jeri, my point is that, though some passages can be regarded as devaluing women [ though in their time far less than others ] the very opening account demonstrates that there is equal worth, as both male and female are described as being made in the image of God. and though the male pronoun is always used of God, there are also metaphorical female references employed to denote his activity and character.
Thompson, your recollections are pretty good, though I would differ as to your reflections on the biblical account. and isn't it interesting that there are creation accounts all over the world. I suppose it could be thought a big co incidence, but my view is that there was an original event that is distantly remembered as people spread out across the globe, but became corrupted , as distance and time increased......but I guess that is thread drift as well as population drift !