DOCSLIB.ORG

Anthropology of Gender in Montenegro. an Introduction

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Anthropology of Gender in Montenegro. an Introduction Comp. Southeast Europ. Stud. 2021; 69(1): 5–18 In the Name of the Daughter. Anthropology of Gender in Montenegro Čarna Brković* In the Name of the Daughter – Anthropology of Gender in Montenegro. An Introduction https://doi.org/10.1515/soeu-2021-2013 Gender in Montenegro In 2012 international organizations warned that Montenegro is one of the world’s leaders in sex-selective abortion, with as a result significantly fewer births of babies recognized as girls.1 Initially, that piece of data seemed to attract little attention, but that changed after a few years. NGOs working on women’srightsorganizedcampaigns advocating against the practice of sex-selective abortion; German journalists came to Montenegro and reported on them; the Montenegrin national newspaper Pobjeda stopped publishing information on the genders of new-born children and began reporting births gender-neutrally instead. In dominant media and NGO discourses, sex- selective abortion was interpreted as the result of the patriarchal backwardness of the country, where sons were more valued and, therefore, more wanted than daughters. The collection of articles in front of you explores how to look beyond the balkanist discourse to understand abortion and other gendered practices in Montenegro.2 It articulates anthropological criticism of patriarchy, misogyny, and gender inequality in Montenegro without reiterating the common tropes about 1 United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) data reveal that Montenegro is one of the top eleven countries in the world for sex imbalance at birth; that is in the difference between the numbers of boys and girls. Cf. Christophe Z. Guilmoto, Sex Imbalances at Birth. Current Trends, Consequences and Policy Implications, UNFPA Asia and Pacific Regional Office, Bangkok 2012, 20. 2 This special issue was made possible through the workshop ‘Anthropology of Gender in the Balkans’, which was organized in September 2019 at the University of Göttingen and financed through a DAAD grant. We are grateful to Sabine Hess for her support. For more details, cf. https:// genderinthebalkans.wordpress.com/. All Internet sources were accessed on 16 February 2021. *Corresponding author: Čarna Brković, University of Göttingen, Institute of Cultural Anthropology/European Ethnology, Göttingen, Germany. E-mail: [email protected] Open Access. © 2021 Čarna Brković, published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. 6 Č. Brković ‘backwardness’, ‘modernity’, and the need for the country to ‘catch up’ with ‘Europe’. The authors ask, ‘Is it possible to criticize the clear Montenegrin prefer- ence for sons without evoking a retrograde Balkan culture and, if so, under what conditions? How can we talk about gender in Montenegro without implicitly or explicitly comparing Montenegrin lifeworlds to “European” standards’? Gender is very often used to make (geo)political statements about how progressive or backward, modern or traditional, civilized or primitive, a certain place or group is. Montenegro is a case in point. In its own mytho-poetics Montenegro is a land of men, who are both warriors and poets. Montenegro is the country where blood revenge3 was a legal institution and sworn virgins4 a third sex throughout the twentieth century; a savage borderland that was surrounded yet allegedly never overwhelmed by Ottoman forces.5 Such discourse on the Balkans can and shouldbecriticizedasbalkanizingand patronizing. Yet, does that mean that any criticism of gender inequality in Montenegro reiterates balkanizing and patronizing standpoints? Not quite. The thematic section ‘In the Name of the Daughter’ argues that we can under- stand gendered practices in Montenegro, such as sex-selective abortion, only if we consider the complicated ways in which material and economic processes become intertwined with social and cultural logics, simultaneously reinforcing old stereo- types while creating new spaces for action and change. The special issue presented here suggests that the practice of gender in Montenegro is predicated on specific kinship and property relationships, which it also perpetuates, and that women in the country are neither as oppressed nor as free as they might seem from a liberal feminist perspective. Anyone pondering how to articulate criticism and how to encourage change to gendered practices in Montenegro should take into account how possibilities for individual as well as collective action are shaped by kinship relationality, inheritance expectations, and state and public policy on gender. Beyond Diagnostic Knowledge Production Writing about gender practices in Montenegro from an anthropological perspec- tive means going beyond what anthropologist Dace Dzenovska has called the ‘diagnostic mode of knowledge production’. In her study of the projects to promote 3 Christopher Boehm, Blood Revenge. The Enactment and Management of Conflict in Montenegro and Other Tribal Societies, Philadelphia 1991. 