Dolly Parton Discloses Her Different Take On Feminism

Apr 24, 2023 by apost team

When it comes to country music royalty, Dolly Parton is easily one of the most iconic names in the business. Known for her impeccable songwriting skills and unique singing voice, Parton has been a huge influence on the music industry for decades with hits such as "Jolene," "9 to 5" and "Coat of Many Colors." She also penned and originally recorded "I Will Always Love You" in 1973 before it was later made famous by vocal powerhouse Whitney Houston in 1992.

With her vibrant, bubbly personality, unique vocal tone, and beautiful songwriting skills, Parton has become one of the most well-loved entertainers in Hollywood. 

Being one of the trailblazers in the male-dominated genre of Country music, Parton has inspired a generation of female artists – even outside the realms of the Country music genre. However, despite this, the music icon seemed to have a different understanding and unique definition of what it means to be a feminist. 

According to the International Women’s Development Agency, feminism can be put simply as an idealogy about all genders having equal rights and opportunities. In history, women have been marginalized and oppressed by men, which puts them in a position of lower power that can be seen by others as an upper hand. 

As for Parton, she has been known to stray away from politics – her nonpartisanship even had its own brand called “Dollitics,” as expounded in the podcast “Dolly Parton's America.” In the same podcast, she revealed that she does not identify as a feminist. 

However, that seemed to change when she admitted that she is one in a speech, conflicting with many on what her true stance is. Read on to learn more about Parton’s definition of feminism. 

Talking to Jad Abumrad in the podcast “Dolly Parton's America” in November 2019, the singer shocked many because of her statements about the highly-debated topic.

"No, I do not. I think of myself as a woman in business. I love men,” she confessed. 

But as Abumrad tried to find out her reasoning behind it, Parton explained that she had a different notion about the matter. As per L’Officiel, Parton elaborated that her idea of what feminism was is associated with vilifying men. 

“To me, when you say just the word ‘feminist’ is like, ‘I hate all men,’” Parton admitted.

Months after, she was asked about the idea of feminism again in a Time 100 interview. Parton now had a different approach when she was asked the “tricky” question.”

“I suppose I am a feminist if I believe that women should be able to do anything they want to. And when I say a feminist, I just mean I don’t have to, for myself, get out and carry signs. I just really feel I can live my femininity and actually show that you can be a woman and you can still do whatever you want to do.”

She emphasized that she was “not ashamed” of being labeled as one but believed that there were others who would fit into that category more than her. 

“I just always say I don’t really go for titles or this or that,” Parton added. “But I’m all for all our gals. I think everybody has the right to be who they are.”

Talking to NPR, Abumrad said that it was a “real surprise” for him to hear of Parton’s perspective, but he believes that many people like the singer, who grew up in the Midwest and the South, have a complicated relationship with the term.

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What can you say about Dolly Parton’s thoughts on feminism? Do you agree or disagree with her? Let us know, and pass this on to others who you think might be interested to hear her perspective!