2.1.4 Buddhism and Hinduism Impact on Gender Roles

Buddhism vs. Hinduism

By: Jazmin Haque

The Big Gist
2.1.4 Compare and contrast how belief systems affected gender roles.

Buddhism

Buddhism originated during the 6th century BCE in India. The founder of this religion was Siddharta Gautama. Buddhists strive to achieve Nirvana or enlightenment. Once pain and suffering ended, the enlightened person would encounter serenity. Buddha’s teachings had reflected in the teachings of Hinduism. Karma and rebirth were major aspects in Buddhism. Meditation was also apart of Buddhist culture. Different from Hinduism, Buddhism abandoned social classes and had cast off the religious authority of the Brahmins. Rituals and sacrifices were abandoned from Hindu traditions. Buddhism was not interested in the guesswork about the existence of a God or the creation of the world. People were more inclined to become Buddhist due to the fact that it challenged the inequalities of a Hindu-based caste system and had argued that gender nor caste position was a blockade to enlightenment.

Hinduism

Hinduism had begun during 800 to 400 BCE on the Indian sub-continent and had originated in the early Indus Valley Civilization. Hinduism believes in the idol worship of many gods and goddesses. Hindus also believe in reincarnation or the soul being reborn into a higher or lower caste based on their previous lives Karma and Dharma. The caste system was a large role in Hinduism. At the bottom of the social pyramid are Sudras, who are servants, laborers, and farm hands. The next higher social class is the Vaisyas who are merchants, farmers, and artisans. Kshatriyas or the warrior class are toward the top of the social pyramid and at the very top are the Brahmin priests who have the largest amount of religious authority in society. Moral ideas of Hinduism consist of truthfulness, compassion, generosity, and purity.

Gender Roles in Society: Hinduism Vs. Buddhism

By: Helene Fertal reedited by Jazmin Haque

In comparison to Buddhism, women's roles in society were minimal in Hinduism's society.

Women were seen as dependent minors who needed to be controlled by men in order to succeed under the influence of Hinduism. Hinduism had caused women's rights to decline tremendously during the Vedic period (1600-1800 BCE). Women are subservient to men in everyday life under the practice of Hinduism. This can be seen in the story of the ritual of Sati. Sati was a funeral that was practiced among Indian communities. In this ritual a widowed woman would kill herself as a sacrifice by burning herself on her husband's funeral pyre. This ritual alone shows the difference of men's roles verse women's roles in Hindu society. The act of a woman being influenced to kill herself due to the death of her husband shows that women were not viewed as independent from the men as society but rather dependent of men. It shows that the life of a women is less valuable than a man's because she is forced to sacrifice herself as a duty in order to be reborn into a higher caste in her next life. As these rituals became more complicated, women were not allowed to own property in society. In addition to this, women had married at very young ages which did not allow for them to finish their education under the practice of Hinduism. Due to being married at such young ages, they were not able to finish their educations, therefore not qualifying them to perform many ritual sacrifices. Hindu practices showed the negative characteristics of women. They had stated that women would be promiscuous unless controlled by men. Another example of Hinduism impacting women's roles in Indian society is a quote from Romila Thapar. He states that, "The symbol of the woman in Indian culture has been a curious intermeshing of low legal status, ritual contempt, sophisticated sexual partnership, and deification," In all, Hinduism had impacted women's roles in Indian society by perceiving women as dependent minors who needed to be controlled by men in order to succeed.
Buddhism differed greatly from Hinduism due to the fact that anyone could achieve enlightenment or Nirvana, not just the upper classes or men. Buddhism had challenged the inequalities of the Hindu-based caste system. It had argued that caste position nor gender should be a barrier to enlightenment.This had been very attractive to women and the lower classes in India. Women had joined Buddhism to find freedom and independence in society which had been unavailable in Indian society before Buddhism. Women's roles in society became relatively different and better because of Buddhism. Women's social status had improved greatly under Buddhism due to this. Women and men were equal in theory which caused for more rights for women. While patriarchal society stayed the same, women were allowed more freedoms and were seen as independent in the Buddhist society. Women were allowed to become nuns and be religiously and societally active. Overall, Buddhism had allowed for women to be seen as independent and had improved women's rights in society.