Myth of Emancipation: An Exploration of Buddhist Feminism in Bhutan

Abstract

Bhutan is a small landlocked country in the Himalayan Kingdom. The country is known for its spectacular beauty and vibrant culture and traditions. The country was in isolation for the latter half of the twentieth century and when it came out, it attracted the attention of the world for its worldviews, policies and approach towards embracing modernization and development. Besides its inspiring socio-economic and political policies, Bhutan also boasts to be a gender-neutral country. It claims to provide equal opportunity, space, and position to women. The Buddhist nation also states that Bhutanese women have better social representation and cultural existence than most of the women of other South Asian countries but the ground reality is contrary to the claims and notions of the country. The present paper attempts to explore the layered religion and cultural subordination and subjection of women in the land which claims to value happiness of its individual, irrespective of gender, over everything else and package and brand the country as Shangri-La, the paradise on earth.