Gurmeet Kaur

Tibetan women in exile face the dual challenges of patriarchy and nationalism, where the collective needs of an exiled community often overshadow women’s individual rights, health concerns, and aspirations. These challenges thus reinforce gender-based marginalisation. This article critically examines the intersection of nation-building, family planning, reproduction, and body politics, focusing on the relationship between the exiled government and Tibetan women. Based on a survey of 204 female participants in five settlements across India spanning three generations, and in-depth interviews with 10 laywomen, the study finds that governance structures and policies formulated by the Central Tibetan Administration directly impact women’s positionality in exile at both the macro and micro levels. The under-representation of women within the Tibetan Parliament in Exile directly influences the bio-political landscape, shaping policies and power dynamics that govern the regulation and control of bodies, health, and population within the exile community. The article contributes to academic discussions on gender, governance, and nation-building, providing nuanced insights into the lived experiences of Tibetan women in exile. It critically analyses the effects of exile governance on women and the gendered impacts of nationalist policies in displaced communities. Les femmes tibétaines en exil sont confrontées à une double contrainte: celle du patriarcat et celle du nationalisme, où les besoins collectifs de la communauté exilée tendent souvent à occulter les droits individuels, les préoccupations de santé et les aspirations des femmes. Ces dynamiques renforcent ainsi la marginalisation fondée sur le genre. Cet article examine de manière critique l’intersection entre la construction nationale, la planification familiale, la reproduction et la politique des corps, en mettant l’accent sur la relation entre le gouvernement en exil et les femmes tibétaines. Basée sur une enquête menée auprès de 204 femmes réparties dans cinq camps de réfugiés en Inde, couvrant trois générations, ainsi que sur des entretiens approfondis avec dix femmes laïques, l’étude révèle que les structures de gouvernance et les politiques formulées par l’Administration centrale tibétaine influencent directement la position des femmes en exil, tant à l’échelle macro que micro. La sous-représentation des femmes au sein du Parlement tibétain en exil a un impact direct sur le paysage bio-politique, en influençant les politiques et les dynamiques de pouvoir qui régissent la régulation des corps, de la santé et de la population au sein de la communauté exilée. L’article contribue aux débats académiques sur le genre, la gouvernance et la construction nationale, en apportant un éclairage nuancé sur les expériences vécues des femmes tibétaines en exil. Il propose une analyse critique des effets de la gouvernance en exil sur les femmes et des impacts genrés des politiques nationalistes dans les communautés déplacées.

Tara is both a Buddhist and Hindu deity. She is widely worshipped in the esoteric branch of Buddhism: Vajrayana. Even in the exile, Tibetan refugees follow the practice and rituals associated with Tara. Lamentably, she has been given an auxiliary and secondary role in comparison to male deities. Various feminist scholars have begun to look at aspects of society through the lens of gender. They have been at the forefront of studying gender roles and its psychological consequences for those who try to abide by them. In religious studies, especially in Asian context, many of these discourses are difficult to perceive because they were unconsciously appropriated as truth by the people of the society in which they circulated as an inviolable aspect of the worlds or as nature. This study is an attempt to examine the representation of Goddess in various ancient texts as essential to the study of the divine feminine. This hybrid study merges traditional Indology with feminist studies, and is intended for specialists in the field, for readers with interest in Buddhist, and for scholars of Gender studies, cultural historians, and sociologists.

The literary sources reveal that Buddha left his wife and child at home to find enlightenment, which implies that he saw women, and domestic life in particular, as an obstacle in the path of liberation (nirvana). This article is an attempt to question the social norms concerning women accepted by the Buddha and Buddhism through the lens of gender. In addition, it throws a critical light on the eight garudhammas (rules to be observed by fully ordained Buddhist nuns). Buddhism was introduced by the Buddha as a tradition that changed the extant Vedic way of life to his own “way of life,” known as Buddhism in the contemporary world. It cannot be said that the Buddha converted people from the Vedic religion to Buddhism. Instead, the Buddha used the debate to figure out higher truth through logic and attract people to Buddhism. Thus, the roots of Buddhism lie in denouncing the obsolete practices of the Vedic system that promoted any kind of nobleness/righteousness established by birth. In contrast, he promoted righteousness and nobleness based on action and logic. Unfortunately, an important and often overlooked aspect of Buddha and Buddhism, in general, is about women’s place.