Women in Thai-Lao Manuscript Culture: Alternative Worship of Text(iles) in Support of Monkhood

Abstract

Possessing inferior religious status to males, who could be ordained as monks, females played a comparatively minor role in Theravāda Buddhism. Females were generally allowed to be involved in creating items to be donated to the Sangha, except for writing religious manuscripts, which required literacy in the Dhamma script; that skill lay with monks and novices, since the script was taught at monasteries. To compensate for their inability to obtain monkhood status, women wove textiles for wrapping religious books or donated their hair for binding palm-leaf manuscripts. Cloth-weaving skills compensated for their lack of literacy in the Dhamma script, while the donation of hair compensated for their lack of masculinity or monkhood. Women could also invest in tools, sponsorship, and financial support for commissioning religious manuscripts. Thus, although they were not allowed to be directly involved in the production of religious manuscripts, they were able to engage in ancillary activities.