ABSTRACT
The intention of this chapter is to investigate, and challenge, assumptions made in scholarship about Western women who take ordination, particularly in relation to attitudes to feminism and gender equality. This chapter provides a very close and detailed examination of these issues in the lives of British Buddhist women, and involves a multi-faceted analysis of their narratives, using an innovative perceptual mapping technique. Three ‘modes of engagement’ are outlined in this chapter, which demonstrates finely-grained differences and also important similarities within women’s approaches.
