If Religion Is So Bad, Why Are Women Still In It? A Feminist Assessment of Buddhism at the Beginning of the Twenty-first Century=如果宗教這麼糟，為什麼女人還要參與？ -- 當代淨土佛教中的女性參與者
The author is Assistant Professor, Dep. of Religious Studies, Hsuan Chuang University=玄奘大學宗教學系助理教授
關鍵詞
宗教與婦女=eligion and women; 女性特質=emininity and performance; 中性救贖=ndrogynous and salvation; 宗教實踐與婦女=eligious practice and women
摘要
This paper is based on an on-going research which is at a very preliminary stage. When Arvind Sharma contemplates at the relationship between religion and women, he notices that feminist discourse on religion often starts with the assumption of “religion oppresses women”. He thus wonders, “If religion is so bad, why are women in it?” Using the example of women participants in a contemporary Pure Land Buddhist organization in Taiwan, this paper will attempt to answer Sharma’s question. Although the group under discussion employs male symbols and androcentric texts, its women agency were still able to transform those into feminine performance and androgynous salvation. Apparently, as conflicting as gender ethics might in the group, feminine performance and androgynous salvation might explain why women take part in the religion of this group.
