10 Feminist Tweets Funnier Than the Dalai Lama’s Sexist “Joke”

During a recent interview, the Dalai Lama made a shocking declaration: If he should have a female successor, he specified, she must be physically attractive.

“If female Dalai Lama comes, then (she) should be more attractive,” he said with a laugh. He then made a distorted face, according to the BBC, and said that if a female Dalai Lama looked a certain way, “then people, I think, prefer not see … that face.”

Asked whether that might be perceived as objectifying by contrast with a person’s intrinsic value, the Dalai Lama responded, “I think both.”

The Dalai Lama made similar comments in 2015, when he told the BBC that a future Dalai Lama certainly could be a woman but would have to be good looking or would be “not much use.

The Dalai Lama apologized today and tried to brush off the remark as a joke. But sexism is no laughing matter—even if the feminist responses to the Dalai Lama’s initial statements had us in stitches.

As the world collapses and our brain cells continue crawling out of our ears, Twitter is the one place we can count on to help us mourn the only way we can: laughter. And that’s where feminists came out in full force to talk back to the Dalai Lama’s sexism.

These were our 10 favorite responses.

https://twitter.com/markzohar/status/1144361597504241664
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About

Ali Marsh is an editorial intern at Ms. Magazine in Los Angeles. A rising senior at American University, Ali is majoring in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies with a double minor in Justice and Studio Art. She is a self-published author of a writing/film photo book based off her six months of solo backpacking across Europe. She was one of the focuses of a Vice documentary series about inspirational women, and her activism has led her to be featured in Time Magazine, i-D, New York Times, Quartz, LadyGunn, Topshop and more. She is known for her frequent live streams on Instagram where she discusses politics and current events. You can find her here Instagram