New Keyword: Boundary

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term boundary is used to indicate the bounds or limits of anything material or immaterial; also the limit itself. A boundary is not limited to physical structures such as borders and fences that may divide private properties from public areas or to delineate territories such as state and nation boarders, but it also represents the limits of how we can interact, intermingle with each other and the way in which we categorize the world, such type of boundaries are known as symbolic boundaries. According to sociologist Michele Lamont, symbolic boundaries are the types of lines that individuals draw when they categorize people; they are ways in which people distinguish themselves from others and ways in which people group various elements in their environment. Concrete examples of these types of boundaries include categories such as sexuality, race, gender, and class. Currently, these types of symbolic boundaries are being continually stretched and expanded, reforming and reshaping our social world.


As mentioned above, there are physical boundaries which are visible to the naked eyes, such as walls and fences that may divide countries and states. Yet we must remember that even such physical structures are based upon arbitrary labeling of what a “boundary” is or where the boundary lies. For example, the “line” or “boundary” that divides California and Mexico is arbitrarily assigned. In order for the public to recognize or view boarders as more natural, actual lines, walls or fences are constructed to represent the boundaries. Yet, these boundaries are constantly contested as has been illustrated by unauthorized immigrations.

On a more theoretical level, individuals who choose to illegally migrate, crossing nation boundaries without state consent may view such land boundaries differently. As illegal immigrants generally are from poorer environments, nation boundaries act as a boarder that separates them from opportunity, wealth or even freedom. Through this light, the idea of boundaries, even the physical structures of it, becomes more complex and multifunctional. It acts both as a territorial divider and a barrier to some people.

Continuing on along the lines of symbolic boundaries, we can look on the issue of sexual boundaries. Today, views on sexuality are more visible, more audible, and more ambiguous and stretched out than ever before. This is signified by the recent establishment of gay marriage in California. The norm of heterosexuality is being contested by gays, lesbians, transsexuals, and bisexuals who are now “coming out of the closet” to fight to be accepted by the public. By extending the right of civil union to homosexuals, California leaders have shown that the boundary for sexuality has expanded and had become less rigid.

Moving along similar progressive lines, racial boundaries are also being contested and stretched and is signified through increasing interracial marriages and relationships. At one point in our history, people of different “race” were bounded from to engage in a romantic relationship. Today, we have come to a point where people freely date and fall in love with individuals of different skin color; race is no longer a boundary that separates people, at least not by law.

Another symbolic boundary which has significantly shifted is that of gender boundaries. Women can now compete with men at virtually equal levels for anything from the business world to sports; they are no longer domestically bounded. As gender differences are now being consolidated and blended, the boundary that separates men and women has become decentralized. Perhaps Hilary Clinton’s brave move to become a presidential candidate as a prime example of the shift of women’s role from the domestic realm into political, professional and various other areas which men have dominated.

As boundaries can be shifted left or right, it can also be moved back to its previous location. Boundaries, whether tangent and physical or invisible and symbolic, is a divider that is continuously changing, fluctuating back and forth. Our time may show the stretching and deconstruction of boundaries to break down oppression, but future generations may experience another shift in boundaries. I believe that we have all tried to identify and cross boundaries in one way or another through out this course. Whether it is the through the discussion on race, gender or Wall-e we have repeatedly attempted to define the boundary that divides right from wrong, appropriate from inappropriate, humor from offense or the point where something becomes oppressive or dangerous to a group. Thus, continue to ask what the limit is or what the threshold is and then set out to test your own boundaries.

The sky is the limit.

Lamont, Michele. Money, Morals and Manners: the Cuture of the French and American Upper Class. The University of Chicago Press. Chicago and London