[repost from before my blog went boom.  But this is still fascinating.  We might have to try this in Chicago soon.]

The New York Times has a fascinating article about the dying tradition of women renouncing their gender to dress as, and take on the role of, men in a society where blood feuds are common:

For centuries, in the closed-off and conservative society of rural
northern Albania, swapping genders was considered a practical solution
for a family with a shortage of men. Her father was killed in a blood
feud, and there was no male heir. By custom, Ms. Keqi, now 78, took a
vow of lifetime virginity. She lived as a man, the new patriarch, with
all the swagger and trappings of male authority — including the
obligation to avenge her father’s death.

The associated pictures are great.