Chiang Wei-nung Speaks of Buddhism and Women

In Buddhist sutras, it is sometimes said that women experience such great distractions that they cannot become buddhas but must first be reborn as men. The Dharma, however, is shared by all. If women first had to be reborn as men, this would be less than all. Still, the distractions of women are great. First is the distraction of motherhood. second, they frequently confuse love for compassion. Compassion is impartial. It knows neither direction nor degree. Love, meanwhile, is a river of life and death, of endless rebirth. In the eyes of the Buddha there is neither male nor female. The reason he says the distractions of women are greater is because they need to take greater care. yet, if they can make the great resolve to set forth on such a path, they, too, will become buddhas. This is why Subhuti asks on behalf of both men and women.

---As Recorded in Red Pine's commentary on the Diamond Sutra---