4 Predrag Šarčević, Sex and Gender Identity of ‘Sworn Virgins’ in the Balkans, in: Miroslav Jovanović / Slobodan Naumović, eds, Gender Relations in South Eastern Europe. Historical Per- spectives on Womanhood and Manhood in 19th and 20th Century, Münster 2004, 123–144. 5 Roy Trevor, Montenegro. A Land of Warriors, London 1913. Anthropology of Gender in Montenegro 7 tolerance in postsocialist Latvia, Dzenovska demonstrated that the hegemonic assumption that Eastern Europe needs to ‘catch up’ with the rest of the continent has made dominant diagnostic modes of knowledge production which ‘assume prior knowledge of the disease’.6 In other words, diagnostic knowledge practices involve measuring how particular people and places fare in relation to an already- defined problem. The problems—like the solutions—are defined in advance and are seen as needing to be ‘transmitted’ or ‘transferred’ from the West to the East. In this diagnostic mode of knowledge production, partners from postsocialist Eastern Europe—including Montenegro—are expected to generate knowledge that evaluates how their countries are performing in relation to given problems. A good illustration of that is the 2019 National Gender Equality Index for Montenegro, authored by Olivera Komar, professor at the University of Montenegro. The Index was developed in collaboration with national and international agencies and ‘in accordance with the methodology of the European Institute for Gender Equality for the European Union Member States’.7 The Gender Equality Index for Montenegro was ‘calculated with a score of 55 while the “middle” value recorded for countries in the EU-28 was 67.4; thus, Montenegro was seen to lag behind most of the developed EU countries’.8 The sort of knowledge made available by the Index is important for various reasons. On the one hand, it makes it possible to compare the legal, social, economic, and political frameworks of various countries using a transnational scale. On the other hand, it allows Montenegrin NGOs and other local actors concerned with women’s rights to put pressure on the government by claiming the need to change gender-related policies if the country wishes to stop ‘lagging behind Europe’. Furthermore, various members of the Montenegrin public take some pride in the fact that Montenegro has skilled professionals able to produce expert knowledge in the diagnostic mode, and thus to include their country in Europe-wide comparisons. However, there are also various problems with that mode of knowledge pro- duction. First, its methodology reshuffles everyday life in a way that removes from sight its local historical and sociocultural context, with an aim to make possible a relatively straightforward transnational comparison. The process of reshuffling and attendant ‘cleansing’ of sociocultural and historical layers ends up creating an abstract construct that tells us little about the actual gender practices and forms of gender-related exclusion and inequality that affect the lives of Montenegrin 6 Dace Dzenovska, School of Europeanness. Tolerance and Other Lessons in Political Liberalism in Latvia, Ithaca/NY 2018, 110. 7 Olivera Komar, Gender Equality Index Montenegro 2019, Montenegro 2019, 3, https:// eurogender.eige.europa.eu/system/files/events-files/gender_equality_index_2019_report_ final.pdf. 8 Komar, Gender Equality Index Montenegro 2019. 