{"id":42977,"date":"2026-09-02T07:15:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T14:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=42977"},"modified":"2026-11-04T10:53:01","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T18:53:01","slug":"dolly-parton-took-control-of-her-career-by-making-men-the-butt-of-the-joke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/dolly-parton-took-control-of-her-career-by-making-men-the-butt-of-the-joke\/","title":{"rendered":"Dolly Parton took control of her career by making men the butt of the joke"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Stephanie Vander Wel<\/a>, University at Buffalo<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of all the moments that capture Dolly Parton\u2019s musical talents, fierce intelligence and driving ambition, I often find myself thinking back to an awkward, ad-libbed live television duet on \u201cThe Porter Wagoner Show<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The year was 1973. Parton had been performing alongside Wagoner<\/a> on the syndicated variety show since 1967. Though this had been her big break in Nashville, Parton was feeling confined by playing second fiddle to Wagoner, who, as her producer, often took control of the musical arrangements of her songs<\/a>. Despite Parton\u2019s commercial success, he was often dismissive of her creative vision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Parton and Wagoner set to perform \u201cRun That By Me One More Time<\/a>\u201d \u2013 a song Parton had written in 1970, about a marital quarrel \u2013 Wagoner begins by saying, \u201cMe and my sidekick, she just kicked me in the side.\u201d Dolly retorts, \u201cNot yet, but I think I will after this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the two sing the opening lines, Parton dives into her verse:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell you\u2019re late again I see<\/p>

What\u2019s your excuse this time?<\/p>

Don\u2019t try to kiss and make up<\/p>

When you smell so strong from wine.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Right as Wagoner moves in to sing his excuse for coming home late, Parton unexpectedly interrupts him by singing a prolonged, \u201cWell, I \u2013\u201d as if she were going to sing another line. Wagoner, caught by surprise, pauses. Parton laughs, \u201cI thought I\u2019d throw that in.\u201d A flustered Wagoner asks Parton where they are in the song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back on track, Wagoner begins the next verse, demanding to know what Parton has done with the rent money. She ad-libs her explanation: \u201cYou seen me put that money in that cookie jar the same day you brought it home and one day I come back from shopping and I looked and every dime of that money was gone but I didn\u2019t get it and you know I didn\u2019t get it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\u2019s gone well over her allotted time, and Wagoner starts singing his planned retort. But Parton doesn\u2019t let up and starts speaking over him: \u201cI didn\u2019t get it. I don\u2019t know who got it but I don\u2019t want you packing it on me no more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guffaws are audible from the crowd. All Wagoner can do is awkwardly laugh as he says, \u201cWould you run \u2013 me by that one more time.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wagoner eventually recovers and the two cheerfully finish the song to applause. But for anyone watching, it\u2019s clear who\u2019s in control and whose song it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A year later, Parton left the show after writing the hit songs \u201cJolene<\/a>\u201d and \u201cI Will Always Love You<\/a>.\u201d Her 1976 album, \u201cAll I Can Do,\u201d was nominated for a Grammy for Best Country Vocal Performance, Female.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rest \u2013 25 No. 1 country singles<\/a>, 10 Grammy awards<\/a>, 44 Top 10 country albums<\/a> \u2013 is history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turning the tables<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Parton, who died on Aug. 25, 2026<\/a>, didn\u2019t simply tell jokes for cheap chuckles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my work as a scholar of country music<\/a>, I\u2019ve written about how female country artists from the mid-20th century to the 2010s deployed humor to elbow their way into an industry that has often been hostile to women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the genre\u2019s history, female country artists could be treated as window dressing<\/a> for the male main attractions. And when women did achieve success, the industry could be quick to portray them as climbers who abandoned their country roots in pursuit of pop stardom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Women also traditionally have had a harder time getting recording contracts and radio airplay. As recently as 2015, radio consultant Keith Hill controversially said that country stations should play mostly male artists<\/a>, describing men as the \u201clettuce\u201d and women as the \u201ctomatoes\u201d in a salad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One way female artists fought back? By using humor to upend expectations about how women should behave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Lulu Belle\u2019s comedic take on marriage in her 1939 song \u201cI Wish I Was a Single Girl Again<\/a>,\u201d she plays the part of the female rube. By assuming the caricature of female hillbilly, she was able to do or say things that a conventionally respectable female character couldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, June Carter<\/a> often played the unruly country girl who aimed her punchlines at male hosts and duet partners, including Johnny Cash. And in the uproarious \u201cGot My Name Changed Back<\/a>,\u201d the contemporary trio Pistol Annies use humor to turn the pain of divorce into a celebration of female empowerment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But few have ever wielded humor as deftly as Parton. She used quick-witted retorts and self-deprecating jokes as weapons to disarm audiences and shine a spotlight on double standards and gendered biases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Young
Dolly Parton hugs comedian John Belushi at Windows on the World in New York City in May 1977. Art Zelin\/Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

She often did this by making men the butt of her jokes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take two of Parton\u2019s first commercial hits: \u201cDumb Blonde,\u201d written by Curly Putman, and her self-penned \u201cSomething Fishy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In \u201cDumb Blonde<\/a>,\u201d Parton tells the story of a cheating man who, upon being confronted, angrily accuses her of being a \u201cdumb blonde.\u201d After announcing that \u201cthis dumb blonde ain\u2019t nobody\u2019s fool,\u201d the song\u2019s narrator triumphantly declares, \u201cIf there\u2019s one thing this blonde has learned, blondes have more fun,\u201d before walking away from the relationship on her own terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSomething Fishy<\/a>\u201d is another song about a cheater. Parton\u2019s lyrics contrast the man\u2019s thin lies about \u201cgoing on fishing trips\u201d with her suspicion of his infidelities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSomething fishy is going on,\u201d she says wryly, playing up the pun. The audience is in on the mockery of this dim-witted man, whose astute wife can see right through him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dolly\u2019s world<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Young
Dolly Parton performs at the Wembley Empire Pool in London in April 1976. Andrew Putler\/Redferns via Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the same way that Parton took the spotlight from Wagoner during that televised duet in 1973 \u2013 and makes it clear who\u2019s in control and who isn\u2019t \u2013 Parton also took control of the narrative of her career. When critics questioned her commitment to country<\/a>, she demonstrated that popular stardom and country authenticity were not mutually exclusive. When they condemned her ambition, she made no apologies for wanting more. When they tried to ridicule her look<\/a>, she owned her Dolly image by means of her wit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Parton would often say<\/a>, \u201cIt costs a lot of money to look this cheap.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s so much in that line. For one, it\u2019s hilarious. But it also signals that she intentionally crafted her campy persona, and that her calculated appearance also contributed to her wild success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was Dolly: self-deprecating, self-aware, self-assured and, yes \u2013 wickedly funny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stephanie Vander Wel<\/a>, Associate Professor of Music, University at Buffalo<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stephanie Vander Wel, University at Buffalo Of all the moments that capture Dolly Parton\u2019s musical talents, fierce intelligence and driving ambition, I often find myself thinking back to an awkward, ad-libbed live television duet on \u201cThe Porter Wagoner Show.\u201d The year was 1973. Parton had been performing alongside Wagoner on the syndicated variety show since […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":42978,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[293,5,279,7,276,10,40],"tags":[6251,961,17973,1180,365,7014,586,7269,885,891,886,860,15979,4523,3012,541,7297,10028],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42977"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/56"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42977"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42977\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42979,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42977\/revisions\/42979"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}