Dolly Parton Walks the Cultural Tightrope
By Patricia Patnode
Dolly Parton is, perhaps, America’s most talented culture tightrope-walker. The star is beloved by drag queens as well as the deep-red South.
As she belted her heart out dressed as a Dally Cowboys cheerleader during the Thanksgiving NFL Halftime show, America cheered her on.
“I don’t do politics,” she said in 2019. “I have too many fans on both sides of the fence. Of course, I have my opinion, but I learned years ago to keep my mouth shut about things.”
She may not do politics, but she unapologetically loves her country— a radical act today.
Each track on her record, 27’: The Most Perfect Album, is dedicated to a different amendment of the Constitution. One is named the 19th Amendment, after the amendment that enshrined women’s suffrage.
Although she’s never publicly spoken on abortion, she hails pro-life champion Susan B Anthony in a line, “In 1890, the National American Women’s Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was established with Susan B Anthony its leading force.”
“But women have been fighting for their rights since the very beginning of time,” she sings.
When her DixieLand Stampede Dollywood show was accused of sympathizing with the confederacy, she quickly changed the name. America didn’t blink twice.
Dolly can do no wrong, it seems, because she has wronged no one. The real McCoy of Christian charity, she has sincerely tried to improve the lives of the hurting and disenfranchised. Parton has been a lifelong ambassador of Appalachia, conveying their concerns and struggles to America. Parton’s work has shone a light on the forgotten families in her neck of the woods, like the theme of Senator J.D. Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy.
Explaining the reason she created Dollywood, her 150-acre Tennessee amusement park, Parton said: “I always thought that if I made it big or got successful at what I had started out to do, that I wanted to come back to my part of the country and do something great, something that would bring a lot of jobs into this area.”
America’s sweetheart was born on January 19, 1946, in a one-room cabin in Pittman Center, Tennessee. She is one of twelve children, all of whom her mother had before 35.
Parton grew up in similar conditions as my grandmother: in the woods, in poverty, with too many kids for one house to hold. Blessed with many American amenities, we can forget that childbirth with medical care is a relatively recent invention. State-enforced school attendance and the expectation of regular meals are new luxuries.
Unlike other child stars in the 1940s and 1950s, Parton performed out of love for music rather than to make producers and her parents cash. Much like Elvis Presley, she gained regional fame as a teen. After graduating high school, she moved to Nashville and began recording and songwriting.
Unlike the late King of Rock and Roll, Parton has excellent business sense and, despite what some might say about her outfits, traditional values.
Parton turned down the opportunity to pose nude for Playboy. She did appear on the October 1978 cover wearing a Playboy bunny outfit, which she recreated in 2021 for her wedding anniversary.
A refreshing change from most Hollywood celebrities, Parton keeps her husband out of the spotlight. She has always protected their lifelong union, not letting the press be privy to their private details. She treats her marriage like an eternal commitment, another rarity for our culture.
In 2011, Parton said, “We're really very proud of our marriage. It's the first for both of us. And the last.”
Parton and her husband helped to raise several of her younger siblings. When they tried to have their own kids, Dolly suffered a miscarriage and then underwent a partial hysterectomy, preventing her from having babies.
Like Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Parton and her husband enjoy driving around the country in their RV and stopping at drive-thrus for dinner. A real woman of the people.
I heard my parents play Parton in the car as a child, but I really discovered her on Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana. On that show, as in real life, Parton is Miley Cyrus’s godmother. She was a guide for Cyrus as she navigated fame from a young age and developed her powerful, raspy voice.
The plot of one episode focuses on a feud between characters Parton and Miley’s grandma over which of the two matriarchs Elvis Presley was flirting with. Miley’s grandma described Parton as “trashy,” an insult she has also routinely faced in her professional life.
As a young teenager on Tumblr, I remember seeing posts about Parton’s courtship with her husband Carl. On their 50th wedding anniversary, Carl told CMT: “My first thought was I'm gonna marry that girl… My second thought was, 'Lord, she's good-looking.’ And that was the day my life began.”
In this age of rampant divorce, their marriage endures.
My mom loves Parton for her Christian faith, especially on display in her Coat of Many Colors movie. My liberal friends love her for her catchy songs and campy outfits.
Few of Parton’s celebrity contemporaries are able to get away with being apolitical. Clint Eastwood is decidedly conservative, while Jane Fonda and her comrades are waiting for the Soviet Union’s comeback.
Although I would love for Parton to come out as a pro-life champion, perhaps God just needs her to be a very public Christian in mainstream entertainment. Her demure approach to politics is humble and allows her fans a chance to relax. At the least, Parton is a holiday inspiration. She could also teach us a thing or two about information modesty and “‘til death do us part.”
Patricia Patnode is a columnist at The Conservateur and a Junior Fellow at the Independent Women's Forum. She can be found on Twitter @IdealPatricia.
Media Getty / Craig Sjodin
