Actually, in Thailand, most families raise their youngest boy as a girl. He thereafter lives his life dressing and acting like a woman.
to us, that's strange, but it goes to show that our concept of gender and sexuality is but one of many.
Roman Vestal Virgins also got many privileges not given to women by virtue of their devotion to chastity. They were not, however, considered to be men, and were permitted to marry after their 30-year tenure.
So yes, the Albanian tradition is weird, but the Romans were just as weird.
This quote from the article was very striking:
During communist times, she was a senior army officer, training women as combat soldiers. Now, she lamented, women do not know their place.
"Today women go out half naked to the disco," said Rakipi, who wears a military beret. "I was always treated my whole life as a man, always with respect. I can't clean, I can't iron, I can't cook. That is a woman's work."
Well, gee. If she enjoyed being a man so much, why would she want to deny that life to other women?
theobromophile - Because those other women haven't sworn themselves to virginity like she did, and are able to flaunt their sexuality in public, perhaps?
I was more struck by this part:
Being the man of the house also made her responsible for avenging her father's death, she said. When her father's killer was released from prison five years ago, by then a man of 80, Keqi said, her 15-year-old nephew shot him dead. Then the man's family took revenge and killed her nephew.
Going by the years in the article, her father's killer did more than 50 years in prison - and they still felt the need to have a family member go and kill the guy afterwards. The article didn't say whether they planned to take revenge for the nephew's death, though I'm guessing they are.
I have to wonder if Albanian tradition has any kind of way to put a stop to this kind of self-perpetuating blood feud.
Someone should write a book about it, it sounds fascinating.
to us, that's strange, but it goes to show that our concept of gender and sexuality is but one of many.
So yes, the Albanian tradition is weird, but the Romans were just as weird.
This quote from the article was very striking:
Well, gee. If she enjoyed being a man so much, why would she want to deny that life to other women?
I was more struck by this part:
Going by the years in the article, her father's killer did more than 50 years in prison - and they still felt the need to have a family member go and kill the guy afterwards. The article didn't say whether they planned to take revenge for the nephew's death, though I'm guessing they are.
I have to wonder if Albanian tradition has any kind of way to put a stop to this kind of self-perpetuating blood feud.