World News - Europe - International Herald Tribune

I hope this link works. As we move into reading about Europe, I found this story last week about "Sworn Virgins" in Albania to be very interesting. "The ritual was a form of self-empowerment for rural women living in a desperately poor and macho country that was cut off from mainstream Europe for decades under a Stalinist dictatorship."

I had not heard of this tradition of women swearing an oath to remain virgins in order to become the head of the house. This tradition enabled and sometimes forced a young woman (18-20) to become the decision maker in their family. This tradition says that a woman can become the decision maker for their family if there is not a living son or the male family member has died. If there is not a "man" to make family decisions, the remaining family could lose their home and would not be able to sustain themselves. When a woman becomes a "Sworn Virgin" she becomes the man of the family. She cuts her hair, wears only mens clothes, holds a man's job and is respected/treated as a man.

"Stripping off their sexuality by pledging to remain virgins was a way for these women in a male-dominated, segregated society to engage in public life," says Linda Gusia, a professor of gender studies at the University of Pristina in Kosovo. "It was about surviving in a world where men rule."

There is a video interview with one of the remaining "Sworn Virgins." She discusses her life and decisions she has made. She does not regret becoming a "man" because of the freedoms she has enjoyed. Her only regret as she ages is not having someone to share her life with.

While this is extreme, it is somewhat forward thinking. I wondered about the thought process that went into creating this tradition. We have been talking about equality and feminism, this holds a different idea all together. Equality is there as an underlying idea as long as the woman appears as a man. These women are giving respect and the opportunity to work side by side with other men and earn the same wages as long as she appears as a man. Some of my questions include: Why the change in appearance? Does living like a man change how a "sworn virgin" would make family decisions? Is this for safety of the women or it is to keep the men superior to women? Since she is the "man" of the family, does the family name die with her? What happens with a female family member has a son?

Here is the link to the story: http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/23/europe/virgins.php
World News - Europe - International Herald Tribune (under the multi-media section is a video interview)