GEN156 Is the duty of procreation binding on women or only on men?  … The answer … is given in an ancient Mishnah: Yevamot 55b: “A man is commanded concerning fruitfulness and multiplication, but not a woman: Rabbi Yahanan ben Beroka said, “Concerning both of them it is said: ‘Male and female He created them; God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and master it.’ [this and preceding verse].  The Gemara immediately raises the question: How do the Sages (who disagree with Rabbi Yohanan ben Beroka) cope with the text in Genesis which seems to imply that the commandment to be fruitful applies to male and female alike? The answer given is that the Sages hold that the duty of procreation applies to the male sex, because the Biblical text is speaking of activities that require bold ness and aggressiveness. Mastering the earth is a masculine activity, since it involves prowess and relentless expenditure of physical energy. All activities included in the text are associated with mastery of the earth. Hence, they are regarded as functions of masculinity. The opinion of the Sages is based on the view generally accepted in civilized societies that it is man who seeks out the woman and not vice versa. Some degree of aggressiveness is required in seeking out a mate, a quality that is not in harmony with the essential or ideal character of woman.  Rabbi Levi ben Gershom (Gersonides) commentary to Genesis. The Talmud phrases it in a somewhat different manner: Why is it written: “When a man will take a wife,” and not vice versa: “When a woman will be taken by a man”? Because normally a man seeks after a wife and it is not normal for a woman to seek after a husband; whoever loses an article goes out in search for it. Kiddushin 2b. Text in Deuteronomy 22:13. [The institution of shadkhanut developed in Jewish life testifies to the extent of modesty achieved by our people, that even young men were not possessed of the aggressiveness required to seek out a mate. The right of the father to betroth his minor daughter Ketubot 45b may have similar grounds].  [See also Genesis 9:7 fruitful ROSNER 64, ROSNER 65]