Albanian “Sworn Virgins”: Women Who Become Men

In certain remote regions of Albania live “sworn virgins,” women who have elected to dress and act as men in order to live lives that are freer and less regimented than that of ordinary women.

Sworn virgins dress as men, crop their hair, socialize with men, and may even carry guns.  Unlike ordinary women from the same region, they are treated with the respect accorded to men, and are permitted to inherit and manage property and act as head of a household.

In some cases, they may even be raised to take on the male role by parents who lack male heirs.  The cost of becoming a sworn virgin is high, though.  They may never marry, have sex, or bear children.

For more information about “sworn virgins,” read Antonia Young’s “Women Who Become Men,” published by Berg, an imprint of Oxford International Publishers (2000).

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