Description
Book SynopsisThis transdisciplinary book brings together essays that explore the variety and diversity of Buddhist masculinities, from early India to the contemporary United States, and from bodhisattva-kings to martial monks.
Trade ReviewIn a series of fascinating essays, . . . scholars contend with how Buddhists have negotiated with masculine ideals and the effect that this has had on Buddhist culture. * Buddhadharma: Lion's Roar *
This is the first book to critically explore masculinity across such a broad swath of the Buddhist tradition in different periods and cultures. The authors—experts in fields as diverse as philology, ethnography, archeology, art history, the study of popular culture, and film studies—provide us with new and important insights into the diverse and sometimes competing notions of maleness in different parts of the Buddhist world and how these notions have often functioned to subordinate women. A theoretically sophisticated yet accessible book,
Buddhist Masculinities is must read for anyone interested in Buddhism and the comparative study of gender. -- José Ignacio Cabezón, author of
Sexuality in Classical South Asian BuddhismThis volume brings much needed attention to the diversities and continuities of Buddhist masculinity throughout Asia and beyond. Across four sections,
Buddhist Masculinities shows how Buddhists generated masculine ideals, performed machismo, adapted to culturally specific definitions of masculinity, and responded to transgressive masculinities. This is a welcome and timely addition to the study of Buddhism and gender for a new generation of scholars. -- Bernard Faure, author of
The Red Thread: Buddhist Approaches to Sexuality and
The Power of Denial: Buddhism, Purity, and GenderBuddhist Masculinities sheds light on masculinity as an object of analysis, refusing to allow it to go unmarked as it so often does in Buddhist texts and scholarship. The book is bound to become an important reference for future work in this burgeoning field, as it maintains an expansive and critical definition of masculinity, engaging masculinity theorists to think about diverse Buddhist texts and contexts. -- Sarah Jacoby, author of
Love and Liberation: Autobiographical Writings of the Tibetan Buddhist Visionary Sera KhandroTable of ContentsAcknowledgments
Abbreviations
Introduction: Masculinities Beyond the Buddha, by Megan Bryson
Part 1: Masculine Models1. Middle Way Masculinity: The Bodhisattva Siddhārtha as a Renunciant in Early Buddhist Texts and Art, by Dessislava Vendova
2. How Chan Masters Became “Great Men”: Masculinity in Chinese Chan Buddhism, by Kevin Buckelew
3. Men of Virtue: Reexamining the Bodhisattva King in Sri Lanka, by Stephen C. Berkwitz
Part 2: Mighty Masters4. The Siddha Who Tamed Tibet: Padmasambhava’s Tantric Masculinity, by Joshua Brallier Shelton
5. Building a Nation on the Dharma Battlefield: Lay Zen Masculinities in Modern Japan, by Rebecca Mendelson
6. Macho Buddhism (Redux): Gender and Sexualities in the Diamond Way, by Bee Scherer
Part 3: Making Men7. Being a Man vs. Being a Monk: Alternative Versions of Burmese Buddhist Masculinity, by Ward Keeler
8. Hanuman, Heroes, and Buddhist Masculinity in Contemporary Thailand, by Natawan Wongchalard
9. Buddhism and Afro-Asian Masculinities in
The Man with the Iron Fists, by Marcus Evans
Part 4: Breaking Boundaries10. The Afterlife of the Tang Monk: Buddhist Masculinity and the Image of Xuanzang in East Asia, by Geng Song
11. Real Monks Don’t Have
Gṛhastha Sex: Revisiting Male Celibacy in Classical South Asian Buddhism, by Amy Paris Langenberg
Appendix: Character Glossary
Contributors
Index
