Three into two: the third sex in Northern Albania

Area of Science:

• Sociology
• Gender Studies
• Cultural Anthropology

Background:

• Georg Simmel's formal sociology posits that a third element can reduce binary system salience.
• Albanian society features "sworn virgins" (virgjinesha), a unique social phenomenon.
• Traditional gender roles in many societies are often rigidly binary.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the sociological impact of "sworn virgins" within the Albanian gender system.
• To examine whether the presence of a third sex category alters the dominance of the binary gender system.
• To investigate the perception of "sworn virgins" as gender crossing versus an additional gender category.

Main Methods:

• Formal sociological analysis.
• Examination of ethnographic data on Albanian "sworn virgins" (virgjinesha).
• Application of Simmelian theory to gender systems.

Main Results:

• "Sworn virgins" are predominantly perceived as women who adopt male roles (gender crossing).
• This perception reinforces, rather than mitigates, the existing binary gender system's significance.
• The phenomenon does not lead to a less subdominant position for women within the Albanian social structure.

Conclusions:

• The introduction of a "third sex" in Albania, as exemplified by "sworn virgins," fails to disrupt the established gender binary.
• Perception as gender crossing limits the transformative potential of this social category.
• The study underscores the resilience of binary gender systems even when confronted with non-binary social roles.