Apparently, it is a 500 year-old custom in Albania, codified in the Kanun of Leke Dukagjini, that women in a family that has lost its male head can become that man. It's not a modern transgendered thing--no sex changes, no hormones, not even a change in name sometimes. But the woman dons male clothes, takes a male job, and never does "woman's work" again. The role play is required because women couldn't work until very recently in isolated Albania and someone needed to step in to help support unprotected families. Mind you, gender roles are rigid in this code. The women become virgins and the article is careful to point out that they are not lesbians.
But, I wonder, would the more dykey women, those not that interested in men already, been the ones more likely to volunteer? Among 9 sisters, say, how is one chosen? I bet there are some lesbian tendencies in there, even if homosexuality is forbidden by the code.
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