Thanks to The New Gay, one of the collective blogs I've been reading the most lately, I've discovered this article: Albanian Custom Fades: Woman as Family Man (NY Times). It's very interesting - especially the parts when these women (virgin, and fully treated as men) state their point of view, and complain about women of today "not knowing their place".
I've always been fascinated by certain gender-bending "traditions" in societies which are otherwise homophobic and misogynous. In this case, women are allowed to take over the role of the patriarch only IF they're willing to fully give up their femininity (focused in, and symbolized in this case, by her sexual availability).
I remember when we studied the hijras in India, and how someone could become one of them. Of course, it's not like these sworn virgins or the hijras are what the average person amidst these societies would aspire to be - but some of them do enjoy their role, and I believe these are the ways in which a too-rigid societal structure gets rid of tensions that may otherwise be disruptive...
Posted by Elenis at July 13, 2008 2:02 PM