My husband  claims that men are the true romantics. I don’t argue differently. When I listen to the lyrics of sappy-love songs from the 70s, I’ll have to agree. But, I don’t think one sex is weaker than the other.

Men and women see things differently, which is evident in the Garden of Eden. I don’t know about Eve getting tricked and all, but she stepped up to the plate and made the difficult decision to enter mortality. Adam seemed quite content to hang around the garden. I’m not sure there’s any other way to gain this knowledge but first hand — as a mortal. Childbirth drives that home for a woman. Working in the dreary world another. Sickness and the frailties of life can’t be explained, they have to be experienced. After my first pregnancy of nausea all day long for months on end, I willingly and anxiously chose to do it again and again — believing in the joy of posterity. I have to confess to saying “I can’t do this” but choosing to do it anyway. (And thankful that I did.)

I saw the new temple film, Eve was the star. I guess from the perspective of Adam, he was the true romantic — he chose to stay with Eve. He didn’t want to be alone. When faced with the two options to obey Elohim — 1- do not eat the fruit and 2- multiply and replenish the earth — he chose to go multiply with Eve. (after she reminded him of the two commandments and being left the lone man in the garden.)

Eve was willing to learn about good and evil, even without knowing if Adam would follow her. But she couldn’t fulfill her life’s experience of mortality without Adam. No matter how strong she was. She had to talk him into going with her. I like the fact that he backed her up — they stuck together through the crap of being thrown out of a paradise. Although I do recall that he blamed Eve  — the woman thou gavest me, she gave me of the tree and I did eat.

Maybe men are romantics, but we don’t always give them credit because they sometimes forget their wedding anniversary. We think differently, and that makes it difficult to see things from each other’s perspective. But trying is important. And staying together through the trials is often part of the learning experience. Of course, sometimes divorce becomes part of that mortal existence, but then again, more experience and compassion are the gifts of enduring those hardships. Men and women learn as they try to build a life together.

Plus, I have learned more about men having had four sons.

Men are the true romantics — Eve chose to learn through mortality. Adam could have stayed in the idyllic garden, but he chose Eve and did eat of the fruit of this life. That’s romantic.

Featured Image: 1904 print by Charles Dana Gibson:  The Weaker Sex: The Young Man Imagines Himself the Latest Victim of Some Fair Entomologist, Charles Gibson.