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.
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."
"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?"
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.
"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."
"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."
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."
"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."
"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 Trump's emotions are "also a little bit...too complicated."
h/t: BBC
