In Pictures: Buddhist nun challenging misogyny in Myanmar

The 40-year-old Ketumala is a fierce advocate for the importance of women in religion

Published: September 04, 2020 12:28 AFP and Compiled by Christian Borbon, Senior Web Editor

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In a society where a popular saying urges women to "regard her son as her master and her husband as her god", Buddhist nun Ketumala is already an outlier. Image Credit: AFP

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The 40-year-old walked away from traditional expectations of marriage and children as a teenager, and has instead spent more than two decades as a fierce advocate for the importance of women in religion. Image Credit: AFP

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The deep-red robes and shorn heads of Myanmar's monks are internationally recognised, but the plight of the nation's vast number of nuns, estimated to be in excess of 60,000, is little documented. Image Credit: AFP

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An entrenched patriarchy - the belief women are inferior is common and discrimination is routine - means that nuns, who also shave their hair but wear pink, can face abuse. Image Credit: AFP

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"When a man enters into monkhood, people always applaud saying it is good for the religion and will make it better, but when a woman enters into nunhood, people always think it is because of a problem," Ketumala explains. "They think it's a place for women who are poor, old, sick, divorced, or need help for their life," she adds. Image Credit: AFP

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Outspoken and rebellious, Ketumala is arguably the best known nun in Myanmar, having founded the Dhamma School Foundation, which runs more than 4,800 Buddhist education centres for children throughout the country. Image Credit: AFP

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But she warns that many nuns are still treated with contempt - the nunneries are run on donations but they do not command the reverence of monasteries and so struggle with funding. Image Credit: AFP

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In the worst cases, nuns are abused even for asking for alms that help them survive. "Sometimes they are harassed along the road," she explains. Image Credit: AFP

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Ketumala admits she was not interested in religion in her youth, but found her path to enlightenment through reading about Buddhist philosophies, crediting Sayarday U Zawti Ka's tome 'A House Where Mindfulness Is' with giving her clarity. Image Credit: AFP

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"I used to think success was measured with materials - titles and property - but later I found out that those who can control and master the mind are the only successful people," she says. Image Credit: AFP

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Her family were against her becoming a nun, fearing she would end up an outcast, and refused to speak to her for years - though they have since been reconciled. She pushed ahead despite the opposition, even securing two degrees in Buddhist Studies as she completed her training. Image Credit: AFP

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Ketumala concedes there is no hope of achieving equal status with monks - some historians say that nuns were once ordained in Theravada Buddhism, practised in Myanmar and much of South East Asia, but as the practice died out more than a 1,000 years ago there is no way to revive it. Image Credit: AFP

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Nonetheless she is determined to make a difference for the tens of thousands of religious women in the country so they can "better utilise their abilities". Image Credit: AFP

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