If medieval Christians were alive today, they would say that women cause cancer. Demonization of women is taken to a whole new level in these texts. The underlying shift i see that leads to this new interpretation is a conscious evil, rather than a more "accidental" evil we have seen in previous interpretations. Until now, most talk of Eve as the origin of sin revolves around her weak nature and her ability to be tricked by Satan. Previously Eve plays an accidental spark that ignites a fire of sin for all ages to come. Here, the texts shift dramatically to a conscious lust and desire for evil. Eve no longer was tricked into sin, but seeks it out with her "insatiable desire." Women are no longer taken by sin, but now have "no shame or persuasion that can they desist from such acts." (E&A 247). The shift from passive to aggressive is seen in the words "lust," "ambition," "infatuation," "liar," and "passions."
Female sexuality takes on an interesting role in these texts as a sort of rebuttle to their inferiority. It is referenced in the Testament of Reuben that the reason females tempt and corrupt men with their sexuality is that they're "lacking authority or power over man" (Reuben). This motive given to female lust is ridiculous to say the least. Regardless of specific motive it is apparent that female lust is seen as a consciously evil act, made to ensnare, corrupt, and bash faith. It is as if the pleasure is taken out of lust, and the word "carnal" is taken so literally it conjures up images in my head of a dog ripping apart a piece of steak.
Men at the time of these texts seemed to see woman as a force of evil with one redeemable quality, reproduction. The phrase "necessary evil" (E&A 243) used by Malleus Maleficarum comes up today when slavery in America is taught to high school students. Certain conflicted minds during the era of slavery in America saw the institution as a necessary evil, required to keep the economy running at a moral expense. It seems here that women are just kept around for their birth canals to sustain a population while their evil corruption is tolerated.
A point I found fascinating is how Malleus Maleficarum finds fault in the female creation based on the curvature of a man's rib. It is not enough that females are created from men and thus are second priority and are destined to rule. In addition, they are created from a harshly shaped bone! There are two main functions of the rib bone: protection and allowing us to breath. It is not noted that Eve was taken from such an important part of the human body, but that she was taken by a curved part of the human body, making her intrisically flawed. The only straight bones of the human body i know are the bones of the extremities, and if Eve were taken from one of those Adam would have been terribly disfigured, making a slightly awkward genesis 2 story. This point of explanation for inferiority seems like the most makeshift one we've seen yet, and proves that the men writing this must have had incredible insecurity issues.
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I think the author of the Testament of Reuben was divided in his aims. The primary one was a moral exhortation against lust. That's why it's put as the testimony of Reuben, the first son of Jacob, who by rights of primogeniture should have been 'son #1", but since he had sex with his father's slave-woman, he was disinherited.
But it seems as though the writer couldn't help reverting to another theme, commonly referred to as the 'battle between the sexes', where women use their 'wiles' to control men. As a great French sociologist once said, 'the weapons of the weak are weak weapons'.
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