ABSTRACT
Street corners have always been space that has belonged to men — patriarchal territory. Verandas and porches were made for females to have outdoor space to occupy. The porches of the author upbringing were places of fellowship — outside space women occupied while men were away, working or on street corners. A home without neighbors surely did not require a porch, just narrow steps to carry inhabitants in and out. After a year of living with a side porch and six teenaged girls, Daddy sheetrocked, made walls, blocked up the door so that it became our brother’s room, an enclosed space with no window to the outside. A democratic meeting place, capable of containing folks from various walks of life, with diverse perspectives, the porch was free-floating space, anchored only by the porch swing, and even that was a symbol of potential pleasure.
