FEMINISM AND BUDDHISM

• buddhist practise through feminist critique raising feminist issues over aspects of traditional buddhist institutions such as the sangha and other notions of spiritual discipline 
• revalorising - the assigning of a new/ renewed worth or importance to something, a re evaluation in more positive terms 
• feminism - holistic theory concerned with the nature if womans global oppression and subordination to men 

WOMEN IN THERAVADIN TIMES

• typical women spent her time serving and obeying parents
• middle years obeyed her husband/ his parents
• women only ate what was left after the husband finished
• divorce could only be initiated by the husband 
• adulterous wives were punished y death/ adulterous husbans were not punished
• many women were lower class servans
• could not marry without permission from masters
• in all roles women are less powerful than men 

• women are capable of becoming arhats - worthy ones
• if women follow the path of renunciation - can become completely enlightened 
• feels that any differences between men and women are unimportant in the pursuit of liberation 
• wiling to teach anyone who was willing to learn 
• however the buddha at first refuses to ordain the women - ANADA changes the buddha mind and women are ordained nuns 
• buddha insists women take on 8 rules -he argued this never happened
• afte his dath society could not deal with the exitence of a group of women which wer acknowledge to be equal to men 
• buddha opened doors for womens entrance to a monatic life
• some women joined because teachings made sense to them, some were widowed, poor women joined for security 
• women had more freedom and interdependence within the order of bhikkunis - ran their own community and made their own decisions 
• only had to work for liberation from samsara
• many women became arhats who lead many women to liberation 'delight and self confidence in their freedom from traditional womens positions' 

• nun called MUTTA 'i am free, free from the three crooked things: mortar, pestle and my crooked husband'
• position was in accod to buddhas teachings of anatman - no self - people have no fixed or permanent nature 
• giving food to the bhikkhuni's was provided by the lay women 

LOTUS SUTRA 

• women could become enlightened but changed into a man to attain buddhahood
• a women in her own body cannot become enlightened because womens bodies are defilled with negative karma 
• patriarchal view because the dragon girl changed into a man 

there are 300 milli9on buddhist women worldwide and 130,000 nuns 

SAKYADHITA 'daughter of the buddha' 

• women can obtain full ordination - chinese, korean and vitamese will ordain only 
• 'i have made a vow to attain enlightenment in the femal form - no matter how many lifetimes it takes' - JETSUNMA TENZIN PALMO 

RITA GROSS

• Wrote buddhist after patriarchy book
• called for revalorisation of buddhism 
• cristicms focussed on male dominated sangha and women being sidelined as lay buddhists