The Buddha eventually also allowed women become bhikkunis (as opposed to bhikshus, or male monks). However, although the Buddha said that women were capable of reaching enlightenment, bhikkunis were subordinated to the bhikshu establishment.
Centuries later the transmission of bhikkunis was broken, due to disruptions in Buddhist practice in the era when that religion declined in India. From that time, there has no longer been a formal lineage of bhikkunis transmitted from one generation to the next.