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"The country does not recognize female monks or novices."                                   "It’s a shame that women aren’t allowed to make decisions for their own lives. You have to rebel against injustice because this is not right,”

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"The country does not recognize female monks or novices."                                   "It’s a shame that women aren’t allowed to make decisions for their own lives. You have to rebel against injustice because this is not right,”

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I chose these quotes because it unveiled the overall outlook of the role for women in buddhism. These quotes also accentuate the injustice that buddhists nuns and aspiring female monks of Thailand face. Unfortunately the women are ostracized by male buddhist leaders and monks just because they want to pursue higher positions in Buddhism.

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Last month, Boodsabann Chanthawong joined a growing number of women defying generations of Thai Buddhist tradition by becoming ordained as novice monks at an unrecognised all-female monastery outside Bangkok.

Leading a procession of 21 other women - from teenagers to senior citizens - to a chapel in the Songdhammakalyani monastery in Nakhon Pathom province, Boodsabann tears up as she prepares to exchange her white garments for the distinctive saffron robes otherwise seen almost exclusively on male monks.

"I'm going to overcome this obstacle and become ordained like I've always wanted," the 49-year-old businesswoman says before the ceremony, where she will have her head shaved and stay for nine days at the temple.

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Officially, only men can become monks and novices in Thailand under a Buddhist order that since 1928 has forbidden the ordination women. The country does not recognise female monks or novices.

One option for devout Thai women is to become white-clad Buddhist nuns, who follow a less-strict religious regimen than monks and are often relegated to housekeeping tasks in temples.

In recent years, more Thai Buddhist women seeking to become fully-fledged "bhikkunis", or female monks, have been defying the tradition by pursuing the other option: getting ordained overseas, usually in Sri Lanka or India.

Dhammananda Bhikkhuni, the 74-year-old abbess of the Songdhammakalyani monastery, flew to Sri Lanka to be ordained in 2001 as Thailand's first female monk.

Since then, she has helped women like Boodsabann join the Buddhist order as novices at the monastery's ordination ceremonies every April and December.

"It's been 90 years and the social context has changed, but they still don't accept us," Dhammananda told Reuters in an interview at the temple's library, where an entire shelf is dedicated to books about women's rights and role in religion.

"It's a shame that women aren't allowed to make decisions for their own lives. You have to rebel against injustice because this is not right," she added.

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While Dhammananda's monastery ordains female novices, it cannot do the same for those seeking to become female monks. Such a ceremony would require not only 10 female monks but also 10 male monks, who are forbidden under Thailand's 1928 order to participate in it.

There are around 270 female monks across Thailand and they were all ordained abroad, Dhammananda says, adding that her monastery currently houses seven of them. In contrast, Thailand has more than 250,000 male monks.

Efforts in the past by advocates to undo the 1928 order have been futile. It has been officially upheld during meetings of the Sangha Supreme Council, the country's top monks, in 2002 and most recently in 2014.

The government says this is not gender discrimination but a matter of long-held tradition, and women are free to travel abroad to be ordained, just not in their own country.

"Women can't be ordained here, but no one stops them from doing that overseas. They just can't be ordained by Thai monks, that's all," says Narong Songarom, spokesman of the National Office of Buddhism.
Reporting by Patpicha Tanakasempipat

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Thailand's rebel female Buddhist monks who are defying tradition

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Last month, Boodsabann Chanthawong joined a growing number of women defying generations of Thai Buddhist tradition by becoming ordained as novice monks at an unrecognised all-female monastery outside Bangkok.

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It has been more than 90 years and women are still facing the injustice pertaining there wants in religious traditions. Another obstacle awakens as women in Thailand fight for the opportunity to be ordained monks. This Journey begins with a woman named Boodsabann Chanthawong, just like other women in Thailand she overcoming an obstacle in Buddhism that will pave the way for many generations to come.

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Boodsabann Chanthawong plans to become an ordained monk (bhikkunis). She will go through the same religions traditions that a monks (bhikkus) will go through. This includes  the shaving of the head and staying in the temple for ten days. Unfortunately like many countries it is forbidden for the ordination of female monks especially in Thailand.

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Just like the Women's suffrage movement in the mid 19th-century, women are still denied certain religious rights. Although Thailand forbids the ordination of female monks. Countries like Sri Lanka or India are allowing women to pursue their religious dreams despite their gender. Dhammananda Bhikkhuni, flew oversees to Sri Lanka to be ordained in 2001 and became  Thailand’s first female monk. Just like that she paved the way for other women like Boodsabann Chanthawong.

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In contrast there are around 270 female monks across Thailand and most had to be ordained oversees. Meanwhile there are 250,000 male monks. The vast difference speaks for itself in reflection to women's rights. As the years go on women across Thailand continue to advocate for the ordination of female monks.

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"Since ancient history buddhism institutionaries were formed and controlled by men" (p. 177).
- Since then  it is evident that the roles for women in buddhism were uprooted by men. My news article relates to our readings because it tackles the controversies of women's right and buddhism specifically the ordination of female monks. It's quite astonishing that buddhist men have controlled almost everything and have left women to be beneath them.

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"Where there have been some nunneries attached to Theravada monasteries, the nuns have often been to serving the domestic needs of monks, primarily cooking and cleaning for them"(p.178).
- Just like in the everyday world women want to hold higher status instead of just feeding and cleaning for men. Dhammananda Bhikkhuni and others refused to be of lower status to men but rather equals.
-"Only in China, Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam are Buddhist nuns given the approbation as their male counterparts" (p.178). In other countries women are not for ordination at all. My article relates to our reading and traditions of buddhism because buddhists nuns want to be agents of change in the equality of women and men in Buddhist traditions.

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"Recently in most of the Theravada world, full ordination of women has begun to be revived...There has been an explosion of  notable women buddhist leaders, who have profoundly influenced and empowered Buddhist women around the world" (p. 178).
- As mentioned in the reading women like Ayya Khema, Mahprajapati, and Empress Wu Zetian of Tang Dynasty of China have paved a way for buddhist nuns and continued to leave a positive mark on buddhist traditions.
-As in relation to my article it newer generations of buddhists nuns are reaching to greater heights like past generations. It is only right for the women of Thailand to try and fulfill their wishes to be female monks just like past women buddhist leaders have done in order to gain somewhat of equal rights for buddhists nuns.

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In conclusion, I do believe that the roles of women in buddhism has transformed. There are still some changes that could be made pertaining to the ordination of female monks. It is important to create equality between the sexes in buddhist traditions, although there is more to be done this short film down below discusses the positive change of the role of women in buddhism from then to now.

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Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo – The Role of Women in Buddhism

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1. Perawongmetha​ , Athit. “Thailand's Rebel Female Buddhist Monks Who Are Defying Tradition.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 12 Jan. 2019,www.independent.co.uk/news/world/thailand-rebel-female-buddhist-monks-photos-defy-tradition-pictures-a8715631.html.
2. Invitation to World Religions, 2
nd Edition (New York: Oxford University Press, 2019) ISBN: 978-
0-19-937836-4.