Onewayto carryoutsucha projectwouldbe toemploytheanthropological approach of longtermimmersion livingwiththelocals,learning thelanguage, participatinginlocalactivities.

Young'smethodology, likeheraims,is somewhatambivalent. Aboveall,it directsattentionaway fromthereallyinteresting issue,namely,thatnorthern Albanian societyfound thisrole-changing perfectly acceptable. Gjergji's matter-offact summaryof regionalvariationsin the dressof 'swornvirgins'in the journalEtnografia Shqiptare (Tirana,I976). 69)asifyeti-like, this wasindoubt.Thisexoticizing approach contrasts withA. Indeed, ChapterFive begins: 'We have established theexistenceofswornvirginsinAlbania'(p. However, even in book form, Young'streatmentexoticizes.Her stated purposeis 'to placethe uniquephenomenonof Albanian'swornvirgins': honorarymen, surviving mostly in remote areasof northern Albania,withinthecontextofAlbaniancultureandsocietygenerally' (p.4). Women WhoBecome Men,subtitledAlbanian SwornVirgins, is about unmarried womenin AlbaniaandKosovawhofora varietyof reasonstake on a malerole,wearingmen'sclothesanddoingmen'swork.In 1995, Young wrotean articleon thissubjectforthemagazineCosmopolitan, whichshesays sensationalized andmisrepresented theoriginal, introducing wordswhichshe hadexplicitly toldthemshewantedavoided,suchas 'bizarre' and'sacrifice'. Theseriessetsout'toanalysethemeaning of dressin relationto popularcultureandgenderissues'.Aimedat a broad readership, theseriesprovidesaccessible sociological insightsintoassociated topics.

WOMEN WHOBECOME MEN by AntoniaYoungisonein a seriespublished by Bergcalled'Dress,Body,Culture'. Women WhoBecome Men.Albanian SwornVirgins. In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Women Who Become Men by Antonia Young