Dakinis and femmes fatales: Sexuality and fear in contemporary Himalayan Buddhist cinema

Abstract

This article explores the association of fear and sexuality in the Buddhist figure of the dakini in two recent films by Bhutanese filmmakers, Dechen Roder’s Honeygiver among the Dogs (2016) and Khyentse Norbu’s Looking for a Lady with Fangs and a Moustache (2019). Both films consciously connect the Buddhist figure of the dakini, traditional depictions of which are characterized by overt sexuality, with that of the femme fatale. In doing so, they create a profound sense of ambiguity, with the ostensibly benevolent function of dakinis undercut by fear of seduction and sense of sexual threat. However, both films subvert the trope of the femme fatale and reassert the traditional esoteric but benign role of the dakini. Rather than fear being conquered through rationality, it is precisely fear of the irrational and the sexual that drives the radical personal change that is necessary, in the Buddhist world-view, to progress towards enlightenment.