Angels and the Dragon King's Daughter: Gender,Sexuality in Western Buddhist New Religious Movements

Abstract

Through colonialism and globalization, Buddhism has developed an increasing profile in the West. This can be observed within popular culture as well as the presence of Buddhist practitioners from a range of ethnicities of whom a significant number are converts. This presence has led to the development of Buddhist new religious movements (NRMs). We first outline interpretations of gender and sexuality that have arisen within Buddhist traditions. Then, using Linda Woodhead's (2007) model that theorises religion's positioning with respect to gender, we discuss gender norms that have developed for two of the largest Buddhist NRMs in the UK: the Triratna Buddhist Community (TBC, formerly the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order, FWBO) and the Nichiren group Sōka-Gakkai International-UK (SGI-UK). Through examining new empirical data, we explore how their gender norms are negotiated by members. We note that within these movements, women, queer people and people of colour are creating provisional spaces that challenge attempts to hegemonize hetero-patriarchal perspectives.     

回鹘宗教史上的萨满巫术

萨满教在回鹘中流播时间长、范围广、影响大,以万物有灵论为思想基础,内容包括自然崇拜、图腾崇拜和祖先崇拜等方面。在 763 年摩尼教传入回鹘之前,该教一直享有国教的地位,巫师颇受回鹘统治者宠信。当萨满教的国教地位被摩尼教取代后,其影响并未消失,而是以改变了形式——巫术继续存在于回鹘社会中,以致影响到今日维吾尔族、裕固族的社会文化与习俗。     

A New Caledonian crow (Corvus moneduloides) creatively re-designs tools by bending or unbending aluminium strips

Previous observations of a New Caledonian crow (Corvus moneduloides) spontaneously bending wire and using it as a hook [Weir et al. (2002) Science 297:981] have prompted questions about the extent to which these animals 'understand' the physical causality involved in how hooks work and how to make them. To approach this issue we examine how the same subject ("Betty") performed in three experiments with novel material, which needed to be either bent or unbent in order to function to retrieve food. These tasks exclude the possibility of success by repetition of patterns of movement similar to those employed before. Betty quickly developed novel techniques to bend the material, and appropriately modified it on four of five trials when unbending was required. She did not mechanically apply a previously learned set of movements to the new situations, and instead sought new solutions to each problem. However, the details of her behaviour preclude concluding definitely that she understood and planned her actions: in some cases she probed with the unmodified tools before modifying them, or attempted to use the unmodified (unsuitable) end of the tool after modification. Gauging New Caledonian crows' level of understanding is not yet possible, but the observed behaviour is consistent with a partial understanding of physical tasks at a level that exceeds that previously attained by any other non-human subject, including apes.     

The temporal course of the frustration effect

General activity subsequent to reward (R) and nonreward (N) was monitored at 5-sec intervals with a stabilimeter in the runway goal box. Activity of never-rewarded control Ss was also measured. In Expt 1 it was found that the frustration effect (difference between N- and R-trial activities) disappeared after about 40 sec of goal box confinement. This disappearance of the frustration effect was due to activity increase on R trials rather than activity decrease on N trials as a function of time. Comparison of N-trial activity with control group activity indicated that frustration does not dissipate within 60 sec. Expt 2 investigated activity following reward and nonreward as a function of reward magnitude. Evidence from these experiments suggests that the late R-trial activity increase results from frustration, possibly conditioned to apparatus cues on N trials.     

Selective imitation of the passive construction through modeling

Six 4- to 5-yr-old subjects were exposed to five sessions in which an adult model used passive sentences to describe a set of modeling stimuli. Probe stimuli, which the subjects were asked to describe without benefit of modeling and without selective reinforcement were interspersed among modeling stimuli. A matched group of control subjects received probletrials but no modeling trials. Both groups of subjects were subsequently tested on their ability to comprehend active and passive sentence forms. Every subject in the experimental group produced passive sentences on probe trials even though there was considerable variability in the number of passives produced. No control subject produced passives. The modeling procedure increased the comprehension scores of the experimental group above those of the control group though the scores of both groups were above chance. The results were contrasted with earlier studies in which modeling was ineffective in producing passive usage and in which comprehension of the passive was not demonstrated by even older children.     

Increased conformity to a fellow deviant as a function of prior deviation

A subject was induced to publically report his opinions on a variety of issues. A group of confederates disagreed with the subject; one confederate agreed with him. Thus, the subject deviated from the majority of the group, but received social support from one other individual. Each subject was then paired with one individual from the previous group, and regardless of his pairing, was subjected to a constant amount of conformity pressure from the confederate on a new set of judgments. Deviant subjects conformed more to the confederate who had previously given them social support than they did to a previous majority member. This increased conformity was found in two studies, (1) females judging physical realities and, (2) males reporting their opinions on attitudinal issues. Ratings taken in the second study demonstrated that the deviant subject felt increased liking for and similarity to the confederate who initially provided him with social support, but comparisons between various experimental groups indicated conformity to a confederate was not completely predictable from the subject's liking for that confederate. Instead, conformity was greatest following an experience of deviation from the majority.     

Conditioning two types of enuretics

Acquired enuretics (children who resume wetting after a period of dryness) have been distinguished from persistent enuretics (children who were never dry) in that the wetting of the former has been viewed as symptomatic of conflict and not modifiable by conditioning procedures. The present study compares these two types on measures of conditioning outcome and effectiveness, initial pathology and post-treatment adjustment.     

Self-versus drug-produced relaxation and the effects of instructional set in standardized systematic desensitization

Snake fearful college students underwent Standardized Systematic Desensitization (SSD) treatment in which they received instructions designed to induce cognitions of either self- or drug-produced relaxation. Half of the subjects in each of these conditions were also given high expectancy therapy instructions and low expectancy therapy instructions respectively. All four SSD groups showed significantly greater improvement than a no-treatment control group on both the behavior avoidance test (BAT) and the self-report measure of fear. No differences between self- and drug-attributions of relaxation were found on any measure. Subjects' high expectancy ratings were significantly correlated with improvement on self-report measures but not related to BAT performance.     

Perceived characteristics of “competent” people

The purpose of this research was to determine the specific behaviors and cues which 104 assessors perceived as indicating the presence of psychological variables shown to be related to competent job behavior. The cue systems utilized were found to be reminiscent of theory Y conceptions of effective job behavior. Implications of the lack of correlation of cue utilization with assessor characteristics are discussed.