This thesis looks at accommodation of American Zen communities, specifically rejection or modification of Zen rituals from feminist concerns. The work looks at some traditional practices such as dharma transmission, bowing as well the encouragement stick. This work looks at how these rituals function in the Asian context and why they might be perceived as subject to elimination due to patriarchal bias. This thesis also looks at systems of control in the Japanese monastery as well as contrasting functions of the Zen teacher in the Asian and American contexts. Using a two-case approach, chapters two and three analyze the possible variations and motivations for these adaptations, and why women Zen teachers in America are at the forefront of this movement.
