable/27505623>.

[5] Justice Ameer, ‘(After God Herself)’, in Poetry (Poetry Foundation, 2018) 1‐106, 10

[6] Justice Ameer, ‘(After God Herself)’, in Poetry (Poetry Foundation, 2018) 1‐106, 17

[7] Genesis 2.21 The Bible, KJV

[8] Justice Ameer, ‘(After God Herself)’, in Poetry (Poetry Foundation, 2018) 1‐106, 3

[9] Genesis 2.23 The Bible, KJV

[10] Justice Ameer, ‘(After God Herself)’, in Poetry (Poetry Foundation, 2018) 1‐106, 7

[11] Genesis 2.3 The Bible, KJV

[12] Justice Ameer, ‘(After God Herself)’, in Poetry (Poetry Foundation, 2018) 1‐106, 17‐18

[13] Justice Ameer, ‘(After God Herself)’, in Poetry (Poetry Foundation, 2018) 1‐106, 23‐25

[14] Justice Ameer, ‘(After God Herself)’, in Poetry (Poetry Foundation, 2018) 1‐106, 22‐24

[15] Justice Ameer, ‘(After God Herself)’, in Poetry (Poetry Foundation, 2018) 1‐106, 25

[16] Justice Ameer, ‘(After God Herself)’, in Poetry (Poetry Foundation, 2018) 1‐106, 23‐25

[17] Genesis 2.24 The Bible, KJV

[18] Genesis 3.16 The Bible, KJV

(After God Herself)

By Justice Ameer

Adam ate an apple

it got stuck in his throat

and they called him Eve

the progenitor

the creator of all things

the mother of strength

and fortitude

and sadness

Adam ate an apple

choked on it so hard

a rib popped out of his chest

and they called it Eve

the progenitor

the creator of all things

the mother of strength and fortitude

and sadness

it takes the hacking of a body

to make a woman

Adam hacking up a piece of his body

it was just a piece of fruit

they called me fruit once too

they called me fruity

before they called me flaming

before they called me faggot

before they called me woman

i thought i would have

to hack this body into pieces

woman, a name stuck in my throat

right under the apple Adam tried to eat

choked on it for years

waited for my ribs to pop out

my chest to explode

for my Eve to be created

from the fruit i couldn’t swallow

they called me fruit once

until they called me woman

and then they just called me fruitless

as if it took a womb to be

progenitor

creator

mother of all things

strength and fortitude and sadness

they reckon God looked

at the image of herself

and called it Adam

they still don’t call me woman

they still don’t birth me Eve

even though they cast me out

my throat shrunken close

with the fruit still stuck in it

like Adam

before they called him Eve

and suddenly i am a stranger

to Eden

i am a stranger to this body

as if it hadn’t always been mine

i reckon God looked

at the image of herself

and called it me

but i don’t know if that

was before or after the apple

before or after Adam choked

which came first

the progenitor or the mother

the apple or the rib

the strength or the sadness

this body was God’s original creation

but they called it sin

they called it Adam

I reckon God looked

at the image of  herself

and called Adam Eve

after she choked on his name

some fruit that bloomed

in everyone else’s throat

but she could never quite swallow

the fall of man was an apple

hacked up from a fruitless body

a woman learning what evil was

like a man forcing his name upon you

the fall of man was a rib

being torn from a chest

and men calling that violence holy

naming a woman based only

on the body parts she’s made of

the fall of man

was the beginning of Eve

Eve casting out Adam’s name

Eve discovering who she was

the progenitor

the creator of all things

the mother of strength

and fortitude

and sadness

the fall of man

was Eve becoming a woman

with or without Eden’s approval

and now

every time someone

tries to call her Adam

tries to force the apple

of his name down her throat

she laughs

she swallows

she looks at God herself

and she smiles