Albanian Sworn Virgins
I want to share an interesting practice of my culture that it was unknown to me until today.
Here is the article on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albanian_sworn_virgins
And here you can see some photos of them: http://www.jillpetersphotography.com/swornvirginsofalbania
I'm still educating myself on this topic so whoever knows any similar practice anywhere in world please let me know. Thank you
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Alice C. Linsley on
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The practice reminds me of Nazirite vows whereby the hair was never cut and wine was not consumed. The word comes from the Hebrew word nazir - to vow; to be consecrated. Both men and women abstained from sex. By virtue of their Nazirite vow they attained an elevated status among the people.
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Permalink Reply by Rut Rosenthal on
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Wow!
I didn't have a clue about that... considering my personality, if I lived in Albania, I would probably be one of these sworn virgins... Very interested indeed.
It is interesting to relate this practice with the gender discussion in the Occident, considering that we can see many women who claim equal rights between sexes, but to achieve high professional positions they also behave in a very masculine way. So again, it is not equal rights, but an acceptance of women who developed a masculine behavior in order to achieve more elevate social positions.
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