Women And The Global Cultural Diversity

The life of most Buddhist women consisted of motherhood, housework and devotional practices. Even though they are more monks than nuns, women still represented half of practising Buddhist, thus allowing women to enter temples that would allow them to separate themselves from their normal domestic life. As women were given recognition from early Buddhism it has allowed them to have a higher social mobility that has allowed them to become a teacher where they are in no way second to men, thus allowing them to have status and not be inferior to men.

In many cultures, the roles of women vary reluctantly. While researching the many aspects of Buddhism, the religion is sometimes practiced differently and the roles of women differs. According to Experiencing World Religions, (Molloy, 127) Buddhism is one of the world's oldest yet most significant religions thus far. It has influenced many cultures, originating from India and making its way to migrate throughout the country of Asia, and women have been involved since the very first day. In today’s society, although men are predominantly inferior over women, women are granted the same opportunities. Just like many other societies in other countries or many other religions there are discriminations and prejucial acts against women. Although, woman are offered the second class citizenship in many Buddhist traditions, a woman's role is very important when helping maintain the religion resulting in mass population of worshipers , fulfilling the duties as caregivers and also wives to their husbands, and also providing any assistance if needed in the community. (Molloy, 127)

A few hundred years ago, gender equality might not have been spoken of. However, in recent years it has become one of the most widely discussed topics. Does this mean that present societies really uphold equality? Humanity's realization of moral values has enabled women to be equal to men and earn high stature within the society. However, there are still women who are born into societies where they are considered inferior and are expected to fill in the traditional roles of a woman such as caretaking and housekeeping. In the book, the Secret Daughter, composed by Shilpi Somaya Gowda, the author explores the similarities between two female characters who are a part of two distinct societies. Kavita, one of the women in the story, is born into

As a result of these reviews, the ongoing reconstruction of the social status and roles of Hindu women has brought about many new changes in Hinduism. Some of these changes include changes in education, health measures, problems of early marriages, the positions of widows, and the representation of women in governing bodies (Desai, et al., 1995). For example, within Hinduism now,

Another supported claim that attributes to this idea of inequality and gender relations is the insights from three indigenous scholars living in India, which I had the privilege of looking in depth to their encounters. They were able to infer that female fetuses are often at times killed off and men are always subject to be the dominant figures in societal practices. They have provided insights that advancement in technology has provided a way that women wouldn’t be treated like valueless customers, but rather provide population control incentives such as nation-state prosperity. (Dube, R., Dube, R., & Bhatnagar) This will be a future planning strategy that might undermine well with the current situation of this issue at hand today.

The article “Buddhism and the Feminine Voice” was written by Gay Watson for Routledge, a publisher that specializes in humanities and social sciences topics. The author discusses how as Buddhism has spread across the world, its message has in turn changed somewhat to fit each culture it encounters. As Buddhism has become popular in the West, it has had to adapt to a vastly different outlook that from peoples in the East, including a larger emphasis on feminism. However, although the author is advocates for more acceptance of “the feminine voice” (Watson, 2003, p. 25) she is careful to refer to it less in terms of the feminist movement and more in terms of inclusion of feminine qualities in all aspects.

In today’s society, women impact the world around them in many different and significant ways. Some women influence their communities with great force while others never notice their true importance in their societies. In India, Mishri Yadav is bound to her life as a modest, confined woman who cannot talk to men and must remain in the shadows. In the United States, Michele Noonan is bound to her life as a caretaker for her family who can express herself in whichever way she feels. These two defined people show the importance of how women are viewed extremely different as their countries vary. Some women, such as those in India, are viewed as lower than men with less value, knowledge, and potential. These places do not believe that women contain

Gender relations being an important part of the society, plays a major role in understanding religion and religious practices. In this essay, I am discussing two patterns on a ritual at a Buddhist temple, based on my observations, and how they connect to gender-related religious theory. The ritual I attended was at a Buddhist temple named West End Buddhist Temple in Mississauga. It was based on meditation led by a monk, the male instructor. It started with a story of Buddha, the divine figure of the religion, followed by a set of instructions and pieces of advice by the monk. This was accompanied with a guided silent meditation session. It ended with chants and prayers to god and the divine, Buddha. The ritual had several parts which explicitly or indirectly exposed the role of gender in the ritual and to a small extent in the religion. Theories of religion based on gender are tools to better understand how gender is interconnected to religion and its role in religious practices. This essay argues how, observations on pattern of male dominance during the ritual aligns with Mary Daly’s theory on androcentrism in religion. It also analyzes how the observations on pattern of equality among the participants interrelates with Antonio Gramsci’s theory of counter-hegemony.

