Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Soka Gakkai], but it is di
cult because the Gakkai is based on the tra-
ditional Japanese view that dividing men and women is better, and it has
been like that since its establishment. I want to change it [within Soka
Gakkai], but to talk frankly about men and women doing things more
together [not divided into division] to the women around me [in Soka
Gakkai]
generally people have the attitude that
women should be helped, and men should be cared for, but I like to think
that there are people who are di
is quite di
cult
erent as well.
Thus while gender discrimination in the job market was one source of frustra-
tion, Hiromi wanted her organisation to make changes as well. Despite these
apprehensions about gender division and katamaru, she continued actively to
support Komeito and Soka Gakkai activities. She believed that this was the
best opportunity she had
, and that
although the reality was not ideal, she believed Soka Gakkai and Komeito
had good intentions and wanted to create a more gender-equal society.
Considering the pattern of employment of women in Soka Gakkai, Ikeda
'
To do something to change things
'
s
call for women to become more prominent in society is not apparent. Female
sta
'
members are seldom promoted to prominent positions or as head of
departments. Looking at this situation one could be tempted to compare the
situation to that of
whose labour has been required to
maintain and run Buddhist temples in the post-war era (Kawahashi and
Kuroki 2003: 295), but who do not receive recognition for their work. The
female employees of Soka Gakkai tend to be in more subordinate positions,
in roles that are substituted easily by new female workers when the existing ones
marry and leave. Such patterns seem at
'
the temple wife
'
ect the position of women
typically found in other new religions as well (see, for example, Hardacre
1984, 1986). Yet we cannot say that women and women
first sight to re
s activities are not
prominent, if not dominant, in the public sphere of Soka Gakkai. Ikeda
'
'
s
constant praise for the e
orts made by women in the organisation make them
stand out as groups of individuals who take the most responsibility for pro-
moting Nichiren Buddhism and the wider value framework that arises from
it. Soka Gakkai
'
s very development he declares as being primarily due to the
voluntary e
orts of women. He also consistently stresses that they are the
driving force in Soka Gakkai. This certainly makes women feel proud and
purposeful in their commitment to achieve the objectives of Soka Gakkai, but
it also promotes
'
women
'
s
'
behaviour as the ideal of what Buddhism is
about
-
caring for others and fostering con
dence in one
'
s and others
'
'
nature. Buddhist practice (chanting, studying, engaging in discus-
sion meetings, taking care of members, working to contribute to one
Buddha
'
'
s com-
munity)
is Division. The numerous
references to and praises of the contribution of women by Ikeda were what
encouraged Hiromi to continue to believe that the organisation was moving
towards a more gender-equal place. She knew
is seen as embodied in the Women
'
not to give up just because
things were not exactly as she would want them to be right now
'
'
.
 
Search WWH ::




Custom Search