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Analytical Introduction
The current paper is the personal reflection of thoughts and ideas expressed by Dorothy Allison in her essay about being yourself against all the public stereotypes. Consequently, the aim of this paper is to consider the most valuable ideas by Allison in order to express my own opinion and, probably, help those people who experience problems with their self-identities and resistance to social prejudice. Thus, the intended audience of this paper may include people from various social and ethnic groups, as well representatives of both sexes. The intended audience may be people from my group in the college, my friends, relatives, or any other reader who has a problem and is eager to know how to solve it.
In order to make the paper more precise and readable, I used specific examples from my life and the story by Dorothy Allison. This method adds credibility and support to the paper as far as it is based not only on my thoughts but on the experiences of other people. Another method used in this paper is quoting from a primary source. The quoted lines reflect the very essence of the topic of the essay and demonstrate where the problem lies.
Thus, to make the paper helpful and relevant to the audience and intended purposes mentioned above, I used the references to my own life and to the essay based on the experience of Dorothy Allison. I am convinced that such methods will make the paper more sufficient for those who have similar problems. I mean that it will be easier for readers to understand how to solve their problems if they are provided with examples of how the issue of self-identity was solved by an ordinary person like me and by a famous writer Dorothy Allison.
Background
The issues of personality, personal representation, and social attitudes about people are rather significant for every particular person and the whole society in general. People always pay too much attention to what others may say or think about them, and this fact makes their lives difficult and problematic (Atwan, 2005). Awareness of the public attitudes about a person makes this very person nervous and distressed, which leads, in its turn, to various problems in all spheres of life.
Another aspect of the problem is that people are very often wrongly identified based on the prejudice that exists about the representatives of certain social classes or sexes. This as well makes life nervous, and that is why people always try to resist social attitudes and stereotypes (Atwan, 2005). The current paper reflects the story of one of the people affected by social attitudes and stereotypes. In this paper, I will consider the way of the famous American feminist writer Dorothy Allison to overcome the importance of public attitudes in one’s life.
Author
The author of the essay that I am to analyze in the current paper is Dorothy Allison who is known all over the world for her open and not-biased reflections of feminist values and the outlook of the world typical for a lesbian. Her works are acknowledged in many countries as masterpieces of social literature and win numerous awards and prizes. The most famous piece of Allison’s work is the novel “Bastard from Carolina”. This work is admired by a lot of readers and was filmed several years ago attracting the attention of much more people in the world (Atwan 2005, p. 70).
The main issues touched upon in the creative work by Dorothy Allison are the issues faced by feminist women and lesbians in their lives, problems of growing up as a white child from a poor family where quarrels, fights, and incest take place and leave the strong traces in the psychology of people. However, one of the most significant points in the works by Allison, and especially in her essay “What Did You Expect?” is the topic of self-identity and resistance to public attitudes and stereotypes. In other words, the leitmotif of this paper is how to be what you want to be but not what people expect of you (Atwan, 2005, p. 70).
Issues
The issues that Dorothy Allison reflects in her works are familiar to every average reader. He ponders on the topic of the importance of being yourself under the constant pressure of social attitudes. The examples presented by Dorothy Allison are taken from her own life experience and thus are reliable sources of objective information on the topic. Allison describes her problems and discomfort feelings while being taken for some other person based on her appearance, clothing, and behavior, as well as on public stereotyped thinking and expectations of people of her kind (Atwan, 2005, p. 70).
As she is a writer, she has to make numerous trips to different areas and countries. In many of these areas, people fail to take her as a reputable writer based on her casual clothing style and almost complete absence of make-up on her face. These people tend to take her for some thief and check the number of towels and cups in her hotel room after she leaves it. It used to surprise the author but with the time spent she has got used to it.
Dorothy Allison explains her behavior and protests against widely accepted norms by her childhood background. Her mother was a typical woman who would never leave her room without a make-up “mask” on her face that gave her the impression of being ready for anything and anyone in the world.
Seeing this all, Dorothy Allison decided to do her best not to become the same when she grows up, meaning that she decided to be a revolutionary woman who will be able to break all the established rules and stereotypes of the society: “I was not going to be anything like what was expected of me.” (Atwan, 2005: Allison, p. 76) Her idea of being herself but not what society could expect her to be was not indeed revolutionary but her readiness to practically implement it was. She dressed not typical of a woman and of a writer who is going to deliver some lectures to students. She rarely has makeup and talks casually as if saying: “Who said that a writer should do differently? I am an ordinary person and have the right to be myself.” (Atwan, 2005: Allison, p. 77)
Reflection
The essay by Dorothy Allison inspired a lot of thoughts and ideas in my mind. To begin with, I would like to state that her unwillingness to be the same as all other people and her protests against ungrounded stereotypes is close to my own outlook of the world. It goes without saying that such a position in life brings a lot of trouble and discomfort. It is difficult at first to get adjusted to the surprised looks and whispers behind my back when people see me, for example, wearing some unusual piece of clothing. On the whole, the most difficult part in the protest against stereotypes is getting used to the surprised or irritated reactions of people around and to the thought of being different from others, at least in some aspects.
Furthermore, I am strongly convinced that such an attitude towards the social stereotypes and public opinion as expressed by Allison in her essay is conditioned by certain experiences that a person had to leave through in his or her childhood. It does not obligatory concern the question of whether to use make-up or not or do a new haircut or not. The idea of being different is much wider and embraces such spheres of human life as courage to express your thoughts and opinions even if they contradict the opinions of the majority of people, being able to act as you consider necessary but not as the society considers “normal”.
There is no one who would explain in detail who establishes these norms and criteria of what is to be considered “normal” or “abnormal”. Consequently, there is no one who is able to demand fulfillment of these or those norms of dressing or behavior just because it is typical of a certain social group or sex. By this, I mean that the fact that Dorothy Allison wears tennis shoes and loose trousers does deprive her of the status of a writer because these categories can not be compared.
They belong to different levels of human life, with clothes being a material value and the talent for writing is a divine gift and intellectual value of this person. The same is true about me – I am a student but it does not demand from me to wear formal style clothes or give up my habits and hobbies if they do not prevent me from the successful study.
Conclusion
All the above-considered information and my thoughts on the topic of self-identity against public opinion allow me to make the following logical conclusion to this paper. Ability to be yourself irrespective of what other people think or say of you is rather important for every individual. Dorothy Allison proves that it is possible not only to claim it but to be actually different from others and pay no attention to public attitudes. The example of this American writer is a good illustration of that how a person can reach his/her aim if all his/her forces are directed at it. I am strongly convinced that every person should have his self-identity and individuality so that to be a distinct member of the human society but not one of the masses of people.
References
Atwan, R. Convergences: Message, Method, Medium 2nd ed., Bedford/St. Martins 2005.
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