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Exam questions Religions and Gender (G_BATRSAL054)
these are all possible exam questions and very extensive answers to them. I got a 9 out of 10 on the exam by studying these
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Guiding questionsLecture 1: 10/01/2022
Ria Kloppenborg, “Female Stereotypes in Early Buddhism: The Women of the Therigatha
Guiding question: Which ambiguities play a role in the female stereotypes of early Buddhism, and
how exactly? Please, include specific examples.
Answer:
Ambivalent views in Buddhist literature according to Alan Sponberg: (page 152)
There is this idea that liberation is open to all, regardless of sex or class. (= soteriological
inclusiveness)
Although the path to a religious life is open for women, those women who wished to follow it as
nuns had to submit to the standards of male control. There was a nun’s order, which women could
join but they had to adhere to the androcentric social structure. Androcentrism is the practice,
conscious or otherwise, of placing a masculine point of view at the center of one's world view,
culture, and history, thereby culturally marginalizing femininity. So the women had to obey the men.
There were many extra rules for the nun’s Order, which were not only meant to protect the nuns but
also to safeguard their submission to the monks and ensure male control of their celibacy. (=
institutional androcentrism)
A third trend in Buddhist literature is ‘ascetic misogyny'. This means that women were seen as agents
of destruction and ruin. Women were seen as a threat to men’s purity and male celibacy (which were
essential for the attainment of release). Sometimes, a real fear of femininity can be detected in the
texts.
Stereotypes:
1. A woman is stupid; a beautiful woman has no brains
2. A girl should be a devoted daughter, and agree to the arrangements made for her by her
parents and inlaws
3. A woman is only concerned with her body, her clothes and her jewelry
4. A woman is sensual and seductive, and should therefore be under male control
5. Children and relatives are a central concern in a woman’s life. Female reproduction is painful
and having children binds women to the world of matter.
6. Women who are old are ugly and useless. A woman’s body as an example of impermanence
and decay. (= to become gradually damaged, worse, or less)
Specific examples:
,Alternative Answer
- Rare (in religion and Indian) liberal views reflected in attitudes towards women found in early
literature (I.B. Horner's Women under Primitive Buddhism). 1 The texts also include
ambiguities and inconsistencies explained by pre-Buddhist influences and ideas (affected by
the times/influence of the social dynamics on development of new ideas).
- Pre Buddhist Indian culture saw women described as sensual/unintelligent etc. and in need
of male supervision. Women were despised for "erotic nature" (Think - Devadasis - sex
worker for goddess Lakshmi). This is contradicted with praise of women as obedient
daughters/wives/mothers.
- Early Buddhist literature stated that liberation is open to all regardless of sex/class/caste -
contradictory to the views on women in the patriarchal society of control on all aspects of
womanhood at the time. Soteriological (salvation ) inclusiveness - Alan Sponberg
- Contradictions in text lay in the fact that women who chose to follow the path and be nuns,
still had to submit to male control. A nun's Order that still had to conform to androcentric
society. Many extra rules were established for the nun's Order to protect them and
safeguard submission to men, ensuring control on their celibacy "institutional
androcentrism"
- Ascetic Misogyny - women were seen as agents of destruction and ruin (influences of pre-
Buddhist ascetic traditions. Fear of femininity as a temptation for male ascetics to lose
celibate purity). Ascetism = practice of strict self-denial for spiritual reasons.
Pali (language early Theravada Buddhists texts were written in) account of founding orders of the
nuns displays ambiguities in assessment of women in early texts (positive = they can be nuns and
negative = creation of nuns leads to decline of Budhha’s teachings - therefore nuns must follow 8
restrictions including lower seniority to monks regardless of duration of vows). These restrictions
were aligned with the cultural values at the time as a way to appease society for including nuns.
Another answer:
“Liberation is open for all, regardless of sex, class or caste” (called soteriological inclusiveness). But
while this is said, women who wished to follow the Path as nuns had to submit to the standards of
male control (called institutional androcentrism). Also, there is the stereotype that women are stupid
and that they, with their two-finger intelligence, cannot attain ‘That place’ (the state of being
released).
Another ambiguity is that, while the stereotype goes that women are seducers, it is a grave offense
as a man to seduce another man’s wife.
Lastly, as mentioned women are seen as erotic and as seducers, but this does not work well with
another stereotype of women, namely that they are devoted daughters, loyal wives and caring
mothers.
