ANTEBELLUM BLOG: 18.08.13

8/24/13

WHILE SYMPATHY SLEEPS

photo~ ricardo carranza~ watts/antebellum correspondent

rare interview with Divine~ circa 1988 on the late show. the host is shawn thompson who played corny colins in hairspray.
this interview is just before divine died.
this second interview reflects the times divine lived in. how she had to endure these condescending questions. this is what happens to trailblazers.

GLAMOUR FITS

absolute classic~ FEMALE TROUBLE~ directed by john waters
staring the late- great~ divine
the late-great~ david lockery
mary-vivian pierce
mink stole

ALBANIAN WOMEN LIVING AS MEN

Portraits of Albanian Women Who Have Lived Their Lives As Men swornv 1

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.

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Image credits: Photographs by Jill Peters and used with permission

THE NEXT AMERICAN REVOLUTION IS TRANSGENDER

(Arin Andrews and Katie Hill~ young transgender couple)

when culture shifts, it shifts big. like ayn rand's title atlas shrugged~ post-gay america is on the verge of the next big wave... and that wave is transgender.

check out all the people coming out as transgender in record pace~

(CHELSEA MANNING)

(ALEXIS ARQUETTE)

(ANDREJ PEJIE)

(BUCK ANGEL)

One of the wealthy heirs of the Pritzker hotel fortune — a former lieutenant colonel in the Illinois Army National Guard — came out as transgender Friday.

Jennifer Natalya Pritzker — formerly known as James Pritzker — is part of the prominent Chicago Pritzker family that founded the Marmon Group and owns the Hyatt hotel chain, the TransUnion credit agency and other businesses. Jennifer Pritzker’s cousin is Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker.

In a letter emailed to employees at the Pritzker Military Library and Tawani Enterprises and forwarded to Crain’s Chicago Business, the billionaire said that “As of Aug. 16, 2013, J.N. Pritzker will undergo an official legal name change, will now be known as Jennifer Natalya Pritzker. This change will reflect the beliefs of her true identity that she has held privately and will now share publicly. Pritzker now identifies herself as a woman for all business and personal undertakings.”

Jennifer Pritzker enlisted in the Army in 1974 and earned a commission as an infantry officer in 1979, serving with the 82nd and 101st Airborne divisions before moving to the Illinois Army National Guard. She retired from military service in 2001.