Buddhism in Australia Traditions in Change

50 Ruth

Fitzpa/rr'ck

appealing

model

for

my

own

identity.

thefactthat

shewasfemale

was

particularlv

significant

to

her

appeal.

'

As

my

interestinTara

developed

over

several

years,

two

themescontinuedto

rouse-my

curiosity.

Ihad

become

increasingly

awareofthe

overridingrejection

ot

religious

traditions

and

religious

icons

by

feminists, I

thought

Tara'scharac-

teristics

andhervowin

particular

offeredan

interesting

challenge

tothesecular

and

feministnotion

that

religious

gendered

identities

were

necessarily limiting

to

women,

Giventhis

stance,

how

wouldGreen

Tara,

who

ovenly

tookastand

against

the

fallacy

ofa

maleform

beingsuperior

for

enlightenment,

be

critiqued?

I was

alsointerested

in how other

Australian

women constructedGrccnTara.

Was

her

gender

consideredrealor

significant.given

that

gender

inBuddhism

is.

ultimately,

considered

anillusion?

To

explore

these

questions

further.

Iconducted

focus

groups

with

Australian

womeninvolvedin

GreenTara

practices,

Iwas

interestedinwhat

characteristics

emerged

as

signifith

intheirconstructionof

Green

Tara.

whether

Tara‘s

gender

wasrelevantandhow

andwhetherAustralian

cultural

themes.in

panicularfeminism.

impacted

ontheir

constructionot'l‘am's

meaning,

The

changing

natureof

feminism

and

religion

in

Australia

The

relationship

between

mainstream

religions

andfeminismhasbeenconten-

tious

at

best

(Hawthomc

200‘):

136).

Religious

discoursesand

religious

traditions

have

marginalized

and

subordinatedwomenand

have

produced

and

legitimated

misogyny

ina

multitudeof

ways

(Hawthorne

2009:

134).

Feministshaveconse-

quently

strongly

associated

religion

withthe

oppression

ofwomen.

Particularly

srnce

second-wave

feminism, whichwasatits

height

betweenthe1960:tothe

early 19805.

many

feministshave

considered

religions

as

singularlyoppressive

and

destructive

towomen

(Woodhead2003:

6&9).

influenced

heavilyby

Marxrst

and

socialist

feminism.

many

second—

waveAustralian

feminists

regardedreligion

as

hopelessly

patriarchal

and

beyond

redemption(Lindsay

2005:

32).

Lindsay

claims

that this

outright rejection

of

things

religious by

secular Australian

feminists

required

thatwomen

jettison

~

orconceal

their

religious

or

spiritual

incli-

nationsif

they

wishedtobe

regarded

astruefeminists

(Lindsay

2005:

32).

This

blanketdismissalof

religion

and

religious

sensitivities

obscuredthe

productitc

rolethat

religion

was

playing

insomewestern

women‘s

lives,

as

well

as

thework

that

religiously

inclinedwomen

were

doing

to

reform

religions

and

develop

their

own

women-centred

spirituality,

ofienoutside

institutionalconfines

(Woodhead

2003)

Developingalongside

butin

antagonism

to

mainstreamsecular

feminism.

other

formsoffeminist»based resistance

within

religions

were

takingplace.

Despite

the

hugebody

ofoverseasliteraturethat

existsonfeminist

theology

and

spirituality,

it

remainsa

subject

of

minority

interest

inAustralia

(Lindsay

2005:

32).

Although

farfewer

innumberthaninAmerica

and

Europe.

asleuthstmnmol‘

texts

addressingmainly

Christianfeministconcerns

have

emerged

sincethe[9703

(McPhillips

2000:

112)There

are,however,

fewaccounts

ofAustralianwomenin

non»Christiantraditions
(McPhillips

2000:l

l3).‘

GreenTominAuslralin

51

Since

the

height

ofsecond-wave

feminism,significant

theoretical

changes

have

occurred

in the

understanding

of

gender

and

religion.

Second-wave

feminism

developed

a

highly

essentialist

understanding

ofmenandwomenand

campaigned

fortheliberationofwomenfrommale

oppression

or

‘patriarchy‘

(Woodhead

2003:

67).

Whatisnowknownasthird-wave

feminism,challenges

thenotion

thatthereis

anessential

category

of

experience

thatcan

beassociatedwithallwomenand

resists

dichotomousnotionsof

gender

relations,

wherein

‘patriarchal'

male

oppressors

have

allthe

power

andinnocentfemalevictims

havenone

(Woodhead

2003:

67).Alongside

various

postmodern

and

postcolonialcritiques,

which

highlight

the

significance

of

class.race.

ethnicity.sexuality

andothcrfactors,

Foucault's

reconceptualimtion

ofthe

natureof

power

hasbeen

pivotal

inthese

changes

(Woodhead

2007a:

567).

For

Foucault.

power

isnot

somethingpermanently

possessedby

some

andnot

by

others.When

speaking

of

power.

Foucault

is

primarilyreferring

torelations

of

power

(Fomet-Betancourt.

BeckerandGomez-Muller

1988:

ll).

ln

focusing

on

power

as

somethingconstantlymoving

and

dynamic,

Foucaultshiftsattention

away

Fromthe

grand.

overall

strategies

of

power

tothe

way

inwhich

power

worksonthe

ground

inthereal-time

interactionsof

people.

which

hecallsthe

‘meticulousrituals'or

‘micro—physics‘

of

power

(Hall

1997:

77).

Inanextensionofhis

understanding

ofthc

micro-physics

of

power.

Foucault.

inhislater

works.

developed

a

theory

abouthowccnain

techniques

or

practices

of

theselfcanenableamodification

ofpower

relations.These

practices

oftheselfhe

describedas:

[A]

setof

practices

anindividual

performsupon

himorherself,

which

permit

individualsto

affect,

by

theirown

means,

acertain

numberof

operations

on

theirownbodies.

theirownsouls.theirown

thoughts.

theirownconduct.and

thisinamanner

soastotransform

themselves,

modify

themselves.

(Foucault

I988:

18)

According

tothis

understanding.changes

in

power

relations

canhe

brought

about

through

certainmodifications

totheself.

O'Gradyargues

that,

‘ifthemicro-level

of

lifeis

ignored

inthe

push

for

progressive

social

change.

a

range

of

power

relationswillremain

intact‘

(2004:98),

Inthis

light‘

modificationsontheselfcan

beseenas

constitutingpoliticalactivity

atthe

‘microphysical‘

level

(Taylor

and

Vinlgcs

2004:

7).

Sociological

studiesof

gender

and

religion

conductedinAmericahave

begun

incorporating

these morenuanced

understandings

of

power (Kaufman

[99];

Griffith

1997).

These studies reveal that

women weave new

meanings

into

religious

practices

in

varied,

complex

and

highlyspecificways,challenging

the

notionthat

religioussymbols

and

practice

are

nccessarily

detrimentaltowomen

(Woodhead

2003:

70).

Littleworkof

this

type

hasbeenconductedinto

religious

practice

inAustralia.

InaneFfonto

provide

amore

nuanced

understanding

ofthe

relationship

between

feminismandAustralianwomen's

reconstructionofGreenTara. 1 will

incorporate

Foucault‘s

understanding

of

power

into an

analysis

ofdata

gained

fromfocus