Courtesans and Tantric Consorts: Sexualities in Buddhist Narrative, Iconography, and Ritual (Paperback)

by Serinity Young (Author)
Key Phrases: female auspiciousness, tantric consorts, auspicious powers, New York, Yeshe Tsogyel, Queen Maya (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"This book is excellent...wonderfully detailed, full of substantial narrative and anecdote and liberal in its comparisons.." -- Ellison Findly, Professor of Religion and International Studies, Trinity College

By considering both the textual and the art historical data, this interdisciplinary study offers us many new insights concerning both women and women's relationships to men. An erudite book that, while taking into account all of the most recent scholarship in the field, goes beyond it to offer us fresh new insights....A major contribution to the literature on women in Buddhism.
–José Ignacio Cabezón, XIVth Dalai Lama Professor of Tibetan Buddhism and Cultural Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara

By considering both the textual and the art historical data, this interdisciplinary study offers us many new insights concerning both women and womens relationships to men. An erudite book that, while taking into account all of the most recent scholarship in the field, goes beyond it to offer us fresh new insights....A major contribution to the literature on women in Buddhism.
–José Ignacio Cabezón, XIVth Dalai Lama Professor of Tibetan Buddhism and Cultural Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara

Clearly structured, lucidly written, judiciously illustrated with examples from the primary texts, and accessible to the nonspecialist...it will be an important resource for students and teachers alike.
–Eugene V. Gallager, Connecticut College

This book is a tour de force, marshalling a broad range of materials--textual, ritual, and iconographical--to tackle a complex issue in the forefront of Buddhist studies today, that of sexuality and gender. This book is not to be missed and is a significant contribution to our understanding of the Indo-Tibetan culture of Buddism.
–Ellison Findly, Trinity College, Hartford

This book is excellent...wonderfully detailed, full of substantial narrative and anecdote and liberal in its comparisons.
–Ellison Findly, Professor of Religion and International Studies, Trinity College

Product Description
The wisest teachings of Buddhism say that one must move beyond gender. But, as Serinity Young shows in this enlightening work, the rhetoric of Buddhist texts, the symbolism of its iconography, and the performative import of its rituals, all tell different, and often contradictory, stories. In Courtesans and Tantric Consorts, Serinity Young takes the reader on a journey through more than 2000 years of biographical writings, iconographic depictions, and ritual practices revealing the colorful mosaic of beliefs that inform Buddhist views about gender and sexuality.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (February 19, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415914833
• ISBN-13: 978-0415914833
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #679,279 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thought Provoking, July 26, 2005

By	Robert (www.kushan.org) - See all my reviews

Clever, insightful, well-written and though provoking.

This is an account that is somewhat wider than its title implies. It examines various categories of women (including courtesans and consorts) through the use of Buddhist texts. Young provides a pleasingly nuanced analysis of how male monastic writers have suppressed and marginalised women in the Buddhist tradition in an attempt to control and co-opt their power.

Worth reading for anyone with an interest in gender and Buddhism.