Is "Eve's Curse" real?

[AnnaDango]

First off, I’m sorry if this is in the wrong section of the forums. This is my first post.
Recently I heard about “Eve’s Curse”, that women have cramps and labor pains because Eve committed the first sin. I’m not sure whether or not I should believe this. If it is true, then what happened to God loves men and women equally? If it isn’t true, then why does God make women deal with this stuff but not men?

 

[ccmcmg]

First off, I’m sorry if this is in the wrong section of the forums. This is my first post.
Recently I heard about “Eve’s Curse”, that women have cramps and labor pains because Eve committed the first sin. I’m not sure whether or not I should believe this. If it is true, then what happened to God loves men and women equally? If it isn’t true, then why does God make women deal with this stuff but not men?

I do not know anything about this regarding the Catholic belief. I will say, IMO, that it could be because it was Eve that ate first off the tree. God does not love men more than women, or vice versa. We each have our own burdens to bear. No one ever said life was fair. This is just one that people think of in how women and men are different. I don’t have to worry about a prostate!

 

[Zekariya]

God did not curse Adam or Eve although he gave consequences for their actions:

Genesis 3
16 To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.”

17 Then to Adam He said, "Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. 18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. 19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”

 

[Jon_S_1]

Both Eve and Adam were cursed.

Yes the Bible clearly says from that point on Eves descendants would have pain in child birth.

Men would have to work and till the ground and battle thistles and find food clothing and shelter, all of which were provided by God in the garden.

 

[Todd977]

It seems to me that cramps and labor pains are common to many large mammals, not just humans. So, you should not look upon them as a curse but simply as natural processes. If Eve did not experience them before she sinned as Genesis 3 suggests, then it was because she was preserved from experiencing them by a special grace from God, a grace which she lost for herself and for her descendants when she sinned.

 

[Jon_S_1]

It seems to me that cramps and labor pains are common to many large mammals, not just humans. So, you should not look upon them as a curse but simply as natural processes. If Eve did not experience them before she sinned as Genesis 3 suggests, then it was because she was preserved from experiencing them by a special grace from God, a grace which she lost for herself and for her descendants when she sinned.

I like this point of view. It makes a lot of sense.

 

[pensmama87]

I like this point of view. It makes a lot of sense.

I do too. Still, though, because of the anatomy of humans (namely, that we are upright and have large heads) it tends to be a much more painful/intense experience for us than for many other mammals.

 

[Jeanne_S]

I do too. Still, though, because of the anatomy of humans (namely, that we are upright and have large heads) it tends to be a much more painful/intense experience for us than for many other mammals.

Try telling that to an elephant!

 

[Mintaka]

Pretty much all human illnesses and physical discomforts (not to mention sweating for a living!) are a result of the Fall. It’s not just women.

Moving along, there’s not much one can do about birth pangs (although there are some women who don’t have many and who give birth easily, so obviously the Fall has its limits), but cramps are not included in the Genesis account.

So here’s some info. I’m not a doctor, but this is basic stuff any woman should know.

If her hormones are balanced correctly (and they should be, after the first year or so of periods), no woman should be having cramps that are enough to notice or bother about, at least most months. (If a little ibuprofen takes care of it, you’re probably fine.)

Many women don’t know this, and put up with excruciating pain either from unbalanced hormones or from bad conditions of their uteruses, etc. Women with bad menstrual pain might have fibroids, endometriosis, adenomyosis, infections, etc. There are also some diseases like fibromyalgia that get worse during periods, so talk to your doctor.

Some women with imbalances end up taking hormone pills (including the birth control pill), and there’s nothing against Church teaching in that. But you have to be careful, because some gynecologists throw birth control pills at everything. If you have a hormone imbalance because some organ is going nuts, covering up the symptoms with a pill isn’t going to help the underlying problem.

If you are troubled by cramps, though, the easiest thing to try first is just to exercise a little (especially walking) during the time before and during your period. This provides many women relief. And exercise is free!

The second thing to check is your caffeine intake. Caffeine eases some women’s cramps, but makes others (like me) have horrible ones. As long as I skip caffeine right before my period and during the first few days, no problem. (I gather the same thing goes with alcohol, nicotine, etc.)

There are also various home remedies (like ginger), but again, you would want to experiment because every body is different. Just watch out for crazy semi-toxic herbs and con artists.

 

[pensmama87]

Try telling that to an elephant!

Ugh, and they’re pregnant forever too…

 

[pensmama87]

Pretty much all human illnesses and physical discomforts (not to mention sweating for a living!) are a result of the Fall. It’s not just women.

**Moving along, there’s not much one can do about birth pangs (although there are some women who don’t have many and who give birth easily, so obviously the Fall has its limits), but cramps are not included in the Genesis account.
**
So here’s some info. I’m not a doctor, but this is basic stuff any woman should know.

If her hormones are balanced correctly (and they should be, after the first year or so of periods), no woman should be having cramps that are enough to notice or bother about, at least most months. (If a little ibuprofen takes care of it, you’re probably fine.)

Many women don’t know this, and put up with excruciating pain either from unbalanced hormones or from bad conditions of their uteruses, etc. Women with bad menstrual pain should also get checked to make sure if they have fibroids, endometriosis, adenomyosis, infections, etc.

Some women with imbalances end up taking hormone pills (including the birth control pill), and there’s nothing against Church teaching in that. But you have to be careful, because some gynecologists throw birth control pills at everything. If you have a hormone imbalance because some organ is going nuts, covering up the symptoms with a pill isn’t going to help the underlying problem.

If you are troubled by cramps, though, the easiest thing to try first is just to exercise a little (especially walking) during the time before and during your period. This provides many women relief. And exercise is free!

The second thing to check is your caffeine intake. Caffeine eases some women’s cramps, but makes others (like me) have horrible ones. As long as I skip caffeine right before my period and during the first few days, no problem.

There are also various home remedies (like ginger), but again, you would want to experiment because every body is different. Just watch out for crazy semi-toxic herbs and con artists.

I’m not so sure about the bolded part. I do think the pain varies from woman to woman, but there’s actually lot a woman can do to manage the pain to make it bearable (besides modern medical interventions like spinal blocks or epidurals.) The pain can actually be a positive thing because it encourages a woman to move in such a way that baby moves further down.

I remember also learning in childbirth classes that having a lot of fear over childbirth increased the perception of pain - tensing up, feeling powerless. I definitely felt pain in labor, but it didn’t really bother me, especially the second time when I ended up giving birth without any medical pain relief at all, because it was familiar to me. I knew what it was for and that it meant things were going well. (Except during transition…but I don’t think many women are very sane during transition…)

 

[Paragon468]

Personally, I like to think of it as God showing us that we cannot have love without pain and self sacrifice. God shares with women a unique role in the creation process. It is the woman who bears the fruit of marital love, in what is essentially a figurement of the Trinity. Love, by definition, includes self sacrifice, and God makes that very clear through physical pain.