8 Č. Brković women, men, and others. That becomes a major problem when we take into ac- count that there is almost no systematic support for any other form of production of knowledge about gender in Montenegro, whether locally, nationally, or interna- tionally. Most attempts to produce other empirical and theoretical knowledge about gender in Montenegro such as the various doctoral and MA theses, exhibi- tions, and published texts, remain incidental and scattered, with at best meagre institutional support and recognition.9 A second problem is that the diagnostic mode of knowledge production usually prescribes the solutions to the very problems it diagnoses. Local and national actors are neither expected to generate knowledge that would enable an in-depth understanding of how gender is practised in everyday life, nor are they provided with the means to do so. As a result, they are unable to deliberate how to pursue changes to such practices in a contextually sensitive and meaningful manner, nor even whether they should do so. Instead, they are expected more or less to ‘copy-paste’ bundles of policies, rules, and values prescribed elsewhere. An example
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Montenegro Old and New: History, Politics, Culture, and the People
    60 ZuZana Poláčková; Pieter van Duin Montenegro Old and New: History, Politics, Culture, and the People The authors are focusing on how Montenegro today is coming to terms with the task of becoming a modern European nation, which implies recognition not only of democracy, the rule of law, and so forth, but also of a degree of ‘multiculturalism’, that is recognition of the existence of cultural, ethnic, linguistic and religious minorities in a society that is dominated by a Slavic Orthodox majority. In his context they are analyzing the history of the struggle of the Montenegrin people against a host of foreign invaders – after they had ceased to be invaders themselves – and especially their apparently consistent refusal to accept Ottoman sovereignty over their homeland seemed to make them the most remarkable freedom fighters imaginable and led to the creation of a special Montenegrin image in Europe. This im- age of heroic stubbornness and unique martial bravery was even consciously cultivated in Western and Central Europe from the early nineteenth century onwards, as the Greeks, the Serbs, the Montenegrins and other Balkan peoples began to resist the Ottoman Empire in a more effective way and the force of Romantic nationalism began to influence the whole of Europe, from German historians to British politi- cians, and also including Montenegrin and Serbian poets themselves. And what about the present situa- tion? The authors of this essay carried out an improvised piece of investigation into current conditions, attitudes, and feelings on both the Albanian and the Slavic-Montenegrin side (in September 2012). key words: Montenegro; history; multiculturalism; identity; nationalism; Muslim; Orthodox Montenegro (Crna Gora, Tsrna Gora, Tsernagora) is a small country in the Western Balkans region with some 625,000 inhabitants,1 which became an independent nation in 2006 and a can- didate-member of the EU in 2010.
    [Show full text]
  • Practical Information
    EXPANDING BROADBAND ACCESS AND ADOPTION 28th–29th September 2015 Hotel Maestral, Przno/Budva, Montenegro PRACTICAL INFORMATION 1. Montenegro Montenegro is a small, but extremely attractive Mediterranean country. It is located in the south of Europe, on the Adriatic coast. Montenegro is located between 41º 52´- 43º 42´ north latitude and 18º26´ - 20º22´ east longitudes and belongs to the central Mediterranean that is Southern Europe. To the north it borders Serbia, to the southeast Kosovo and Albania, to the south it is separated from Italy by the Adriatic Sea and to the west it borders Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. It has about 620,000 inhabitants and an area of 13,812 km2. Montenegro is characterized by the diversity of outstanding natural beauty in a small space. To the north, there are mountain peaks with 2,524 meters above sea level and more than 100 glacial lakes. In the region there are impressive canyons of which the most famous is canyon of Tara, with depth of 1,300 m (the second in the world after Colorado). Montenegrin coastline is 293 km long and has as many as 52 km of sandy beaches which are a real tourist attraction. The coast is dominated by the medieval Mediterranean towns with fascinating architecture (Herceg Novi, Kotor, Budva, Bar, Ulcinj). Montenegro is a popular tourist destination with a number of world-recognizable sites and resorts (hotel-town Sveti Stefan, Bay of Boka Kotorska, Porto Montenegro marina). Montenegro is a multinational state that is characterized by inter-ethnic and inter-confessional harmony. Montenegrin citizens are known for their hospitality, friendliness and cordiality.
