In her songwriting, movie roles, and stage persona, Parton’s exaltation of the strengths of this frequently vilified class of American woman is at once the greatest self-aware gender performance in modern history and a sincere expression of who Parton is. She stands for the poor woman, the working-class woman whose feminine sexuality is often an essential device for survival and yet whose tough presence might be considered “masculine” in corners of society where women haven’t always worked, where the archaic concept of a “lady” lingers. They are single mothers in need of welfare and abortions,
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