I've heard this theory, as well, but it doesn't make any sense. Eve knew the commandment and willingly disobeyed it. It absolves her of any responsibility and suggests that women lack any autonomous reasoning capabilities.
Yep. Pretty much. Although it would appear from the text that Eve did not yet exist when God made the command.
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.â€
18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.â€
19 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.
But for Adam[f] no suitable helper was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs[g] and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib[h] he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
23 The man said,
“This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man.â€
Later in the text it's obvious that she knew the command or some form of it, but chose to believe the serpent instead or at least told herself she did.
When they are busted Adam blame Eve but doesn't claim to have been deceived. Eve blames the serpent claiming to have been deceived. God doesn't dispute their claims, but punishes both of them and the serpent.
Later, in the New Testament, the idea that the woman was deceived is used to keep women subjugated and out of public discourse because they are untrustworthy, not through any fault of their own, but because they are too stupid to know better.
9Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments,10but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women making a claim to godliness.11A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness.12But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet.13For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve.14And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.15But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint.
Women aren't treated that way in all passages and even Paul seems to have respected some women as leaders.
I've seen these ideas used to belittle women and make them subject to mistreatment and I've seen them used to hold men to a higher standard in terms of being responsible and treating their wives with love and care. Neither really show women in an equal light, but the former bothers me more than the latter, probably in part because I benefit from the latter.