The Dalai Lama has sparked outrage after voicing his belief that if his successor were to be female, she would have to be “attractive”, otherwise no one would want to look at her face, the BBC reported.
While speaking at his home in the north Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, the nearly 84-year-old monk made his misogynistic opinions quite clear.
Back in 2015, the Dalai Lama first stated he felt a female successor would need to be attractive, or she’d be “not much use.”
In that BBC interview, the spiritual leader recalled telling a French journalist a decade before that a female Dalai Lama would be beneficial, since women have a greater “biological” capacity “to show affection” and “compassion.”
“I think female[s] should take more important role and then — I told the reporter — if a female does come, her face should be very, very attractive.”
This comment appeared to be in stark opposition to a 2009 statement he made while speaking in Tennessee.
“I call myself a feminist,” he said while accepting an International Freedom Award. “Isn’t that what you call someone who fights for women’s rights?”
In his latest interview, the Dalai Lama was questioned about his 2015 comments and asked if he understood how they could be percieved as offensive.
Although he was given a chance to retract his statement, he actually reaffirmed his belief that beauty is as important as brains.
“If a female Dalai Lama comes, she should be more attractive,” he said, adding that people wouldn’t want to look at the face of an unattractive female successor.
People online have expressed their disappointment in the Dalai Lama’s misogynistic comments.
“I should of known that @DalaiLama is just a poser boy of #enlightenment,” one user wrote. “He’s human but also has Old School #rightwing tendencies, a sterotypical old man who thinks #immigrants are taking over and women are only heard when they’re pretty.”
Some even took it upon themselves to see if they could guess what the next Dalai Lama would look like, based off the current’s beauty standards.
“So he’ll accept nothing less than a ‘Dolly’ Lama?” one person asked, while another said, “Any female will, by far, be more attractive than the current Dalai Lama.”
However, some believe that perhaps he is being misunderstood in his interpretation of what it means to be “attractive”.
Another person defended the Dalai Lama by claiming his comment may perhaps have been taken a little out of context.
“He did also acknowledge that inner beauty was important,” they pointed out. “Yet I feel his message was meant to imply that her message might not reach ears if she is unattractive. That would be hard to argue, given our world we live in.”
In the same interview, he also spoke about immigration into Europe and said he believes only a “limited number” of refugees should be allowed to stay.
“The European countries should take these refugees and give them education and training, and the aim is return to their own land,” he said. “But whole Europe eventually become Muslim country? Impossible. Or African country. Also impossible. Keep Europe for Europeans.”
Speaking about T***p, the Dalai Lama said he lacks “moral principle”.
“One day he says something, another day he says something,” he said of the US president. “When he becomes president he expressed ‘America First.’ That is wrong. America they should take the global responsibility.”
He added that T***p’s emotions are “also a little bit…too complicated.”
h/t: BBC
Last Updated on June 28, 2019 by Caitlyn Clancey