Sworn Virgins of Albania - Photo Essay

"A perfectly ordinary girl, perhaps with aspirations of marriage and becoming a mother is asked by her family to take a vow of celibacy and foreswear sexual relations for life. She is not being encouraged to join a convent. She is taking on the responsibility and honor of protecting her home, her family and socially becoming a man. In the solidly patriarchal and tribal areas plagued by blood feuds and honor killings of Albania's rural mountain villages many such women who have "become" men act as the heads of their households. For sacrificing their innate natures, they are afforded considerable masculine privileges. Skirts and blouses are traded for trousers and button downs, long hair cropped to a manly stubble. They smoke, work and swagger about town with the other men.  They are referred to as "he" and "uncle".  Their absolute transition is accepted, posited and taken without question by the people among whom they live. They are called Sworn Virgins of Albania, or 'burneshas'.  There are only a handful left." --Jill Peters

Kia Ora Jamie,

I think National Geographic did a documentary on them a few years back...Quite interesting really and from what I gather they are Muslim ...

Metta Zenda

I think you are correct, Zenda.

The distribution of population by religion is estimated at 70% Muslim, 20% Albanian Orthodox, 10% Catholic.  The communist government closed all mosques and churches in 1967, but they were re-opened in 1990.

This is very interesting indeed.

Interesting... but only if it's something that is entered into voluntarily.

I'm sure we're all only too aware of how awful it is to be forced into the wrong gender role. I'd imagine the same would be true for a cis woman who is forced by her family to live her life as a man.

I find it a shame they must give up all aspirations of intimacy in order to transition.

Society seems always intent on exacting a price from us, whether to "prove" our earnestness, to blunt their disapproval or from pure exploitation.

Not too surprising considering their locale and ethnicity, but weird by our standards just the same! I would imagine that most would fit into the general male population just fine because they aren't normally the prettiest looking women. I believe Mother Theresa was an Albanian.

Kia Ora Jamie,

Here's something similar from my part of the world-The South Pacific: [But these are not sworn virgins  ]

Fa'afafine in Samoa

"In traditional Samoan contexts, a boy's preference for feminine tasks will usually be recognised at an early age, and he will be acknowledged as fa'afafine. He will then adopt other feminine behaviours such as dressing as a woman, dancing the siva (a traditional dance usually performed wearing a feathered headdress), and fulfilling feminine roles within the village. Fa'afafine are accepted as feminine, but they may also undertake masculine tasks or fulfil men's roles. Fa'afafine often remain in their family homes and care for their parents."

http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/gender-diversity/3

http://www.abc.net.au/ra/pacific/people/hazy.htm

Metta Zenda

That is one of the many things I like about this forum...I get educated about things I might not otherwise encounter.