Women and Asian Religions

by Zayn Kassam

Publisher:

Praeger

, 2017

Covering eclectic topics ranging from South Asian religion to motherhood to world dance to ethnomusicology, this book focuses on contemporary selected experiences of women and how their lives interface with religion.

Religion has often been perceived as the source of constriction for women's roles in society. This volume explores how modern women across Asia are mobilizing their faith traditions to address existential issues encountered in both the public and private realms, relating to economics, public participation, politics, and culture. As such, it is revealed that religion can be a powerful force for social change and ameliorating women's lives, despite use of religious doctrine in the past to limit women.

Editor Zayn R. Kassam, PhD, and the contributors cover not only the commonly considered "Asian" traditions of Hinduism, Islam, and Buddhism but also Christianity, Judaism, Bahai, and indigenous traditions. The book reveals that the challenges and opportunities Asian women face arise both from within and outside, whether in terms of developments within their countries or in relation to international political and economic regimes. The chapters explore how the issues Asian women face have as much to do with cultural and religious codes as they do with politics, economics, education, and the law; consider the varying ways in which family and motherhood are affected by the state's construction of the gendered citizen, by social constructs of motherhood, and by policies regarding women and children's access to health care; and identify the roles played by religion and spirituality in these circumstances.

Features

Examines how women draw upon their faith to address the issues they face in the changing contexts of globalization, religion and spirituality, and feminism
Reveals the myriad ways in which women across Asia are mobilizing to become agents of change while remaining firmly rooted in their religious and cultural traditions
Highlights how religion can be a powerful force for social change

Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
Zayn R. Kassam
Part I. Woman, Family, and Environment
1. Balinese Dancers on the Global Stage: Negotiating Motherhood, Religion, and Politics during the Suharto Regime
Maria Talamantes
2. The Holy "Mother Who Is Not a Mother": Saradamani Chattopadhyay
Narasingha P. Sil
3. Crisis of Transnational Families and Restoration of a Medium's Marriage Life in Northeast Thailand
Visisya Pinthongvijayakul
4. Indian Women Through the Ages: Mother's Roles in Mythology, Current Practices, and Future Prospects
Lavanya Vemsani
Part II. Socioeconomics, Politics, Authority
5. From Secession to Social Activism: Muslim Women's Movements in the Philippines
Vivienne SM Angeles
6. Speaking Shadows to Light: Vernacular Narrative as a Vehicle for Rajasthani Female Sadhus Voicing Vulnerability and Violence
Antoinette E. DeNapoli
7. The Martyr Bomber Becomes a Goddess: Women, Theosis, and Sacrificial Violence in Sri Lanka
William Harman
8. Women of the Clouds: The Cordillera Religion and the Shaping of the Economic, Political, and Social Empowerment of Women
Jae Woo Jang
Part III. Body, Mind, and Spirit
9. Gender, Popular Religion, and the Politics of Memory in Taiwan's Urban Renewal: The Case of the Twenty-Five Ladies' Tomb
Anru Lee and Wen-hui Anna Tang
10. Shakti's New Voice: Anandmurti Gurumaa and Female Empowerment
Angela Rudert
11. Storytelling for Change: Women's Activism and the Theater of Pritham Chakravarthy
Kristen Rudisill
12. Women Living Buddhism in the West: Spiritual Practice and Daily Life
Leesa S. Davis
Part IV. Sexuality, Power, and Vulnerability
13. Losing Faith, Gaining Empowerment: Changing Identities of Devadasis in Karnataka, India
Nicole Aaron
14. A Politics of Empathy: Christianity and Women's Peace Activism in U.S. Military Prostitution in South Korea
Keun-Joo Christine Pae
15. Transforming Trauma: From Partition Hauntings to Post 9/11 Angst in South Asian Cinema
Khani Begum
Part V. Women, Worldview, and Religious Practice
16. The Virtuous Life of a Thai Buddhist Nun
Petcharat Lovichakorntikul, Phramaha Min Putthithanasombat, and John Walsh
17. Women in Contemporary Japanese Religious Civil Society Groups
Paola Cavaliere
18. From the Old Lady of the Grove to Ekatmika Bhava: Women's Mysticism, Devotion, and Possession Trance in Popular Bengali Shaktism
June McDaniel
19. The Rise of Female Vipassana Meditation Teachers in Southeast Asia
Brooke Schedneck
Abbreviations
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
About the Editor and Contributors

Praise for Women and Asian Religions

The extensive back matter adds value. Graduate and upper undergraduate students will find rich material in areas such as intersectionality, socioeconomics, anthropology, and politics.

The editor brings together scholars with different areas of expertise, and this serves to underscore the fact that women's experiences, in various geographical and religious contexts, are often different, sometimes even within the same spiritual tradition. Furthermore, the various lenses, including, for example, that of motherhood, challenge any notion that feminism can be defined in a singular way. In addition to challenging singular definitions in religiosity, the text serves to mitigate against assuming a strict divide between religions considered Eastern and Western. Finally, the authors provide numerous examples of female agency in traditions that are often stereotyped as lacking in this regard. Summing Up: Essential. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers.

Product Details

• Title: Women and Asian Religions
• Author: Zayn Kassam
• Publisher: Praeger
• Print Publication Date: 2017
• Logos Release Date: 2024
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Ebook
• ISBN: 9798216166139
• Resource ID: LLS:9798216166139
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-04-15T17:55:29Z

About the Author

Zayn R. Kassam, PhD, is John Knox McLean Professor of Religious Studies at Pomona College, Claremont, CA.