    [Show full text]
  • Concerning Montenegro
    WRITTEN COMMENTS OF THE EUROPEAN ROMA RIGHTS CENTRE (ERRC) AND THE CENTRE FOR ROMA INITIATIVES (“CRI”) CONCERNING MONTENEGRO FOR CONSIDERATION BY THE UNITED NATIONS COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION AT ITS 74th SESSION C E R D 7 4 t h S E S S I O N RAE IN MONTENEGRO Index 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .......................................................................................... 3 2. INTRODUCTION – LAW AND POLICY CONTEXT ............................................................ 5 3. ARTICLES 1 AND 2: PROHIBITION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION ..................................... 8 4. ARTICLE 5: EQUALITY BEFORE THE LAW .................................................................. 9 4.1 ARTICLE 5B: THE RIGHT TO SECURITY OF PERSON AND PROTECTION BY THE STATE AGAINST VIOLENCE OR BODILY HARM: VIOLENCE AGAINST RAE WOMEN .................. 9 4.2 ARTICLE 5C: POLITICAL RIGHTS AND ARTICLE 2.2: TEMPORARY SPECIAL MEASURES ................................................................................................. 10 4.3 ARTICLE 5E I: THE RIGHT TO WORK, TO FREE CHOICE OF EMPLOYMENT, TO JUST AND FAVOURABLE CONDITIONS OF WORK, TO PROTECTION AGAINST UNEMPLOYMENT, TO EQUAL PAY FOR EQUAL WORK AND TO JUST AND FAVOURABLE REMUNERATION.......... 10 4.4 ARTICLE 5E IV: THE RIGHT TO PUBLIC HEALTH, MEDICAL CARE, SOCIAL SECURITY AND SOCIAL SERVICES ................................................................................... 11 4.5 ARTICLE 5E V: THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION .......................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Montenegro Guidebook
    MONTENEGRO PREFACE Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, lies in a broad plain crossed by five rivers and surrounded by mountains, just 20 kilometers from the Albanian border. The city has a population of around 180,000 people. Bombed into rubble during World War II, Podgorica was rebuilt into a modern urban center, with high-rise apartment buildings and new office and shopping developments. While the latest Balkan war had a low impact on the physical structures, the economic sanctions had a devastating effect on employment and infrastructure. With the help of foreign investment, urban renewal is evident throughout the city, but much of it may still appear run down. Podgorica has a European-style town center with a pedestrian- only walking street (mall) and an assortment of restaurants, cafes, and boutiques. To many, its principal attraction is as a base for the exploration of Montenegro’s natural beauty, with mountains and wild countryside all around and the stunning Adriatic coastline less than an hour away. This is a mountainous region with barren moorlands and virgin forests, with fast-flowing rivers and picturesque lakes; Skadar Lake in particular is of ecological significance. The coastline is known for its sandy beaches and dramatic coves: for example, Kotor – the city that is protected by UNESCO and the wonderful Cathedral of Saint Typhoon; the unique baroque Perast; Saint George and Our Lady of the Rock islands – all locations that tell a story of a lasting civilization and the wealth of the most wonderful bay in the world. The area around the city of Kotor is a UNESCO World Heritage site for its natural beauty and historic significance.
    [Show full text]
  • Honor Crimes of Women in Albanian Society Boundary Discourses On
    HONOR CRIMES OF WOMEN IN ALBANIAN SOCIETY BOUNDARY DISCOURSES ON “VIOLENT” CULTURE AND TRADITIONS By Armela Xhaho Submitted to Central European University Department of Gender Studies In partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Arts in Gender Studies Supervisor: Professor Andrea Krizsan Second Reader: Professor Eva Fodor CEU eTD Collection Budapest, Hungary 2011 Abstract In this thesis, I explore perceptions of two generations of men on the phenomenon of honor crimes of women in Albanian society, by analyzing in particular discourses on cultural and regional boundaries in terms of factors that perpetuate crimes in the name of honor. I draw on the findings from 24 in depth interviews, respectively 17 interviews with two generations of men who have migrated from remote villages of northern and southern Albania into periphery areas of Tirana and 7 interviews with representatives of key institutional authorities working in the respective communities. The conclusions reached in this study based on the perceptions of two generations of men in Albania suggest that, the ongoing regional discourses on honor crimes of women in Albanian society are still articulated by the majority of informants in terms of “violent” and “backward” cultural traditions, by exonerating the perpetrators and blaming the northern culture for perpetuating such crimes. However, I argue that the narrow construction on cultural understanding of honor crimes of women fails to acknowledge the gendered aspect of violence against women as a universal problem of women’s human rights across different cultures. CEU eTD Collection i Acknowledgements First of all, I would like to acknowledge my supervisor Professor Andrea Krizsan for all her advices and helpful comments during the whole period of thesis writing.
