Dolly Parton: the woman, the myth, the legend.
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It took years for Parton to reach the legend status, but for the younger generation, that's all they've ever known her as. An icon. And for a lot of Millennials it was this legendary status, rather than Parton's music, that introduced them to the singer.
Growing up in the 1990s, Parton was already well established in the zeitgeist. And not only was she always around, she was - and still is - completely recognisable and memorable, which for a kid are important traits to have. It's not that 90s kids didn't know her songs - even if parents didn't own any of the singer's albums, the sounds of Jolene and 9 to 5 were sure to come from car radios at some point.
But as a 90s kid, her music always seemed to come after seeing her for the first time.
"I love seeing the expressions on kids' faces when they meet me," Parton says in her new book Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics. "I guess because I'm blonde and sparkly, they think I'm a character from a fairy tale come to life."
In recent years, the singer has seen a rise in the number of Millennial fans, with Netflix specials and online Parton-themed quizzes reaping the benefits. Twenty-somethings refer to her as a queen and a goddess, all while listening to her music and talking about the latest Parton news, whether it is how she pledged $US1 million to a coronavirus vaccine, or how it was revealed that she secretly produced Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
And greeting Millennials as they get on the Parton train is a growing list of new material. Parton has written about 3000 songs, of which 450 have been recorded - either by Parton or other recording artists.
In 2020, the singer released a new single - When Life is Good Again - as well as the Christmas album, Holly Dolly Christmas. The past decade has seen her release three new albums, one live album, a children's album and the soundtrack to the Netflix film Dumplin.
But despite this growing repertoire, the singer, who turns 75 next month, actually credits pop singer Miley Cyrus for her younger fans. Parton not only played Cyrus' godmother in the television series Hannah Montana, but is her real-life godmother.
But given it's been more than a decade since Parton appeared on the show, there has to be more to the story.
In a 1980 interview with Rolling Stone, Parton's 9 to 5 co-star Jane Fonda put it down to the mystery surrounding the singer.
"Very often someone will wow you, but as you get to know them, the mystery wears off. One of the things that just flabbergasts me about Dolly is the amount of mystery she has."
It's a sentiment that Fonda reiterated in the documentary Dolly Parton: Here I Am, and she's on the money. Even after more than half a century in the spotlight, there are still things to learn about Parton.
And whether this mystique is intentional or consequential - or both - it has helped to create this persona that everyone, in spite of all their differences, can agree on.
Dollitics
Part of the reason fans from different walks of life - and more to the point, different belief and value systems - can coexist is Parton doesn't talk politics. She takes an apolitical stance, repeatedly telling interviewers that she doesn't do politics because she's an entertainer and who would want to hear what she has to say?
You only had to be on any social platform during the recent US election to realise that we live in a time where celebrities not only vocalise who they will and won't vote for, but they will openly campaign for certain people. And this has become the norm to the extent that it can be easy to forget that it wasn't always that way, particularly in country music where singers are still advised not to talk politics.
Take The Chicks - who up until earlier this year, were known as The Dixie Chicks. They were the biggest artists in country music until in 2003 they were cancelled because singer Natalie Maines criticised then-President George W Bush to a London crowd. Even when the trio released their album earlier this year - their first original country album since the event - there were country music radio stations who still refused to play it.
So wind it back a few decades, to when Dolly Parton first came on the scene. How do you think country music was then?
Just take a look at the first time Parton performed on the Porter Wagoner Show - the variety show that gave the singer her big break. Parton was booed off stage because when she stepped out - looking a lot more reserved in appearance than the Parton we have come to know - the audience was expecting to see the show's previous "girl singer" and the much more conservative choice, Norma Jean.
The booing would prove to be formative for Parton, the performer, with the singer skillfully dodging any question that came her way that may have divided fans throughout the career. Her appearance at the Emmys in 2017, where she was presenting the award for best supporting actor award with her 9 to 5 costars Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, is the perfect example. When Fonda and Tomlin took a swipe at President Trump, Parton - who looked visibly alarmed at the seemingly unscripted comments - deflected with her trusted arsenal of boob jokes. "Well, I know about support," she said, referring to the awards category and her breasts. "If it weren't for support, Shock and Awe here would be more like Flopsy and Droopy."
The look
Parton's look is as much a business move as it is an aesthetic one. Aside from providing a shield from questions she may not want to answer, it's also a brand. "I don't look this way outta ignorance," Parton told Family Circle journalist Gerri Hirshey in 1979.
"It's my gimmick, I've always tried to look as different as I felt. I could have played it safe in jeans and a workshirt, but it left no room for imagination. I figured the way I look would at least hold people's attention long enough to see that there was somethin' that came from within."
