Sorority Rituals - Reflections On Rites of ... - Mari Ann Callais

participated in my sorority ritual, which in many ways, places me as an outsider looking in.
Minh-Ha (1991) gives another description of the insider looking in:
The moment the insider steps out from the inside, she is no longer a mere insider (and
vice versa). She necessarily looks in from the outside while also looking out from the
inside. Like the outsider, she steps back and records what never occurs to her the insider
as being worth or in need of recording. But unlike the outsider, she also resorts to nonexplicative,
non-totalizing strategies that suspend meaning and resist closure. This is
often viewed by the outsiders as strategies of partial concealment and disclosure aimed at
preserving secrets that should only be imparted to initiates. (p. 74)
Although I do not know the secrets of the other sororities, I do have an understanding of what
those rituals entail and their intent as far as the purpose of the ceremonies. Because I am not a
member of any of the other sororities included in this study, I have been an outsider who did not
and does not know the content of those ceremonies.
I feel that this explains my ability to be connected to this topic and yet, has established
my ability to be an outsider. I have taken precautions such as having two examiners review the
coding the transcripts, selecting the sorority women randomly for the study, as well as conducting
interviews on campuses where I am not speaking or presenting in order to ensure non-biased
responses. My bias has been my passion for this topic. Under the direction of my major advisor,
two examiners, and my dissertation committee, I have taken precautions to evaluate my bias and
to be conscience of my bias at all times during this study.
Limitations
Formal rituals, such as those associated with Greek letter organizations, are often difficult
to study. The nature of the organizations and the role of "ritual,” specifically the initiation
ceremony in those organizations, often times create a sense of secrecy to the point of not ever
mentioning the word "ritual." Rituals or ritual ceremonies are the foundation of what makes each
sorority unique. Perhaps the greatest challenge for researchers is the fact that many of the rituals
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