    [Show full text]
  • Gender Analysis and Recommendations For
    Gender analysis and recommendations for strengthening the inclusion of gender perspective in the implementation of the Action "Improving Procedural Safeguards in Judicial Proceedings in Montenegro" Ms Sanja Elezovic This document was produced with the financial support of the European Union and the Council of Europe. The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of either party. © 2019 Council of Europe. All rights reserved. Licensed to the European Union under conditions. No part of this publication may be translated, reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic (CD-Rom, Internet, etc.) or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the Directorate of Communications (F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex or [email protected]). 2 Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 4 Methodology .............................................................................................................................. 5 Legal and Institutional Framework for Gender Equality........................................................ 7 Women and Men in Montenegro - access to and share of resources and decision making: .............................................................................................................................................. 10 Judicial framework, practice and penal policies
    [Show full text]
  • Identification and Evaluation of Landscape As a Precondition for Planning Revitalization and Development of Mediterranean Rural Settlements—Case Study: Mrkovi Village, Bay of Kotor
    sustainability Article Identification and Evaluation of Landscape as a Precondition for Planning Revitalization and Development of Mediterranean Rural Settlements—Case Study: Mrkovi Village, Bay of Kotor, Montenegro Željka Curovi´cˇ 1 , Mili´c Curovi´cˇ 2, Velibor Spalevi´c 3, Milorad Janic 4, Paul Sestras 5 and Svetislav G. Popovi´c 6,* 1 Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism, 81000 Podgorica, Montenegro; [email protected] 2 Biotechnical Faculty, University of Montenegro, 81000 Podgorica, Montenegro; [email protected] 3 Faculty of Philosophy, University of Montenegro, 81400 Niksic, Montenegro; [email protected] 4 Faculty of Forestry, University of Belgrade, Kneza Viseslava, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia; [email protected] 5 Department of Terrestrial Measurement and Cadastre, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 400020 Cluj-Napoca, Romania; [email protected] 6 Faculty of Architecture, University of Montenegro, 81000 Podgorica, Montenegro * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +382-69-101-747 Received: 1 March 2019; Accepted: 30 March 2019; Published: 5 April 2019 Abstract: This paper presents a case study of the village of Mrkovi in the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro, showing the importance of landscape identification and assessment in planning the revitalization and development of Mediterranean rural settlements. The research revealed the methods of identification and evaluation of different landscape types. Moreover, it showed how such an approach could considerably contribute to the preservation of the space’s identity and quality by taking into account the existing characteristics of the space or the relationship between cultural and natural heritage. The identification of the landscape types was followed by the evaluation of individual elements and assessment of vulnerability in relation to the space’s natural, cultural, and visual quality.