If there's any generation that knows branding, it's the one that developed businesses out of how we appear on social media. What's more, Parton's plastic surgery, hyper-femme look and potentially more importantly, her "so what" attitude to both of these, are not only accepted and talked about in today's society, but also rewarded. This could be either because of her ability to dismiss other people's judgments, or because - in a world of Snapchat filters and photo editing - Parton's control over her look through plastic surgery is itself an object of desire by a part of the population.
Let's face it, no one else will ever look like Dolly Parton. In fact, take away the make-up, wigs and clothes and Parton probably doesn't even look like Dolly Parton. And, once again, the mystique lies in the fact that no one knows what Parton looks like when she's not being Dolly Parton.
"When Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda arrived on the set of 9 to 5 they went straight into hair and makeup. I got there every morning ready to go as [her character] Doralee with my makeup on and my hair styled. I never leave the house unless I'm 'camera-ready', no matter where I am," she says in Dolly Parton, Songteller.
Fonda has even said in the Dolly Parton: Here I Am documentary that even though she's stayed at Parton's house, she still doesn't know what she looks like when she's not Dollified.
Perhaps we don't actually want to know what it takes to look like Dolly Parton. But the simple fact of not knowing makes for the perfect breeding ground for rumours such as the one that she has tattoos covering her arms. And those who believe it, justify it with the fact that Parton hasn't been seen in short sleeves in decades, and that comedian Roseanne Barr revealed in 2011 that she had seen them.
And Parton does have tattoos. Just not the sleeves people believe she has. In an interview with People in September, she once again denied the sleeves, but not that she has tattoos full stop. "My tattoos are pretty, they're artful and they usually started out to cover some scars, not to make a big statement," she said. "Ribbons and bows and butterflies are the things that I have. I was very sick for a while and I had to wear a feeding tube. It left a little indention in my side and I didn't like it because I'm so fair that scars turn purple on me."
Arguably the tattoos make Parton more relatable, particularly with her younger demographic. There is no denying, however, the news is out of the realm of what we've come to expect from Parton, proving she's still keeping people guessing.
Feminism
For years, fans have heralded Parton as a feminist icon. And can you blame them?
The singer not only made her acting debut in 9 to 5 - a film about women's rights and sexual harassment in the workplace - but wrote the song of the same name, which has long become an anthem. And when it comes to women's issues, 9 to 5 is not the only one in Parton's repertoire. She's written and recorded songs about mental health, unwanted pregnancies, gender roles, premarital and extramarital sex and even PMS. One of these songs, Just Because I Am a Woman, was inspired by her own relationship with husband Carl Dean, who was devastated to find out that Parton had been with other men before him. Luckily, Dean got over himself, and Parton used the experience to write a song that, while spending 14 weeks on charts, still had some radio stations refusing to play it.
"It was about a man 'ruining' a girl's reputation," Parton says. "And I addressed all these things. Like, 'Who the hell are you to think you deserve an angel?' ... It was for all those women who had never been able to express this themselves. It's a song that says a lot in a simple way. But it addresses an issue that's very important."
With songs such as these, it is easy to see why people such as feminist writer Gloria Steinem praise Parton, saying in a 1987 article for Ms. magazine, "If feminism means each of us finding our unique power, and helping other women do the same, Dolly Parton certainly has done both."
But the singer herself has a complicated relationship with feminism - at least in the public eye. "People often ask me, 'Are you a feminist?' I don't like labels," she says. "Does being feminine make me feminist? I don't think so. I really just live who I am. I'm a woman and proud of it. And I believe every woman should have the right to be anything she can be capable of.
"I didn't think I had to march in the streets to prove anything. I would write it in my songs and live it as a woman in business. I never felt like I had to do it any differently than that. Everybody has the right to do it in their own way."
One has to wonder if she would have survived in the 1960s country scene if she had taken an affirmative stance on feminism, considering the conservative nature of the genre and time. But gender politics aside, it's not completely surprising Parton doesn't identify with the term feminism. She grew up in Second Wave feminism, which saw bras, makeup and hair products as symbols of oppression, whereas Dolly Parton - at least in image - is all bras, makeup and wigs.
WNYC's podcast Dolly Parton's America points out Parton may have been the first Third Wave feminist - believing in equality and female success while still wearing hyper-feminised clothing, and, for that matter, posing for Playboy magazine. It's a stance that exudes a sense of freedom and empowerment younger fans connect with. In fact, it's something fans of all ages have connected with throughout Parton's career, and will continue to.
In a 1979 article for Family Circle magazine, Hirshey spoke with fans, asking what brought them to a Winsconsin concert. One woman summed up what Hirshey had heard across the country. "I'll tell you why I love her. Dolly is everything I never dared to be. Sure, she's outrageous looking.
"But just once, didn't you ever want to do something outlandish - without worrying what everyone will say?"
Dolly Parton dares to be Dolly Parton, and no matter how old you are, what's not to like about that?