,Lecture 2: 12/01/2022
Jasbir Jain, “Purdah, Patriarchy, and the Tropical Sun: Womanhood in India”
Guiding question: What did and does the veil represent in the minds and behaviour of men and
women, meanings ranging from the mundane to the spiritual and from the personal to the social?
Answer:
As part of a dress, the veil is indicative of the religion one follows, one’s caste (= form of social
stratification), class and possibly even one’s region. Generally, the veil (also called purdah or
ghunghat) sustains the idea of patriarchy. It signifies segregation and division, power and space. In its
implied meanings it goes beyond the covered face and hidden body to encompass notions of
respectability, virtue, class and caste, protection and exposure. Thus, the veil revolves around space,
and the segregation of space. These spatial divisions were/are often reflected in Indian households
since women had/have separate living spaces.
The veil controls a woman’s mobility, morality, sexuality and her intellectual freedom. In its supposed
origin from the Ramayana, the veil revolves mainly around the protection of women, as they are a
vulnerable group. Furthermore, the practice of purdah has its origins in a social concern with a
women’s purity, which involves the non-violation of the body, moral decency and sexual abstinence.
The veil as a face covering offers women anonymity and defense against sexual harassment and
provides them with an unobserved observer position.
Purdah, in the sense of segregation and subordination of women, is a product symbolizing the
relationship between self and the other. During the British period, purdah was reinforced through
legislation and codification, as well as through nationalists’ defense of women as custodians (=
keepers) of culture. It was used to protect Hindu culture and protect against modernisation and
Westernization.
Furthermore, the veil also symbolizes the desire for the unknown, longing and restraint. This is often
illustrated in poetry and literature where men express the imagined beauty of the veiled women. In
this sense, the veil frames the relationship between men and women and helps define social roles.
In other narratives, such as a story about a young new bride called Geeta, the underlying discourse
addresses the frustrations of suppression and resentment against the compulsions of tradition. In a
different story, we can also notice a widow questioning the restrictive practices women had to live
through. Undoing oneself of the veil, could be seen as a feminist act.
In conclusion, the veil continues to occupy an ambivalent space, difficult to accept and equally
difficult to reject in its totality. In its oppressive aspects and the bodily and mental restriction it
imposes, the exclusion it defines, it is a disreputable social practice. But, as a social grace and
decorum (and maybe in its implied meaning as protection?), the veil continues to be a desirable part
of social life.
, Alternative answer:
It’s primarily about space, about segregation and division, but in its implied meaning it’s about
respectability and virtue, class and caste, protection and exposure.
A purdah controls and protects a woman’s mobility, sexuality, and intellectual freedom. It concerns a
woman’s purity (child, mother, widowed). Women’s sexuality is seen as a threat to masculine
supremacy, so women that do not cover up are not socially respectable. A woman without a man is
available to be sexually exploited.
During British colonization, it was used to protect Hindu culture and protect against modernisation
and Westernization.
But a purdah also has spiritual meaning. It’s the veil between God and his devotee.
The Assyrian veil was a sign of privilege and high status, forbidden to prostitutes (cf.
Gilgamesh epic); it was for women who lived in the house of a free man, not of a slave, being a sign
of legitimate property of the patriarch
- The Tuareq bedouins wear a veil as a sign of masculine pride and maturity and honour, not to
be seen without the veil in front of elders or the wife’s family
- For Muhammad, the veil was a way of separating his private life (with his wives) from his
public life (with the men in the mosque section of his house)
- The veil was a sign of distrust in other men, a sign also of female self-protection against other
men and their sexual harassment
- This curtain separation was later extended to all Muslim women
In the Qur’an, the ‘veil/curtain’ separates moral believers from immoral unbelievers; pre-
Qur’anic is the separation between the sacred and the profane
The veil is a sign of social (power) inequality between men and women, and of obedience to
and suppression by men; the veil can also be a means of indirect power, the observer
unobserved
The veil is a sign of women’s purity, modesty, and fidelity (spiritual)
The veil can also be charged with the man’s desire for the forbidden unknown hidden behind
the veil
The veil was a sign of separation between God and the devotee, or, on the contrary, a way of
sticking close to one’s faith in God’s presence inside away from the distraction of the outside
world
The veil could be a sign of anonymity in the public realm and of recognition in the private
realm
The modern veil has become an identity marker as well as a practical means of female
mobility outside the boundaries of the domestic household, an empowering identity marker, a
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