Michelle Newcomb, Topic of Choice #2

Michelle Newcomb

Religious Studies – Primal Religions

Topic of Choice

Liminality

I am taking a sociology class that also discusses liminality, but on a more anthropological level. In the Ritual Process, Turner defines liminality as “neither here nor there; they are betwixt and between the positions assigned and arrayed by law, custom, conversion and ceremony.” While that definition is used again in the other class, we take a completely different view on the use of liminality in a culture. We used the case of the American front porch in this example.

The American front porch (although it seems normal enough) was actually a big contributor to the rise of feminism and marked the beginning of feminine power outside the home. The front port rose out of necessity, especially in the south. The weather was hot and humid and a need rose for a comfortable place to socialize – the front porch was built as a liminal state, between the house and the outside world. In this place, women were still the matrons of the house but they were also the docile figures seen outside the house. Visitors (mostly strangers stopping for a rest from traveling) would come and visit, the women were quickly educated about the outside world (in a way that was inappropriate before) and their knowledge grew. The front porch became the woman’s domain and they lorded over it by “sitting in state on the front porch rocker that served as her throne” (The American Front Porch, Beckham, p. 65). Although the outside was the man’s domain and the inside was as well (despite the fact that the women ran it) the front porch became the threshold for their entrance into the outside world, it became their position of power and respect.

This is a really interesting take on the place of the front porch and liminality as well, its interesting to see that liminality can be used in so many different ways outside of philosophy.