By Chief Editor Lauren Cho, South Korea
Image: History.com
Buddhism may be the most neutral on gender out of the five mainstream religions in terms of allocating duties or responsibilities. Although the Buddha himself was historically a man, he is often referred to with a gender-nonspecific title: the “satta deva / manu / ssa /nam” or “teacher of gods and humans”. In addition, Buddhism revolves around a fundamental and universal message/way of life that is crafted for the good of humanity as a whole, regardless of race, caste, or sex.
Given this, the exact role of women in Buddhism is hard to distinguish from that of a male follower. Very little, if any, parts of Buddhism point to roles or duties that must be confined to a specific gender. One significant question that was raised in regards to this issue, however, was whether or not a female could become a Buddha or a Bodhisattva. Mahayanists (followers of Mahayana Buddhism, one of the two main branches of the religion) have mainly agreed that females can become Buddhas or Bodhisattvas. However, Theravadans (followers of Theravada Buddhism, the other main branch) have not given a clear answer to the question and have mixed responses.
The Mahayanist perspective is this. Although one’s biological gender is determined at birth (either being male or female), their biological gender in this current life does not determine their genders in their past or future lives. As one of the core ideas of Buddhism is reincarnation, one’s life cannot truly be seen as restricted to a single gender. Therefore, even if someone may be female in her current lifetime, this should not be a barrier to becoming a Buddha or a Bodhisattva. This ideology is one of the main reasons, also, why there really are no gender distinctions in Buddhism.
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