Dolly Parton Part II

In the 1960s, Dolly had a regular slot on Porter Wagoner’s TV show as “Miss Dolly”, and this added to her growing success as an artiste. However, while she and Porter worked well together, she had always envisaged a solo career and did not want to be seen as his support act. They duetted together and were very popular. Dolly’s “sexy” image was a little unusual for country singers at the time and she was outspoken about how sex and sexiness were important to her. She often mentioned in interviews, how as a kid she had wanted to be like the local “bad woman”, because she thought that wearing make up and flashy clothes were beautiful, not tawdry or shocking.
 One of her early hits was a song called “Dumb Blonde” - and many people thought of her as being  “a dumb and pretty sexpot” –as per the image. She dressed gaudily, wore wigs and had a glitzy look which emphasized her sexuality.
But Dolly was no dumb blonde. She wasn’t highly educated, having only just finished high school. But she was intelligent and shrewd and very hard working. She loved country music but she was determined to be successful, in terms of making money as well. She showed that a woman artiste can be both a creative song writer and a smart businesswoman who could handle her finances well. And have a sexy image as well. In spite of her over the top look, curvaceous figure and flirty manner, I’ve always found that women seem to like and admire Dolly, even women who aren’t particularly into her music. She comes across as warm, lively and funny and as she’s grown older, it is very clear that she is indeed shrewd, clever and a real businesswoman.