Buddhist nuns face misogyny

Many in the Thai state, clergy, and mainstream population are in a tizzy over one woman named Dhammananda. As a Bhikkuni, a Theravada Buddhist nun, she’s raised hackles for much of the past decade by attempting to reestablish the Bhikkuni lineage in Thailand. Although these nuns exist elsewhere in the world, Thai Buddhists have denied women’s ability to take the same monastic vows as men for ages, reports Mark Hay in The Good Magazine. But Dhammananda, who was ordained in Sri Lanka by more woman-positive Theravada monks in 2003, now operates an all-nun temple a couple of hours outside of Bangkok and helps to ordain other women. She is, in Thailand, the avatar of an emergent Buddhist feminism, using the logic and tools of her faith to push for equal spiritual rights and access for women in her nation and beyond.

Thai society is a particularly shocking example of hijacking religion in the name of a pro-male status quo. Thai Bhikkunis, however, write beautifully about taking their vows because they saw faith as a source of progress rather than traditionalism. This kind of Buddhist feminism has taken root far beyond Thailand as well, especially in places like America and Europe where many of the early disciples of Buddhist teachers and leaders were women. 
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