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Women in the Buddhist Faith
Buddhism is a religion based on seeing things as they truly are. Formed
around the word “awaken”, Buddhists dedicate their life to awakening the truth, and
spending their lives to follow it. The idea that this religion is a philosophy, instead of a
religion, is a common argument. People believe that Buddhism follows ideas, more so than
a god. Both women and men are welcome in this religion, although it seems to be an
incredibly complex issue when it comes to female tradition. Although Buddhism states that
women remain as equals, it remains a complicated matter when it comes to action. It seems
that for every Buddhist principle set for women, there is a suggestion that contradicts it.
This paper will focus on the women in this faith, through leadership roles, ordination,
marriage, sex, menstruation, childbirth, and clothing.
In Buddhism, women can become nuns, and are said to be able to retain the same
rights as monks. However, that rarely happens. Some say that Buddha did begin his
discipleship by allowing women to enter, while others say that it was only allowed
begrudgingly after much consideration. Believers of the first idea think that “Women were
included among those ordained” (Bowker, 80) when Buddha first established new disciples.
In a time where women were expected to stay at home and keep house, Buddha offered up
a breath of fresh air. He “said that men and women were equally capable of following the
Buddhist path, and becoming enlightened.” (Thompson, 46) Although some in some
traditions, this has died out; it still remains strong in others. Many believe the struggle
between allowing women to be followers comes from a story that supposedly originated
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several hundred years after Buddha had died. The story says that Buddha only
begrudgingly allowed women into his following after they begged for his acceptance, and
dressed like the men. And even then, they were considered subpar to the men. “Scholars
believe that this story actually originated several centuries after the Buddha’s death and
served to justify the accommodation that had already been worked out between
institutionalized groups of monks and nuns.” (Coleman, 141) Many believe that this story
originated because the Indian people had a patriarchal nature, and had issues with
renouncing the male authority figures. That story, still affects the religion today, as in most
Buddhist traditions, nuns are expected to respect the monk’s order.
Ordination takes place when a woman wants to become a bikkhuni, or nun. There
