Sworn Virgins in Albania
I just read a very interesting article on Yahoo:
Sworn to virginity and living as men in Albania
I wish I had read about this sort of thing in college honestly, since I took quite a few classes on Gender Studies and even had an honors level course on revenge across cultures (they briefly discuss the revenge culture in Albania in the article). It really would have come in handy!
The article talks about the tradition of women "becoming men" in order to support and take care of a family left without a patriarch. For example, if the head of the household died. One of the virgin females in the family would step forward, swear lifelong virginity and become a man. They would have all the rights of a man, dress like a man, and take on the behavior of a man as well. This isn't practiced anymore, since the culture in Albania has changed. But there are still some "sworn virgins" around, a couple of which were interviewed for this article.
One thing that I find fascinating about these sworn virgins is that they can even take on the misogynist beliefs of a man. Well, at least men from their generation. They believe that women these days don't know their place, and act inappropriately. Which makes sense, if they only fraternize with men, and are treated by their society like men, it makes total sense that they would agree with the patriarchal beliefs that create the need for their existence as a sworn virgin in the first place. I guess women who grew up in that culture would have those beliefs too, but you'll have to read the article to see what I mean. There's something very intriguing about the way these sworn virgins express themselves and their thoughts.
But that's quite a sacrifice to make for one's family. They give up sex, marriage, the chance to have children-- all in order to ensure the safety of their family members. I guess in some ways it was better to be a man in those days, since they received more freedom and respect. But that's still a lot to give up.
I'd really love to find a way to tie this in to an article about horror movies, if I could. And there's an episode from Angel that I just watched recently that I thing I could bring into a discussion like this. In a way, I guess what I get from this-- and what I'd like to tie into horror-- is that a patriarchical society just about forces women to take on male roles in order to assert their power. Because the behaviors and actions that are used to assert power are attributed to men. The tools as well, in Albania women used to not be allowed to carry weapons-- but sworn virgins could, just like men. So while that sort of society can be misogynistic and oppressive, it creates this loophole for women to strike back. Except in societies like Albania where some women can claim power through "becoming" a man-- but they aren't allowed to retain any of their femininity, save their actual body parts.
And this actually does reflect the tendency in horror for virgins to be survivors, and sexually active individuals are killed off. By being virgins, they sacrifice their sexuality for power-- though unknowingly. I like the thought-path this article is taking me on!
Sworn to virginity and living as men in Albania
I wish I had read about this sort of thing in college honestly, since I took quite a few classes on Gender Studies and even had an honors level course on revenge across cultures (they briefly discuss the revenge culture in Albania in the article). It really would have come in handy!
The article talks about the tradition of women "becoming men" in order to support and take care of a family left without a patriarch. For example, if the head of the household died. One of the virgin females in the family would step forward, swear lifelong virginity and become a man. They would have all the rights of a man, dress like a man, and take on the behavior of a man as well. This isn't practiced anymore, since the culture in Albania has changed. But there are still some "sworn virgins" around, a couple of which were interviewed for this article.
One thing that I find fascinating about these sworn virgins is that they can even take on the misogynist beliefs of a man. Well, at least men from their generation. They believe that women these days don't know their place, and act inappropriately. Which makes sense, if they only fraternize with men, and are treated by their society like men, it makes total sense that they would agree with the patriarchal beliefs that create the need for their existence as a sworn virgin in the first place. I guess women who grew up in that culture would have those beliefs too, but you'll have to read the article to see what I mean. There's something very intriguing about the way these sworn virgins express themselves and their thoughts.
But that's quite a sacrifice to make for one's family. They give up sex, marriage, the chance to have children-- all in order to ensure the safety of their family members. I guess in some ways it was better to be a man in those days, since they received more freedom and respect. But that's still a lot to give up.
I'd really love to find a way to tie this in to an article about horror movies, if I could. And there's an episode from Angel that I just watched recently that I thing I could bring into a discussion like this. In a way, I guess what I get from this-- and what I'd like to tie into horror-- is that a patriarchical society just about forces women to take on male roles in order to assert their power. Because the behaviors and actions that are used to assert power are attributed to men. The tools as well, in Albania women used to not be allowed to carry weapons-- but sworn virgins could, just like men. So while that sort of society can be misogynistic and oppressive, it creates this loophole for women to strike back. Except in societies like Albania where some women can claim power through "becoming" a man-- but they aren't allowed to retain any of their femininity, save their actual body parts.
And this actually does reflect the tendency in horror for virgins to be survivors, and sexually active individuals are killed off. By being virgins, they sacrifice their sexuality for power-- though unknowingly. I like the thought-path this article is taking me on!
posted by Rachel Storm at
2:45 PM
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