(RI)CONOSCERSI NELL’ALTRO

Barbara Mazzon

It is crucial to discover others cultures in order to highlight some of our society’s dynamics. Because of the “distance” of their situation from ours, the sworn virgins are the perfect mirror of our culture. The sworn virgins are women who become men in male-dominated society in order to have some rights and to change their social status (this phenomenon nowadays happens only in Albania). This transformation is always based on necessity. It could be a personal need to feel free or to be independent; or, in some cases, it could be dictated by the need of parents to have the male heir. The sworn virgins are women who compromised to feel free. Despite the due distinctions, in our society, this happens to every single woman in every single day of her life. For example, this can happen when we decide how to look and how to dress based on the fear of being judged. It’s interesting to reflect if this choice represents a manifestation of freedom or it is dictated by social pressures.