Plato's Playground
Welcome back Cervantes.
My take on the rib thing is that man and woman are meant to be side by side. She is neither above him nor below nor in front or behind. In this way I see woman as man's equal even if she is yin to his yang.
I've been mentally reviewing this material myself from time to time. This should be a good discussion.
If you try to interpret the material, not literally and not as an attempt at a philosophical metaphysics requiring logical consistency, but as expressing something about the people and the culture in which it originated, you can sometimes gain a bit more insight into the text.
Taking into account that the Hebrews were apparently surrounded by pagans who worshiped (among other forces) the female power of reproduction, with snakes symbolically associated with female fertility cults, one can interpret much of Genesis as a patriarchal culture ceating a counter-mythology, if you will. Men may be born of women now, but originally woman was created from man. Snakes--those symbols and holy icons of goddess worship--are really evil tempters, and so on.
I empathize with your not finding the Bible all that profound or engaging. Reading a sacred text that isn't sacred to you, and that you weren't raised with--well, it can be tough. No evocative echoes from one's youth, no strong associations to whatever is meaningful for you. I've tried reading the Book of Mormon and the Koran with much the same reaction as you describe.
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