In today’s society the words culture, diversity and multicultural environments are used to support the idea of an inclusive organization. Adhering to federal and state mandates, in addition to maintaining a politically correct appearance with regards to culturally diverse organizations is the new normal. The purpose of this paper is to examine the definitions of culture, diversity and multiculturalism as well as provide some insight into the current standings around these topics as a nation and within an urban public school system. First, definitions of culture, diversity, and multicultural perspectives will be presented. Followed by personal reflections on some current issues in public schools organizations culture and its impact. Prior

Buddhism is complicated with regard to women, as some countries’ version of it holds women in higher esteem than others. The whole religion has been debating on whether or not women can legitimately participate in enlightenment since

Beginning with the Nara period, female monks were included in the temple system and were given increased roles in the “priestly functions similar to those of their male peers” (Ambros 55). Japanese women were able to participate in Buddhist traditions in many ways. Women were able to become nuns and even significant female monarchs played a role in spreading Buddhism throughout Japan. The inclusion of women is also seen in several important Buddhist texts, such as the Lotus Sutra, which assured women “of their potential for Buddhahood despite recognizing the physical limitations of their body” (Ambros 50). However, during the later Heian period, the positive views of women in religion began to decline significantly because of anti-feminine Buddhist doctrines. The decline of women in religion is connected with the Five Obstructions, which shows the “need for female-to-male transformation in order to reach nirvana” (Ambros 55), and Three Obediences, which depicts the “pollution associated with female reproduction” (Ambros 55), in Buddhism. An example of these two doctrines includes the story of “The Dragon King’s Daughter.” The story of the Dragon King’s Daughter is located in the Lotus Sutra, a key text in Mahayana Buddhism. The story of the dragon king’s daughter is significant as the story reveals that women can only reach Buddhahood through the transformation into male bodies (Ueki 279). This story undermines the general inclusiveness of Buddhism, which was preached during the Nara period. Also, later in the Heian period, the marital rules deeply added to the exclusion of women in Japanese society. For example, The Tale of Genji, a romanticized Heian story, glorified “forcible sexual violation, meaning rape” (Ambros 57) and “consensual sexual violation, meaning adultery” (Ambros 57). Ultimately, this story normalizes and justifies polygyny and male dominance in marriage. The

The advent of Buddhism has had a positive effect on women’s lives for the most part. In the Buddhism religion, women could be seen as more equal to men than in Hinduism. Buddhism gave women a choice to be wives and continue to follow Hinduism, or they could reject all of this if they followed the teachings of Buddhism (Page 150). Hinduism restricted the lives of Hindu women. Buddhism gave them a chance to break from the societal norm of women being housewives. This was overall better for the women because they would be more equal to men. Another positive for women, is that they were able to attain Nirvana (Page 150). Since women were able to attain enlightenment, this opened up the opportunity for women to become nuns or laywomen (Page 151).

During the semester we discussed many religions and their views of women and how they treat the women of these religions. Some are treated equally but some are not treated that way. Throughout this essay I am going to discuss how women of the Hindu, Buddhism, Judaism, and Islamic religion are treated.

In early Buddhist traditions, men and women had no equal opportunities for the spiritual journey. Mostly the renounced women are under the monks and had to do their duties and obey their rules. “Maechi Wabi’s difficulties when she simply wanted to go forth as a maechi make perfect sense as one of the results of the ongoing problems related to Buddhism which, like most of the world’s religions, has deeply ingrained patterns of sexism that daily affect the religious lives of both women and men. Thai women seeking to focus their lives on religion are in an entirely different situation than Thai men seeking to do the same” (Brown, 24). The author points out that the women in Thailand face such difficulties like no free education when following a spiritual journey whereas men are encouraged to take the path by providing them with services like a place to live and free education, and also one is considered as a reputed person in the society. The author accounts that less girls or women take the extra mile along the spiritual journey when compared to men and the women who do gain little or no family support and recognition (Brown, 25). Also Brown states that the maechi have no advantage over many opportunities and services such as no free medical treatments or cheap rates, no free bus rides and no reserved seats, and in the case of work, no excuses for absences. This shows the true sexism that was there in

Although over time it is clear to see that gender inequality is becoming a smaller problem in today’s society, it must also be noted that it does still exist, even in the most developed parts of the world. The UNDP, 1997 in its Human Development report, stated that ‘no society treats its women as well as its men’ and to some extent this is true. However, in this essay I will be discussing different opinions and related studies in order to come to a conclusion regarding the truth behind this comment. The statement given is open ended and relatively general and as a result could refer to a number of things including inequality within a workplace, at home, in education or within religious institutions. Having said this, I will be looking at these different areas in large detail in order to gain a fair and concise point of view regarding gender inequality in today’s society.