Women who become men? The sworn virgins in Albanian traditional culture

Between the end of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth, many travelers and scholars who traveled in the mountainous areas of Western Balkans Dinaric Alps were fascinated by the presence of women who looked, in varying degrees, masculinized: the sworn virgins or virgjineshë. Th...

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Main Author: Donato Martucci
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: UNICApress 2015-06-01
Series:Anuac
Online Access:https://ojs.unica.it/index.php/anuac/article/view/1789
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author Donato Martucci
author_facet Donato Martucci
author_sort Donato Martucci
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description Between the end of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth, many travelers and scholars who traveled in the mountainous areas of Western Balkans Dinaric Alps were fascinated by the presence of women who looked, in varying degrees, masculinized: the sworn virgins or virgjineshë. The descriptions of the phenomenon, however, were often influenced by the observer's eye, alien to the socio-cultural context. This essay will explore the historical and ethnographic evidences of this phenomenon, reconstructing the transformations and discussing the category of “social man”, associated with the sworn virgins.
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spelling doaj.art-b080b948c4f24fe5b6a5474cabf68b5b2023-09-02T06:56:34ZengUNICApressAnuac2239-625X2015-06-013210.7340/anuac2239-625X-1691193Women who become men? The sworn virgins in Albanian traditional cultureDonato Martucci0Università del Salento, ItalyBetween the end of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth, many travelers and scholars who traveled in the mountainous areas of Western Balkans Dinaric Alps were fascinated by the presence of women who looked, in varying degrees, masculinized: the sworn virgins or virgjineshë. The descriptions of the phenomenon, however, were often influenced by the observer's eye, alien to the socio-cultural context. This essay will explore the historical and ethnographic evidences of this phenomenon, reconstructing the transformations and discussing the category of “social man”, associated with the sworn virgins.https://ojs.unica.it/index.php/anuac/article/view/1789
spellingShingle Donato Martucci
Women who become men? The sworn virgins in Albanian traditional culture
Anuac
title Women who become men? The sworn virgins in Albanian traditional culture
title_full Women who become men? The sworn virgins in Albanian traditional culture
title_fullStr Women who become men? The sworn virgins in Albanian traditional culture
title_full_unstemmed Women who become men? The sworn virgins in Albanian traditional culture
title_short Women who become men? The sworn virgins in Albanian traditional culture
title_sort women who become men the sworn virgins in albanian traditional culture
url https://ojs.unica.it/index.php/anuac/article/view/1789
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