Religion and Gender (e-journal)
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Burkhard Scherer: Macho Buddhism: Gender and Sexualities in the Diamond Way
by Religion and Gender (e-journal)
Published in Religion and Gender, vol. 1, no. 1 (2011), 85-103
Western Tibetan Buddhist movements have been described as bourgeois and puritanical in previous scholarship. In... more Western Tibetan Buddhist movements have been described as bourgeois and puritanical in previous scholarship. In contrast, Ole Nydahl’s convert lay Karma Kagyu Buddhist movement, the Diamond Way, has drawn attention for its apparently hedonistic style. This article addresses the wider issues of continuity and change during the transition of Tibetan Buddhism from Asia to the West. It analyses views on and performances of gender, sexual ethics and sexualities both diachronically through textual-historical source and discourse analysis and synchronically through qualitative ethnography. In this way the article demonstrates how the approaches of contemporary gender and sexualities studies can serve as a way to question the Diamond Way Buddhism’s location in the ‘tradition vs modernity’ debate. Nydahl’s pre-modern gender stereotyping, the hetero-machismo of the Diamond Way and the mildly homophobic tone and content of Nydahl’s teaching are interpreted in light of Indian and Tibetan Buddhist sexual ethics and traditional Tibetan cultural attitudes on sexualities. By excavating the emic genealogy of Nydahl’s teachings, the article suggests that Nydahl’s and the Diamond Way’s view on and performance of gender and sexualities are consistent with his propagation of convert Buddhist neo-orthodoxy.
Adriaan van Klinken: Male Headship as Male Agency: An Alternative Understanding of a ‘Patriarchal’ African Pentecostal Discourse on Masculinity
by Religion and Gender (e-journal)
Published in Religion and Gender, vol. 1 no. 1 (2011), 104-124
In some Christian circles in Africa, male headship is a defining notion of masculinity. The central question in this... more In some Christian circles in Africa, male headship is a defining notion of masculinity. The central question in this article is how discourses on masculinity that affirm male headship can be understood. A review of recent scholarship on masculinities and religion shows that male headship is often interpreted in terms of male dominance. However, a case study of sermons in a Zambian Pentecostal church shows that discourse on male headship can be far more complex and can even contribute to a transformation of masculinities. The main argument is that a monolithic concept of patriarchy hinders a nuanced analysis of the meaning and function of male headship in local contexts. The suggestion is that in some contexts male headship can be understood in terms of agency.
Claudia Schippert: Implications of Queer Theory for the Study of Religion and Gender: Entering the Third Decade
by Religion and Gender (e-journal)
Published in Religion and Gender, vol. 1, no. 1 (2011), 66-84
This essay explores the conceptual and contextual shifts in queer theoretical work as it is entering into its third... more This essay explores the conceptual and contextual shifts in queer theoretical work as it is entering into its third decade of articulation. The essay reviews important recent themes in, and examines implications of, queer theoretical scholarship for the study of religion and gender. I suggest that among the implications are a more un-disciplined study of religion (and secularism) that takes seriously shifts resulting from transnational and diasporic queer scholarship, as well as shifts in conceptions of agency and resistance resulting from analyses and critique of homonormative positions, and that can critically intervene in homonationalism and Islamophobia.
Paul Reid-Bowen: Vital New Matters: The Speculative Turn in the Study of Religion and Gender
by Religion and Gender (e-journal)
Published in Religion and Gender, vol. 1, no. 1 (2011), 44-65
This article provides an introduction to a new trend in continental philosophy, the turn toward metaphysics, realism... more This article provides an introduction to a new trend in continental philosophy, the turn toward metaphysics, realism and speculative philosophy. This stands in sharp contrast with the antirealist and correlationist traditions that have held sway since Kant’s Copernican Revolution in 1781. It is claimed that the study of religion and gender has been shaped by the antirealist legacy of Kant, but there are good reasons for taking account of the new ‘speculative turn’. Two examples from the leading exponent of this turn, speculative realism, are introduced, and some provisional notes toward applying these to the gender-critical turn in the study of religion are considered. Research notes on the current state of the Goddess movement serve as a test case for the introduction of an object-oriented ontology into religious and gender studies.
Margaret Kamitsuka: Feminist Scholarship and Its Relevance for Political Engagement: The Test Case of Abortion in the U.S.
by Religion and Gender (e-journal)
Published in Religion and Gender, vol. 1, no. 1 (2011), 18-43
This essay explores how gender studies in academe, including in religious studies, might remain relevant to ongoing... more This essay explores how gender studies in academe, including in religious studies, might remain relevant to ongoing feminist political engagement. I explore some specific dynamics of this challenge, using as my test case the issue of abortion in the US. After discussing how three formative feminist principles (women’s experience as feminism’s starting point, the personal is political, and identity politics) have shaped approaches to the abortion issue for feminist scholars in religion, I argue that ongoing critique, new theoretical perspectives, and attentiveness to subaltern voices are necessary for these foundational feminist principles to keep pace with fast-changing and complex societal dynamics relevant to women’s struggles for reproductive health and justice. The essay concludes by proposing natality as a helpful concept for future feminist theological and ethical thinking on the subject.