Albania
Albania (officially the Republic of Albania) is a country in the Balkans, bordered by Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia, and Greece.
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'.
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.
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. [1]
