Buddhism, Sexuality, and Gender Edited by José Ignacio Cabezin State University of New York PressGender and Buddhist HistoryAttitudes toward Women and the Feminine in Early Buddhism Alan Sponberg ‘Observers of Buddhism, both sympathetic and cecal, ftn are track by the apparent ambivalence toward worsen andthe feminine thal one finds n Buddhist erate, Varios antferinne ates cern ae ‘evident in many early Budahist tent, a characteris Bashi shares ‘ith probay al institutionalize religious tedtons The voice one hearin reading these Buddhist touts, however, is nelther consistent Ror univocal Many scholars have noted an underlying tension within the Buddhist erature tension been certain tides that seer "unusually posve in ther assessment of women and the feminine, fon the one hand, and attudes that ae mach more Btanty negative, fon the oer. Occasionally this tension turns up even within single {ext asin the wellknown Pat account ofthe founding ofthe order fof nuns, a story in which we find Gautama, the Buddha, conceding that women indeed are quit capable of taining the highest Badan foal of iberation, but going on to ad that the ceston of an order [Fun wll dramatically hasten the decne of hi teachings In the word ‘We shall ook more closely a this oft story ltr or now it Is important to note hat just this jastaposton of apparently divergent and contradictory views hale many writers to characterize the sty Buddhist autude wwaed women ax profoundly ambivalent" But] ‘heal the mot hep way of understanding te isp of ws ‘expressed in such texts? Although nat inaccurate, sty speaking the characterization of ambivalence te misleading atthe lac te ‘aryng a connotation of uncertaty, or even confson The vie | ‘wish to explore hee is tha what we find i the early Badd tents [nota single, uncertain voice, but rather 8 mulipikyof voles ach 3