Changes

In parts of northern Albania, families follow a code of [[ethics]] called the Kanun. This is not a religious document, but a sacred code of ethics. According to the Kanun, wealth is inherited through men, and women move to their husband's family's household when they marry. Marriages are normally arranged very early in life and women become the property of their husband's family.

In parts of northern Albania, families follow a code of [[ethics]] called the Kanun. This is not a religious document, but a sacred code of ethics. According to the Kanun, wealth is inherited through men, and women move to their husband's family's household when they marry. Marriages are normally arranged very early in life and women become the property of their husband's family.

Dress is an important gender marker. Men wear trousers, wristwatches and close-fitting caps; women wear skirts, aprons, headscarves, and sometimes veils. However, if a woman dresses like a man, she is considered to be a man. Women who become men in this way are called ''virgjinesha'', or 'sworn virgins'.

The normal dress of men in Albania is usually pants and close-fitting caps. Women normally wear skirts covered by aprons. Their headgear is usually a headscarf and sometimes a veil. Albanians have an unusual way of regarding dress as a gender marker, however. Women who dress in masculine clothes are considered to be men and called ''virgjinesha'', or 'sworn virgins'.  

These sworn virgin take a vow under the law of the Kanun to become a man. As soon as she takes this vow, she becomes a man: she dresses like one, acts like one, walks like one, works like one, talks like one, and her family and community treat her as one. She is referred to as he. He will never marry and will remain celibate all of his life.

Under Kanun law, these virgjinesha take a vow to become a man. Once they have done this, they act like men in all respects, and are treated as men by their family and the wider community, including being referred to by masculine pronouns. However, unlike a normal man a virgjinesha never marries and preserves lifelong [[celibacy]].

According to the Kanun, women may do this if they choose not to marry their pre-arranged husbands. They may not, however, marry anybody else and must dress and act as a man. The other condition is if her parents decree it because they have no sons. This is because only men may be heads of household, and only men may inherit family wealth. <ref> http://www.jolique.com/gender/crossing_boundaries.htm</ref>

There are two reasons under Kanun law why a woman might choose to become a man. One is if she chooses not to marry a man whom her parents have chosen for her. The other is if her parents have no sons and they require her to become a ‘man’, because in Albania only men can inherit family wealth or head households. <ref> http://www.jolique.com/gender/crossing_boundaries.htm</ref>

==References==

==References==