Albania's Sworn Virgins

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	Albania's Sworn Virgins

michellezm

5-22-2007 12:41 PM

604 views

tags:

culture, ethnology, anthropology, people, customs, albania

2 Comments |

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5-22-2007 12:43 PM

dorine

Learn something new here every day.

5-22-2007 10:17 PM

willhelm

Wow, this is quite coincidental. I just watched a National Geographic video podcast about this today.

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/7780bfcd-9f0f-4351-b04d-9e19b23589ff/A30B5A7F-581B-4853-87B9-F1F3C322397F/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.jolique.com/gender/crossing_boundaries.htm" href="http://www.jolique.com/gender/crossing_boundaries.htm" style="font-size: 11px;">www.jolique.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.jolique.com/gender/crossing_boundaries.htm"><div align="center"><img src="http://content7.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/www.jolique.com/img/7FEA4434-4F01-4BD3-AA17-ACB9E856E9E0" alt="" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.jolique.com/gender/crossing_boundaries.htm">In some parts of Albania, 
                particularly in the north, families follow a code of ethics called 
                the <I>Kanun</I>. The <I>Kanun</I> is not a religious document 
                (Kanun followers may be Christian, Muslim, etc.), but is sacred 
                nonetheless. According to the <I>Kanun</I>, families must be patrilineal 
                (meaning wealth is inherited through a family's men) and patrilocal 
                (upon marriage, a woman moves into the household of her husband's 
                family). Marriages are arranged—often at birth, if not before, 
                or in early childhood.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.jolique.com/gender/crossing_boundaries.htm"> A sworn virgin is 
                called such because she swears—takes a vow under the law of the 
                <I>Kanun</I>—to become a man.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.jolique.com/gender/crossing_boundaries.htm">According to the Kanun, a woman is ethically 
                permitted to become a man under certain conditions. If a woman 
                chooses not to marry her pre-arranged husband, she may not marry 
                anyone else. In order to remain unmarried, however, she must become 
                a sworn virgin and dress and act as a man.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.jolique.com/gender/crossing_boundaries.htm">The other condition 
                under which a woman may become a sworn virgin is if her parents 
                deem it so due to a lack of sons.</blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/A30B5A7F-581B-4853-87B9-F1F3C322397F/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content8.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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