Retratos de mujeres albanesas que han pasado su vida viviendo como hombres (Portraits of Albanian Women Who Have Lived Their Lives As Men) By Michael Zhang

La fotógrafa Jill Peters realizó una serie fotográfica de nombre Sworn Virgins of Albania (“Vírgenes juradas de Albania”), la cual es a la vez un documento etnográfico y un retrato de un tipo social propio de esa región del mundo que está próximo a desaparecer.

En las montañas al norte de Albania la diferencia entre hombres y mujeres sigue siendo brutal: la libertad para votar, conducir un auto, tener un negocio, ganar dinero, y otras actividades propias de las sociedades modernas (i.e. capitalistas) como fumar, beber, decir grocerías, poseer un arma o usar pantalones, siguen siendo actividades propiamente masculinas. Peters explica que las mujeres son canjeadas en matrimonios arreglados a muy corta edad, en ocasiones con hombres mucho mayores que ellas.

La única alternativa a una realidad asfixiantemente masculina es literalmente disfrazarse de él. O deberíamos decir, “de Él”: las mujeres que se plantean algo más que ser la esposa de un anciano se convierten en vírgenes juradas, o “burneshas”. Como las antiguas sacerdotisas de Diana, las burneshas adoptan conductas masculinas no sólo en su apariencia y comportamiento diarios, sino que en ocasiones cambian su nombre; lo más importante –y tal vez lo más demandante– de la transformación en burnesha es el voto de castidad al que deben someterse tradicionalmente.

Las (¿los?) burnesha son miembros activos y respetados dentro de su comunidad. Jill Peters afirma que “poseen una cantidad indescriptible de fuerza y orgullo, y valoran el honor de su familia por sobre todo lo demás.” La fotógrafa afirma también que probablemente esta sea la última generación de burneshas vivas, pues las generaciones jóvenes crecen con otros motivos aspiracionales (¿tal vez convertirse en Ke$ha?), por lo que estos retratos serán en unos pocos años el recuerdo de una forma de vida. No se trata sólo de travestismo, sino de convertir una forma de opresión (la hegemonía masculina) en una forma de libertad.

Fuente: http://pijamasurf.com/2013/09/retratos-de-mujeres-albanesas-que-han-pasado-su-vida-viviendo-como-hombres-fotos/

Portraits of Albanian Women Who Have Lived Their Lives As Men

Published on December 26, 2012 by Michael Zhang

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For her project Sworn Virgins of Albania, photographer Jill Peters visited to the mountain villages of northern Albania to capture portraits of “burneshas,” or females who have lived their lives as men for reasons related to their culture and society.

Many of the women assumed their male identities from an early age as a way to avoid the old codes that governed the tribal clans, which stated that women were the property of their husbands. Peters explains,

The freedom to vote, drive, conduct business, earn money, drink, smoke, swear, own a gun or wear pants was traditionally the exclusive province of men. Young girls were commonly forced into arranged marriages, often with much older men in distant villages. As an alternative, becoming a Sworn Virgin, or ‘burnesha” elevated a woman to the status of a man and granted her all the rights and privileges of the male population. In order to manifest the transition such a woman cut her hair, donned male clothing and sometimes even changed her name. Male gestures and swaggers were practiced until they became second nature. Most importantly of all, she took a vow of celibacy to remain chaste for life. She became a “he”. This practice continues today but as modernization inches toward the small villages nestled in the Alps, this archaic tradition is increasingly seen as obsolete. Only a few aging Sworn Virgins remain.

Thus, Peters wanted to capture this fading tradition before it disappeared forever. She also writes that she learned a great deal from her interactions with her subjects and their communities:

I learned that the Burrnesha are well respected within their communities. They possess an indescribable amount of strength and pride, and value their family honor above all else. Their absolute transition is wholly accepted, posited and taken without question by the people among whom they live. But most surprising, is they have very few regrets for the great deal they have sacrificed.