Dorothy Allison

Allison's writing, "Context"(1994), is a personal essay explains how she was nervous about introducing her lover to her family. She gives different examples and explains how her lover was brought up differently and explains how she was raised in poor living conditions. Allison’s purpose is to show hard it is for her being homosexual and trying to combine her family and lifestyles together. Her intended audience is people of different lifestyles.

Allison’s Context can be relating because I too have family members that I wouldn’t want for my boyfriend to meet. I think that plenty of people can relate to this. We all come from different upbringings and backgrounds. It is normal for anyone to feel nervous for family to meet the a significant other. It’s up to the person that we’re with to look past that and not judge them based off the family members that they meet.

Allison’s memory from her childhood is the reason she is nervous about her lover meeting her family. According to Allison, she explains horrifying experiences from her childhood such as her step fathers racial slur “Jew bastards will charge me if you break anything.”(pg133). Allison explained how she was embarrassed by her step father’s comment and how uncomfortable it made her. She even wanted to apologize to the clerk for his behavior and let him know that she wasn’t like him. She also stated “he insisted all that stuff was listed at robbery rates and cursed men who tried to tempt us with it.” (pg133). She makes is clear that she was ashamed of her step father’s behavior. Allison step father’s attitude towards others is embarrassing. These are examples of why she was nervous for her lover to be introduced to her family.

Precis, Opinion, and Analysis by Pernida Freeman