[EVA]Gender was [EVA]Evangelion Classified Information

[Rachel K. Clark]

<<The “Feminism in Eva” part has been split off into a separate post
that I may or may not make because it would mean bringing up some not-
so-friendly things that I have done pretty good to ignore for some
time now.>>

Are there undercurrents of animosity 'round these parts? If that's the case, 
allow me to quote one of the great proverbs: "Internet. Serious business."

<< Again, you know which ones I am talking about because you have posted
and discussed them repeatedly on the AN and Eva Monkey forums.  I am
not going to waste time listing them here.  You can do so when you
present your case.>>

Specifics > vagueries.

<< This refers to Kaworu’s line “Adam... Warera no haha-taru sonzai”
which I translated as “Adam, progenitor ours.”  The kanji “haha” here
is generally used in the literal sense as “mother”, and is one of the
main pieces of evidence given for the Adam = Female theory.>>

How does the usage of the term (which seems explicitly "not male") fit into 
your Ying formula?

BTW, isn't that translation a bit ... awkward? Also, I should point out that 
your choice of term represents no less bias than any sort of 'evil' I've 
committed. Translation kind of sucks that way -- that's one reason why I 
wish it was standard practice for translators to include notes explaining 
instances of ambiguity and the logic behind their own choices. Having such 
notes sure beats boggling over, "How the hell did they get THAT?"

<< The problem is that “haha” has more and deeper meanings than just
“mother”.>>

Given the context, is there adequate reason to think that Kaworu is 
referring to any of those?  My policy tends to be, "take things at face 
value unless given adequate reason to do otherwise". I.e., Kaworu calls Adam 
"haha" because Adam is actually a mother -- which is very much in keeping 
with an extremely prominent theme in NGE, among other things.

Allowing the religious references to shape one's perception of the show 
always felt like a mistake to me. The name "Adam" in and of itself is only 
meaningful where it has relevance to the context. If Adam is indeed a 
female/feminine entity, this wouldn't be the only instance of gratuitous 
gender-bending -- see e.g. the MAGI. Although they are named after three 
wise men, two of the computers encompass explicitly feminine concepts, Woman 
and Mother.

--Reichu