SWORN VIRGINS OF ALBANIA – WOMEN WHO BECOME MEN
In rural northern Albania there is an old custom that allows women to live as men. These women are known as “sworn virgins” (vërgjënesa/ burnesha). It is a custom that comes from “Kanun,” a traditional law passed down generation to generation since medieval times. A sworn virgin is a biological female who has chosen, by swearing lifelong celibacy, to take the social identity of a man and become a man in every aspect of social life. Breaking the vow is punishable by death or a blood feud (gjakmarrja).
The usual given reasons for swearing virginity for life are a) over family matters, like a blood feud; b) these women prefer the company and lifestyle of men because they believe that life as a man is associated with more rights and liberties; c) they want to avoid an arranged marriage without dishonouring the grooms’ family and creating a blood feud; and d) they are forced by their fathers because there was no male child in the family.
photo by Pepa Hristova
Whatever the reason may be, the procedure is the same. They swear an oath of celibacy and adopt male dress and roles in society. Their masculinity colours their every move. Some of them succeed in changing their voices, their way of speaking, their gestures and manners to such a degree that sometimes it is hard to distinguish them from men.
It is not easy for us to imagine why these women renounce not only what is feminine but also love, marriage and sexuality. They have made a sacrifice to which they are owed the respect of other men and women, as equal to men. Sworn virgins are accepted to engage in social activities with men, because they are considered equal to men. Because of that, women in these societies are subordinated to the sworn virgins as they are to men.
photo by Jill Peters
Despite numerous social and political changes in Albania during the last twenty years, “kanun,” still has a vital and prominent role in these rural societies. Part of this tribal practice, even though it is seen as obsolete by the new generation, still lives on in rural communities of northern Albania. As recently as fifteen years ago there were around 100 cases, in 2007 there were 40 and now there are approximately 20 sworn virgins. It is believed that these will be the last remaining examples.
Whatever the future may hold, the tradition of sworn virgins provide an excellent opportunity for us to observe the relation between society and gender, see the difference between sex and gender and understand how gender is a socially and culturally constructed concept.
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