Since when was Gender Equality a Western concept?
http://bigsunny.wordpress.com/2009/05/26/since-when-was-gender-equality-a-western-concept/5/26/09
When I hear people say this, it really strikes a wrong chord with me. First of all, since when was gender equality a concept totally alien to Asian culture? We are told again and again that the Buddha taught that women and men had equal spiritual potential (which is/has become a pretty weak consolation, but more on that later) and ultimately set up a monastic order for women too so an important concept of gender equality was already in the original Buddhist teachings, and in fact a fundamental cornerstone of Buddhist society as the Buddha envisioned it. So let's go back to the original Buddhist teachings. I'm not arguing for equal spiritual opportunities for men and women based on Western concepts, but on Buddhist ones – and if Buddhist teachings are supposed to form the bedrock of Thai culture, then Thai ideals.
