Albanian Women Required To Live As Men If No Male Heirs?

[astro]

I was taking a gander at a National Geographic from February 2000 the other day and their was a typical Nat. Geo. story about Albania the land, the people, the struggles etc… typical Nat. Geo. stuff.

In the course of reading this a peculiar picture caught my eye. It was a small featured older “man” dressed in black. Next to the picture is an explanation that because this “woman’s” family lost it’s last male heir decades ago she has been forced to live (ie dress, act, behave) as a “sworn virgin” man for the last 30 years. This is all based on the dictates of some 500 year old text called the “Kanun of Lek Dukagjin”.

I have copied the picture and text temporarily to the link below if you want to check it out.
http://www.ezy.net/~cpeek/ebay/ng3.jpg
I would imagine that this seemingly strange cultural requirement is a “fact” if Nat. Geo. is reporting it and has assumedly fact checked it.

My question is (yes there’s a question) why go through all these gender, role reversal contortions? I can imagine how this might be some women’s dream come true (ie man in body of woman situation) but for most women wouldn’t this be a grotesque and absurd requirement? Are the Albanians really that weird or is there a real cultural/logical imperative as to why this works best for Albanians?

[Diceman]

That’s really wierd. Cross-dressing is one thing, elderly cross-dressing is something else entirely, and elderly cross-dressing that is required by law is in a league of its own. I don’t read National Geographic, but from what I’ve heard northern Albania is in a state of near-anarchy. It’s supposedly controlled by local warlords, much like Somaia.

[schief2]

I found exactly one online literary correlation for this, from a 1909 travelogue called High Albania. It’s vague, but not as bad as the NG article…the author spends a paragraph or two on it, and then basically says, ‘oops, not enough room to go into detail’:

In Maltsia e madhe a girl who has sworn virginity–“an Albanian virgin”–can, if her father leave no son, inherit land and work it. At her death it goes to her father’s nearest heir male. These women as a rule wear male dress and may carry arms.

The practice of women wearing male dress existed also in that part of Montenegro known as the Brda, which includes those tribes that are according to tradition allied by blood to those of Albania. Medakovich, a Russian traveller, records meeting one at Rovac in 1855. She had sworn virginity and ranked as her father’s son, he having none.

In Dukaghini, though I met several Albanian Virgins, I neither saw nor heard of an instance of a maiden in male dress.

Space does not permit further details. I have given sufficient only to make the following travels comprehensible.

There’s a little bit more in a later chapter as well:

In Pulati and the whole of the group of tribes that call themselves Dukaghini, an Albanian virgin cannot inherit land, as is the case in the Maltsia e madhe, where, if a man leave no sons, the land goes to his daughter should she have sworn virginity, and only after her death to the nearest heir male.

In Dukaghini, the land passes to the next heir male, but should a daughter of the late owner be an Albanian virgin, the heir must pay her yearly out of the estate 300 okas of maize, 18 okas of rakia, and 30 of wine; and she can enforce payment by appeal to the council of Elders.

So it seems to be part of an elaborate scheme to keep property in the family when there’s no male heirs. But as to why the cross-dressing came about, my WAG would be to keep outsiders/travellers from getting suspicious about why there’s a woman owning property and running a household in your village…

[jakanapes]

I read the same thing in a Maxim magazine and it featured the same woman/man so chances are this kind of thing is not terribly common. As far as what works best for the Albanians is anyone’s guess but bearing in mind the popularity of the Cannon of Lek as a tool of self-government it does not surprise me in the least that this kind of thing would occur. Chances are this woman had the desire to “live as a man” before and this was a good excuse to do that openly.

Sorry, I looked for web sites concerning the Cannon and came up empty

[Helen_s_Eidolon]

Wouldn’t it be kind of silly to remedy the problem of not having a heir with making the female heir stay a virgin?

[eyor]

It sounds like it is more of an ancient cultural tradition type thing than a requirement, but i can see the idea of the woman taking on the mans role, etc.

[Lizard]

*Originally posted by eyor *
** It sounds like it is more of an ancient cultural tradition type thing than a requirement, but i can see the idea of the woman taking on the mans role, etc. **

I agree. My mother had to take on the man’s role to raise me. She just didn’t walk, talk, dress, or act like a man, that’s all.

And I definitely wouldn’t mess with any of those Italian guys.