Sworn Virgins: Men by Choice in the Balkans

slate.com

31 pointsdsr124 comments

More evidence that gender is complicated. :)

No, just more evidence female's life is unenviable in Albania

I agree with rmc. There are similar cultural roles in Samoa, India, Thailand. Gender-- the cultural notion, not the biological one-- is definitely more malleable than we typically assume.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_gender

Also, if you haven't read Middlesex, it is excellent.

There's a great short story by Alice Munro called the Albanian Virgin which appeared in the New Yorker some years back.

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