    [Show full text]
  • Albania's 'Sworn Virgins'
    THE LINGUISTIC EXPRESSION OF GENDER IDENTITY: ALBANIA’S ‘SWORN VIRGINS’ CARLY DICKERSON A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS GRADUATE PROGRAM IN LINGUISTICS YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, ONTARIO August 2015 © Carly Dickerson, 2015 Abstract This paper studies the linguistic tools employed in the construction of masculine identities by burrneshat (‘sworn virgins’) in northern Albania: biological females who have become ‘social men’. Unlike other documented ‘third genders’ (Kulick 1999), burrneshat are not motivated by considerations of personal identity or sexual desire, but rather by the need to fulfill patriarchal roles within a traditional social code that views women as property. Burrneshat are thus seen as honourable and self-sacrificing, are accepted as men in their community, and are treated accordingly, except that they do not marry or engage in sexual relationships. Given these unique circumstances, how do the burrneshat construct and express their identity linguistically, and how do others within the community engage with this identity? Analysis of the choices of grammatical gender in the speech of burrneshat and others in their communities indicates both inter- and intra-speaker variation that is linked to gendered ideologies. ii Table of Contents Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………………….. ii Table of Contents ……………………………………………………………………………….. iii List of Tables …………………………………………………………………………..……… viii List of Figures ……………………………………………………………………………………ix Chapter One – Introduction ……………………………………………………………………... 1 Chapter Two – Albanian People and Language ………………………………………………… 6 2.0 Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………6 2.1 History of Albania ………………………………………………………………………..6 2.1.1 Geographical Location ……………………………………………………………..6 2.1.2 Illyrian Roots ……………………………………………………………………….7 2.1.3 A History of Occupations …………………………………………………………. 8 2.1.4 Northern Albania ………………………………………………………………….
    [Show full text]
  • Albanian Migrant Women
    Albanian migrant women Relation between migration and empowerment of women. The case-study of Albania A Bachelor Thesis Subject: Migration and the empowerment of women Title: Relation between migration and the empowerment of women. The case-study of Albania. Thesis supervisor: Dr. Bettina Bock Student: Liza Iessa Student ID: 870806532080 Date: 30 May 2014 City: Wageningen Institute: University of Wageningen Program: International Development Studies Abstract This is an explorative research of the determinants of migration for women who come from male dominant societies and migrate to more equal societies. The main theory used is the theory of the push and pull factor. The oppression of women in dominantly male societies is defined as a push factor. And opportunities for self-empowerment in more equal societies are defined as a pull factor. In Albania men are the ones who become the head of the household and only men are allowed to own any property. According to the Kanun any women that act in any way as a dishonourable person should be punished or even should pay with her blood. In male dominated societies, such as Albania, there a only few opportunities for women to climb the ladder in the labour market. It makes it very hard for women to provide for themselves and their families financially. Escape high levels of gender inequality is defined as an important reason for Albanian women to migrate. After the fall of the communist regime in the 90’s, the national borders opened up and migration from Albania has increased tremendously. Some women escape male dominant society by migrating to regions with relatively more equality in gender relations.
    [Show full text]
  • |||GET||| Women Who Become Men Albanian Sworn Virgins 1St Edition
    WOMEN WHO BECOME MEN ALBANIAN SWORN VIRGINS 1ST EDITION DOWNLOAD FREE A Young | 9781859733400 | | | | | Women Who Become Men: Albanian Sworn Virgins Tove rated it it was amazing Dec 06, Edith Durham, whose High Albania I read a while ago, goes into this in much more detail. Overall, an enjoyable read which I learnt a lot from - especially about wider Albanian society, which I wasn't necessarily expecting to from the book title. There are also establishments that they cannot enter. There is an image of the Madonna on the table and an apple core. For anyone who has even a very basic knowledge of this subject, this book is not helpful. I found especially interesting that economic concerns i. But I never wanted to marry. About Antonia Young. To a lesser extent, the practice exists, or has existed, in other parts of the western Balkans, including BosniaDalmatia CroatiaSerbia and Northern Macedonia. According to Marina Warnerthe sworn virgin's "true sex will never again, on pain Women Who Become Men Albanian Sworn Virgins 1st edition death, be alluded to either in her presence or out of it. But such rigid notions are overturned by certain women in remote regions of Albania who elect to 'become' men simply for the advantages that accrue to them as a result. Continue on UK site. I am never scared. Bibliography of works on wartime cross-dressing Rebecca Riots Women Who Become Men Albanian Sworn Virgins 1st edition Trousers as women's clothing Gender non-conformance Transgender. The reader-friendly style and the somewhat slightly sentimantal narrative leads the reader into a rather short and somewhat basic analysis of the "dress" of the sworn virgins.
