Art 364B - Melissa Potter
Project Statement Ammunition for the Virgin
By tradition in some the remote and inaccessible Southeastern parts of the Balkans, a girl born to a family without boys is forced or sometimes chooses to live her life as a man. She dresses like a man and usually takes on the role of inheritor of the family property, becoming a brother to her sisters. In most cases, she never marries and never engages in a sexual relationship, hence the referral to these women as “sworn virgins”.
The reported “last virgin” of Montenegro, Stana Cerovic, is the subject of this film. I took a team of ethnographers to Stana’s village of Tusina to interview her at her rural home. I asked Stana questions about the advantages of life as a man, and even whether it was possible to be happy without children.
Through further interviews with women under the age of 40 (I turned 40 during filming), the film investigates the challenges women face when dealing with cultural expectations, sexual identity, and economic choices. The film follows these diverse voices through my well-worn paths in the city of Belgrade, where I have spent ten years working and developing as an artist, and as an individual.
This project for Nanomajority features a clip of the film in progress and a photo gallery with some of the film's characters. Special thanks to Rene Gremaux, Jelena Jovcic, Stephanie Lupu, and Sasa Sreckovic.
Ammunition for the Virgin--Nano from Melissa Potter on Vimeo.
Comments
That's what life has directed, and as long as they hold those beliefs as sustaining their culture, then there should be one that should be able to decide otherwise.
Angela Sinclair
This reminds me of the fa'afafine tradition in Samoa, and the hijras in India. There is debate among anthropologists as to whether these individuals are placed in these roles by their families or choose to inhabit them. There are no other F2M versions of it that I am aware of.
Fascinating.
What an amazing project. It's hard to imagine that some are forced to be a man. We live in a society where sex change and transvestites are welcome. How would there world be different if this was the case... Thanks, Maria
This issue as I see it, is one of self determination. If one is 'chosen' to be another sex-it is not one's choice and all the issues surrounding the lack of control. It brings to mind issues of those who feel/and know they are born into the wrong body. As a female who was never a tomboy, I cannot imagine being male or being forced to be male. How could I absorb those qualities are impossible for me to get my head around. In addition to self determination, the other essential idea this really throws out is: what is it to be male, female. Are these inherent qualities as some will assert within the person, the gender. Or, are there greater differences within individuals than genders, and the contraints of society are what forces us to do work arounds-some more successful at this than others.