An Ode to Dolly Parton

From one fake blonde to another

With larger-than-life platinum hair, signature red nails, grade-A bedazzling, and a full face of makeup, Dolly Parton is in a league of her own. With more than 60 studio albums under her rhinestone belt, it’s clear that she’s more than just a hyped-up dumb blonde. My love for Parton does not stem from being raised in a southern state; it arises simply from her being a revolutionary woman. When I look at Dolly Parton mastering five-inch designer heels, her hourglass figure wrapped in a sparkly fringe orange jumpsuit, captivating a room of reporters or die-hard fans, I don’t see glitz and ditz. I see a woman taking control of her own narrative. 

I know that most people who are not fans do not think too much of her. They see her as a patron saint of plastic surgeons, or a country bumpkin. While Parton has released 41 top-ten country albums and has written more than 3,000 songs—covering everything from miscarriages to jealousy and fears of infidelity—her work is often overshadowed in media by her bra size. 

Parton’s glory lies in her ability to embrace her campiness. She’s not just in on the joke of herself—she wrote it. With her first solo single “Dumb Blonde” and first mainstream record Backwoods Barbie, Parton knows that by being the first to make fun of yourself, you demobilize your critics. She exaggerates the stereotypes of the simple mountain girl and the town tramp, combining the innocent with the knowingness. By juxtaposing these two categories, she not only shows that they’re stereotypes, but questions their limits. As she playfully and ironically exaggerates them, she questions both sides of the virgin-whore dichotomy.   

Parton has perfectly positioned herself as a sexualized and sensualized object in a knowing way. She’s not only making fun of it, but she has full control of it. Her critical parody has a drag queen essence to it. She’s so comfortable with the drag aspect of her look and performance that she once entered a drag contest as herself and lost.  

Besides putting on a gender performance that would leave Judith Butler shaking in her red shoes, she takes on the full-time job of leading grassroots praxis. As her fame rose, she brought her impoverished hometown of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, along for the ride of upward mobility. The rural town was lifted out of poverty thanks to Parton’s advocacy and creation of her theme park Dollywood, which employs hundreds of local citizens and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in America. Like a true gay icon and supporter of the LGBTQ+ community and rights, Parton ensures that Dollywood hosts annual “Gay Day” events. The event even caught the attention of the Ku Klux Klan, who sent her death threats. 

Dolly Parton’s work doesn’t stop there. She launched Imagination Library, a book gifting program that mails a free book each month to more than a million children in Canada, the United States, Australia, England, and Ireland, from the child’s birth up until they begin school. Originally the program was created to help her home state in honour of her father, who did not get the chance to attend school, but it took flight in the best possible way. 

While her looks are often chastised for being too fake, Parton’s personality has yet to go under the knife. It really doesn’t matter what procedures any woman has or hasn’t done—it’s your body, so go off. What is important is that Parton’s honesty about her fakeness makes her even more authentic. She recognizes and affirms her Botox rumours; she hasn’t developed a filter through hours of media training. She’s just Dolly.