The article discusses the ancient Albanian custom of "sworn virgins." This is a "tradition in which women take an oath of lifelong virginity in exchange for the right to live as men. The process is not surgical. Rather, sworn virgins cut their hair and wear baggy men's clothes and take up manly livelihoods as shepherds or truck drivers or even political leaders. And those around them treat them as men... The practice has existed at least since the 15th Century, when the region's traditions were first codified, according to Dones. The sworn virgins came into being for emergencies: If the family patriarch died and there was no other man to carry on, a provision was needed so that a woman could run her family.... In the mountains of northern Albania, throughout modern history, women have had very few rights. They cannot vote in local elections; they cannot buy land; there are many jobs they are not permitted to hold; they cannot even enter many establishments. An ancient set of laws called the Kanun still helps govern the region. The Kanun says, 'A woman is a sack made to endure.'...Some women took the oath if the family patriarch died. Others swore the oath out of a fierce streak of independence, and still others because it was the only way to avoid an arranged marriage without disgracing the selected groom's family."
So as long as the women set aside their sexuality and identity as a woman they could do anything men could do and were given respect. This revels the deeply cultural and not biological assumption of gender roles for many people. Some are saying that this custom was in a sense progressive and freeing for the women. It gave them a chance at a different life but at a very high cost. It makes me question assertions in the church especially that try to force women into set cultural roles in order for them to lead. in my opinion it is just as offensive to force a women to act "like a man" as to insist that she abide by stereotypes of what it means to be feminine. Let a women be herself (let men be themselves for that matter). She may naturally act more masculine, or more feminine, or something different than those cultural pigeonholes. But as we see, in Albania and in the West even today this is still an ongoing issue.
Labels: Culture, Gender Issues
I found this article very interesting. As to women in the church, it is my experience that women (sometimes even in emerging circles) have to do everything twice as well as men in order to receive the same recognition as men if they are assuming a position that has traditionally been filled by men in the church. I don't think it is always intentional, but I think it is deeply ingrained in the psyche of the church. I also think that most churches are afraid of women being themselves. (God help us if a woman gets emotional while leading in church!) I am tired of the way this all plays out in churches and hope that the way is being paved right now for positive change.