WHAT DOLLY TAUGHT US ABOUT WOMEN, WORK & WORTH
The world has lost one of its great originals. Dolly Parton – singer, songwriter, actor, businesswoman, philanthropist and cultural icon – has died at the age of 80. And while the music world will rightly mourn one of its greatest songwriters and performers, Dolly’s legacy stretches far beyond country music.
For women around the world, there was something particularly inspiring about a woman who seemed, throughout her extraordinary life, to know exactly who she was. In fact, one of Dolly’s most famous pieces of advice was beautifully simple: “Find out who you are and do it on purpose.”
And Dolly certainly did. Born into poverty as one of 12 children in rural Tennessee, she went on to become one of the most successful recording artists of all time. She wrote hundreds of songs, sold more than 100 million records worldwide and created classics including Jolene, Here You Come Again, 9 to 5 and I Will Always Love You. Her career crossed country, pop, film, television, theatre and business, while her unmistakable image made her one of the most recognisable women on the planet.
But behind the rhinestones, enormous hair and self-deprecating jokes was an exceptionally astute woman.
When Elvis Presley wanted to record I Will Always Love You, Dolly famously refused his manager’s demands to give up half of the publishing rights. It was a difficult decision, but one which proved extraordinarily important when Whitney Houston’s recording of the song became a global phenomenon years later.
It is a wonderful lesson in understanding the value of your own work – something that remains particularly relevant for women working in all creative industries today.
Dolly also built an entertainment and business empire on her own terms. She became a major force in film with roles including 9 to 5 and Steel Magnolias, created Dollywood, and co-founded the production company Sandollar Productions.
Sandollar was behind the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer film and was involved in bringing the subsequent TV series to life. Dolly may never have appeared in Sunnydale, but behind the scenes she played a part in enabling one of pop culture’s most enduring female action heroes to reach our screens.
Doing it her way
Dolly’s appearance inevitably attracted almost as much attention as her talent. She was scrutinised, questioned and criticised over her clothes, her body and her cosmetic surgery – scrutiny with which generations of women in the public eye will be familiar.
Her response was always characteristically Dolly.
She laughed along with everyone – frequently getting to the joke first. Her famous observation that “it takes a lot of money to look this cheap” captured the combination of intelligence, self-awareness and humour that made it very difficult for anyone else to use her appearance against her.
There is an important message in that. Women should be able to make choices about their own bodies and appearance without those choices diminishing their achievements, intelligence or worth. Dolly chose how Dolly looked. She owned it. And she had tremendous fun with it.
Giving something back
Perhaps the greatest reason to celebrate Dolly Parton, however, is what she chose to do with her success.
Inspired by her father’s inability to read and write, she founded Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in 1995, initially providing books to young children in her home county in Tennessee. The programme expanded across the US and then internationally, giving millions of free books to children and helping to encourage a love of reading from the earliest age.
Dolly was also a longstanding and outspoken ally of the LGBTQ+ community, offering acceptance at times when doing so was far less commonplace in mainstream entertainment. During the AIDS crisis, when fear and stigma were devastating LGBTQ+ communities, she supported HIV/AIDS charities and spoke movingly about losing friends to the disease; that support continued throughout her life, including work with organisations such as the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
Her allyship was rooted in a simple belief that people deserve to be loved and accepted for who they were. From supporting marriage equality to embracing her huge LGBTQ+ fanbase and speaking up for gay and transgender people, Dolly consistently chose inclusion over judgement.
Meanwhile, following devastating wildfires in Tennessee in 2016, she helped families who had lost their homes. She supported numerous charitable and humanitarian causes throughout her life.
And in 2020, she donated $1 million to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for Covid-19 research – funding that contributed to research behind the Moderna vaccine.
It was typical Dolly: quietly using the wealth and influence she had accumulated to make a tangible difference to other people’s lives.
A woman who contained multitudes
Dolly Parton resisted being put into boxes. She could be glamorous and formidable. Funny and serious. A country girl and a global businesswoman. Outrageously artificial in appearance and remarkably authentic in personality.
Perhaps that is why she connected with so many different generations and communities.
For women, her life also offered an important lesson about resilience. Dolly came from very little, entered an industry dominated by powerful men and built a career lasting more than six decades without surrendering ownership of who she was.
She understood her talent. She understood her value. And she understood that kindness and ambition were not mutually exclusive.
At Women in Games, we talk frequently about creating a world in which women and girls are able to participate, lead, create and succeed without being limited by stereotypes or expectations about who they should be. Dolly Parton spent a lifetime doing precisely that.
Perhaps the greatest lesson for us all is what she showed us. Know your worth. Own your choices. Laugh at yourself. Don’t allow other people to decide what a successful woman is supposed to look or sound like. Help others when you can. And never apologise for taking up space – preferably while wearing rhinestones.
Dolly Parton was an extraordinary songwriter and entertainer. But she was also a woman who showed generations of others that strength does not have to look stern, ambition does not preclude generosity, and authenticity doesn’t mean conforming to somebody else’s idea of what is ‘natural’ or appropriate.
She did it her way, she did it with humour, and she did an enormous amount of good along the way.
RIP Dolly Parton. An original, in every sense.