Asks whether Buddhism offers women liberation or limitation. This work focuses on Buddhist conceptions of women and constructions of gender. It also asserts that the study of Buddhism through the gender lens leads us to question what we uncritically call Buddhism, in the singular. "The questions Faure raises are important ones: Is Buddhism a tool of liberation or oppression for women? What might a more egalitarian Buddhist practice consist of? Faure approaches his subject in his usual thorough manner. The wealth of historical, sociological, and cultural references may be daunting to some readers, but those who persevere will be rewarded."---Martine Batchelor, Tricycle