Research Catalog

Details

Description

1. xxvi, 168 pages : illustrations, maps, portraits; 24 cm

Summary

1. "Most people conceive of gender as a culturally informed response to a biological imperative. But such rigid notions are overturned by certain women in remote regions of Albania who elect to "become" men simply for the advantages that accrue to them as a result. They crop their hair, wear men's clothes, roll their own cigarettes, drink brandy, and carry guns. Their lives are much freer and less regimented than other members of their sex - but at a cost. These women must forswear sexual relationships, marriage, and children. They have been dubbed "Sworn Virgins."" "In this region of the Balkans, simply to dress as a man and to behave as a man will earn these women the same respect accorded a man. Traditionally as heads of household, men are revered and the women who attend them utterly subservient. But unlike "normal" women, Sworn Virgins can inherit and manage property, and, in fact, may even be raised to assume the male role by parents who have no male heirs." "Based on extensive interviews, this book tells the frank and engrossing stories of these women, setting their lives within the wider context of a country undergoing radical upheaval and social transformation."--Jacket

Series statement

1. Dress, body, culture

Uniform title

1. Dress, body, culture

Alternative title

1. Albanian sworn virgins

Subject

1. Sex role > Albania
2. Women > Albania > Social conditions
3. Gender identity
4. Gender Identity
5. sex role
6. 71.31 sexes and their interrelations
7. Gender identity
8. Sex role
9. Women > Social conditions
10. Emanzipation
11. Geschlechterrolle
12. Soziale Situation
13. Transsexualität
14. Crossdressing
15. Sekserol
16. Vrouwen
17. Familierelaties
18. Rôle selon le sexe > Albanie
19. Femmes > Albanie > Conditions sociales
20. Transvestitismus
21. Albania
22. Albanien

Contents

1. 1. Introduction -- 2. Tree of blood, tree of milk : patriarchy and patricentricity in rural Albania -- 3. The Kanun laws of honour and hospitality -- 4. Who are the 'sworn virgins'? -- 5. Living as men -- 6. Dress as a signifier of gender -- 7. Asserting their masculinity : men and 'sworn virgins' -- 8. The changing world : the challenge ahead.

Owning institution

1. Princeton University Library

Bibliography (note)

1. Includes bibliographical references (pages 153-163) and index.