    [Show full text]
  • LRA2016 Hantman Essay.Pdf (117.3Kb)
    Rachel Hantman June 10, 2015 Geography 431 Amy Piedalue For my creative piece, I created a “flipbook” demonstrating the transition Albanian women undergo when they become Albanian Sworn Virgins. Sworn Virgins are women who are primarily from Northern Albania and who, at a young age, take an oath of celibacy, and in doing so, societally transformed themselves into men. By taking this oath in front of twelve men, their celibacy allows them to avoid an arranged marriage (or the possibility of one), which transfers societal meaning onto them and they become men (Littlewood 45). As recognized males in their community, they are able to participate in the codified law as powerful beings with agency as opposed to powerless women lacking choices. This law that strongly influences their society is known as the Code of Lekë Dukagjini, or the Kanun, and it generates a highly patriarchal environment, “Patriarchy is assumed… marriage is ‘for the purpose of adding to the work force and increasing the number of children’… women are not involved in blood feuds… because a woman’s blood is not equal to a man’s… ‘A woman is a sack, made to endure’” (Post 53-54). With the Kanun’s lack of religious backing and affiliation, the choice to become a Sworn Virgin is then deeply rooted in Northern Albanian societal standards (Štulhofer and Sandfort 80). If a family lacks sons, if a familial male leader dies, or if a young girls wants a life of mobility, she may chose to take the oath as an act of self-empowerment and as a means to better her and/or her family’s position in society (Bilefsky).
    [Show full text]
  • Montenegro & the Bay of Kotor
    SMALL GROUP Ma xi mum of LAND 28 Travele rs JO URNEY Montenegro & the Bay of Kotor Inspiring Moments > Visit Venetian-era towns along the Bay of Kotor, a beautiful blue bay cradled between plunging emerald mountains. > Delight in Dubrovnik’s magnificent architecture, towering city walls and INCLUDED FEATURES limestone-paved Stradun. Accommodations (with baggage handling) Itinerary > Sip Montenegrin wines and learn about – 6 nights in Tivat, Montenegro, at the Day 1 Depart gateway city Montenegro’s long tradition of viticulture at deluxe Regent Porto Montenegro. Day 2 Arrive in Dubrovnik and one of Eastern Europe’s finest vineyards. – 1 night in Dubrovnik, Croatia, at the transfer to hotel in Tivat > Discover the serene ambience of two deluxe Hilton Imperial Dubrovnik. Day 3 Cetinje enchanting Orthodox monasteries. > Revel in the remarkable ecosystem and Transfers (with baggage handling) Day 4 Perast | Kotor – Deluxe motor coach transfers during the Day 5 Lake Skadar | Tuzi unspoiled natural beauty of Lake Skadar. Land Program. Day 6 Tivat | Kotor > Step inside a restored Yugoslav submarine at the Maritime Heritage Museum. Extensive Meal Program Day 7 Budva > Uncover the proud history of – 7 breakfasts, 4 lunches and 3 dinners, Day 8 Dubrovnik Cetinje, Montenegro’s cultural center. including Welcome and Farewell Dinners; Day 9 Transfer to Dubrovnik airport tea or coffee with all meals, plus wine and depart for gateway city > Experience two UNESCO World with dinner. Heritage sites. Flights and transfers included for AHI FlexAir participants. Your One-of-a-Kind Journey Note: Itinerary may change due to local conditions. – Discovery excursions highlight the local Activity Level: We have rated all of our excursions with Our Lady of the Rocks culture, heritage and history.
    [Show full text]