Tibetan Buddhists, like all major religions, aren’t exempt from misogynist comments.
The Dalai Lama, who’s in London for a nine-day visit promoting compassion in light of the Syrian refugee crisis, was asked by BBC’s Clive Myrie in an edited interview if the 15th incarnation of the Dalai Lama could be female. The Dalai Lama enthusiastically said the next Dalai Lama could be a female and referred back a couple of decades ago when a female reporter from Paris asked him a similar question.
“Yes!” he recalled. “The female biologically [has] more potential to show affection and compassion.”
He then explained how he told the reporter the next Dalai Lama’s face should be pretty.
“Today in a more troubled world, I think females should take more important roles, and then I told that reporter, if a female Dalai Lama comes, their face should be very attractive,” he added.
Slightly taken aback, Myrie asked the Dalai Lama to clarify, hoping he’d backtrack his seemingly sexist remark. But alas, he just leaned in and said the female Dalai Lama “must be very attractive, otherwise not much use.”
Awkward laughter ensues after the quote-unquote religious rockstar mocked how his success has been largely due to his physical attractiveness. But the real awkwardness comes from how prevalent sexism and misogyny is around the world, even as the leader himself pushes for more equality between the sexes.
In an interview with The Progressive in October 2012, the Dalai Lama stressed the need for equal rights for women within Buddhism. He mentioned how the Buddha, like major figures in other religions, was speaking to a male-dominated society where feminist viewpoints wouldn’t have gained him much influence — and then pointed out how Buddhist women are much more devout. But more importantly, he stressed the need for the Buddhist community to work on providing opportunities to devout women.
“The important thing is that now, for the past 30 years, we have worked to change that. Many nuns are very sincere, but they have had no chance to ascend to the highest ordination level. This has made me somewhat uncomfortable, especially since the Buddha gave equal opportunities to women. But we, even as followers of Buddha, neglected that,” the Dalai Lama said in 2012.
However, it’s more than just changing the level of opportunities and institutions. A culture needs to be adapted if it truly wants to become more inclusive of women, otherwise the years of work to build opportunities of women isn’t “much use.”
The Dalai Lama’s recent remarks proves how, despite the society and its traditions, a woman’s character and self-worth is still judged by either their clothing or physical appearance. When a powerful religious leader limits the role a woman can have through his own words, it proves just how much more needs to be done on the road toward equality. So while we applaud the many years of efforts by the Dalai Lama to promote equality among women within his own community, the real change, it should be noted, comes from within.
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