allison was one of the key figures in what became known as the feminist sex wars. she was a panelist at the 1982 barnard conference on sexuality that was picketed by the new york chapter of women against pornography, who called the panelists "anti-feminist terrorists". protesters accused allison of supporting sexual abuse of children because of the graphic content in her literary works. she responded to such critics in her collection, "the women who hate me: poems by dorothy allison."