24/04/22

The Ascent of Woman

As part of my contextual research I watched the BBC documentary The Ascent of Woman, which goes back 10,000 years to trace woman’s roles in society and their lasting impacts on history and politics. The documentary also explores the man-made economic and political circumstances that have forced women into being second-place citizens throughout history. I found the second episode particularly interesting as it explores how Buddhism has always had a much more egalatarian view on gender, which has opposed other major religions and societal beliefs throughout history. I think that moving forward in my project I would like to choose one woman to explore and tell her story. The case studies of individual women in this documentary makes the struggles of women during the time period much more humanising and easily relatable, as opposed to exploring how woman as a whole were effected, therefore I think that focusing on one woman in my project will leave more of a lasting impression on the viewer.

My Journey to Lhasa and Magic and Mystery in Tibet

I found it very difficult to narrow down who I wanted to focus my project on, as there were so many women who I found inspiring.  I have ultimately decided on Alexandra David-Neel; she was a French-Belgian adventurer who travelled extensively throughout Asia during the early 20th century. David-Neel’s most prominent expidition was her visit to Lhasa, considered to be the holiest city in Buddhism, despite it being forbidden to foreigners at the time. Throughout her life she wrote upwards of 30 books about Eastern religion and her travels, and despite this she remians relatively unknown to the public. Over the Easter break I read two of her books, My Journey to Lhasa and Magic and Mystery in Tibet. These gave me a fascinating insight into Alexandra’s life and beliefs. I found her story really interesting because she consistently demonstrated her want for independence and discovery, which completely went againt the mundane life that was expected of women in the late 19th century. Additionally she was very outspoken in her beliefs, with examples of this ranging from her membership in feminist and anarchist groups during her teenage years, to fully converting to Buddhism. She is a bold and intruiging character that I think works perfectly for my project.