REVIEW | JUE LIANG 117
situatedness. Gender identity is among
the foremost elements that position us in
the world; actively examining a Buddhist
definition of gender and womanhood, we
can expand our understanding of woman-
hood and femininity in that context and
develop an alternative argument for gender
equality.
Another starting place might be the
word “community.” From the time of the
Buddha onward, Buddhist women have
been supporting each other as spiritual
companions. In Buddhist Feminisms and
Femininities, readers are reminded of these
communities and networks, from poems in
the Therigata to the bold statement in Seito
(Japan’s first all-women literary magazine,
created in 1911) that “In the beginning,
woman was the sun.” Amy Holmes-Tag-
chungdarpa points out that the genealogy
of Buddhist women continues today, rally-
ing together feminist groups, scholars, and
practitioners from the East and West. Even
in a postfeminist world, as Jeff Wilson
describes, a gendered language of nurtur-
ance and care is still employed to advertise
mindfulness as lifestyle consumption. It is
also from a network of Buddhist feminist
scholars that the works of Karma Lekshe
Tsomo and many others come about.
Together, identity and community pro-
vide us with a Buddhist dialectic of gender.
Understanding gender identity is the dis-
cerning wisdom that leads women onto the
path of awakening; compassion and nur-
turance, meanwhile, sustain communities
of practitioners along the way. Works such
as Buddhist Feminisms and Femininities
show us how, through sympathetic under-
standing and learned appreciation across
cultural contexts, we begin to connect self
and others and make sense of human lives
in their full complexity.have as much sway as gender in determin-
ing what aspects of a female saint are to be
remembered in local communities.
Buddhist women, too, have been active
agents in composing their own narratives
of spiritual awakening. Their strategies
are varied, ranging from literary to doc-
trinal to legal to sartorial. As related by
Eun-su Cho, many Buddhist laywomen
and nuns in Choson (1392–1897) Korea,
though facing double marginalization by
Confucian as well as Buddhist values,
refused to be subordinated and persisted
with their practice. Raicho (1886–1971),
an unconventional yet unapologetic Zen
practitioner, ingeniously claimed romantic
love as a transformative voice in women’s
spiritual journey; her life story is told by
Christine A. James. Also in Japan, accord-
ing to Matthew Mitchell, the law-savvy
Pure Land nuns of Daihongan have not
been afraid of pursuing lawsuits to protect
their own rights or negotiate conflicts. And
looking at Thailand, Robekkah L. Ritchie
argues that sikkhamats (women who are
not officially ordained but choose to live a
Buddhist renunciate lifestyle), by wearing
colored robes, are consciously adopting
a visual expression of their resolution to
redefine female renunciation.
Keeping in mind the myriad facets of
these women and their lives, the task of
compiling a global dictionary of Buddhist
feminism seems daunting. Where to start?
One place might be the word “identity.”
Who is a Buddhist woman? What are
her particular issues and concerns? This
might seem counterintuitive, considering
the foundational Buddhist teaching of
anatman, or no-self. However, for anyone
hopeful on the path of enlightenment, it is
imperative to begin at the conventional,
everyday level and recognize their own