Rita M. Gross (1943–2015)

An academic book on the reconstruction of Buddhism from a feminist perspective. This is the sort of book that has a small but devoted audience (I loved it). Gross argues meaningfully for the revalorization of women within Buddhism, first outlining a "usable" past that illustrates how Buddhism has had a place for women, and then outlining the ways that Buddhist precepts do not inherently denigrate the female. Throughout the book she clearly operates from a position as both an "insider" and an show more "outsider", owning her biases and not giving in to the fallacy that purity in approach is required (or even possible).

One of the arguments most likely to stay with me addressed the potentially fruitful relationship between Buddhism and feminism. Gross argues that Buddhism can be too complacent in simply accepting non-ideal situations, and that Buddhists can learn from feminism's willingness to act to change "things as they are". She also argues that feminists become emotionally exhausted when progress is inevitably slow, and that feminism can learn from Buddhism's methods that teach how to do the right thing while being minimally emotionally invested in the rewards it will bring. The restorative synergy here is palpable, and the excitement that Gross brings to uniting these disciplines is contagious.

Notably for me, in addition to being highly insightful, this book is highly heteronormative. It is quite frankly shocking how unselfconsciously the book assumes a purely straight human being, especially given that its purpose is to deconstruct assumptions of a purely male human being. A place for women in Buddhism is not dependent on whether one accepts the philosophy that male and female represent two halves of a sexual and spiritual whole -- Gross succeeds in everything except articulating that final point.

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Five years later, having read Stephen Batchelor's Confession of a Buddhist Atheist, I have a better sense of Tibetan Buddhism, and I now believe my criticism of Gross was misaligned. Within the tenets of Buddhism that Gross practices, I am now convinced that an argument for feminism can only rest in femaleness's role in supporting maleness, and that her approach in this book was thus justified, and perhaps (though I am unqualified to judge) hers is the only reasonable approach. (However, I am inclined to try to subtract the Hindu cultural backdrop and cultural infusion of Tibetan tradition as something that necessarily bled into the original teachings, and as such, I am still unconvinced that maleness or heteronormativeness is fundamental to the ideas and practices taught by Siddhartha Gautama / intrinsically Buddhist.) show less

A must read for any woman considering the Buddhist path. Written by a practicing Buddhist and Professor of religion, it combines spiritual reflection with feminist, academic analysis. Gross acknowledges the ways in which Buddhism is problematic for feminists, while reconstructing a Buddhism that can be practiced with clear conscious.

An admirable if sometimes prickly discussion of women's role in Buddhism, with a particular emphasis on Tibetan Buddhism (a.k.a. Vajrayana).

Excellent discussion of Buddhism by a student of Chogyam Trungpa who is both a practitioner and an academic. Also serves as a good introduction to Tibetan Buddhism, though relevant to adherents of all schools of Buddhism.