Dolly Parton: Just because I’m blonde, don’t think I’m dumb
Dolly Parton is throwing it back to one of her favourite songs. It was released nearly 60 years ago, but still holds a deep meaning.
The 'Queen of Country' Dolly Parton is taking us down memory lane with one of her iconic songs, 'Dumb Blonde'.
The 79-year-old debuted the song in 1966, and the track quickly became an anthem for blonde women worldwide who faced judgement just because of the colour of their hair.
While blondes allegedly have more fun, they have often been described as dumb and scatterbrained. The stereotype was reportedly given life in the 1775 play, 'Les Curiosités de la Foire'.
A character in the play was inspired by French courtesan Rosalie Duthé. She allegedly took long pauses before speaking, leading some to believe that she was a bit slow, a dumb blonde.
Parton, who is a platinum blonde, was often the target of "dumb blonde" jokes in her early days as a singer – a stereotype that followed her well into her career.
However, instead of feeling sorry for herself, she confronted the stereotype head-on when she released her debut studio album, 'Hello, I'm Dolly'.
"When you left you thought I'd sit / And you thought I'd wait / And you thought I'd cry / You called me a dumb blonde / Ah, but somehow I lived through it / And you know if there's one thing this blonde has learned / Blondes have more fun," she sings in 'Dumb Blonde'.
She leaned into the clichés about blondes by embracing big hair, wearing sequined outfits with rhinestones and getting 40DD breast implants.
"I just decided that I would do something that would at least get the attention. Once they got past the shock of the ridiculous way I looked and all that then they would see there was parts of me to be appreciated. I’m very real where it counts, and that’s inside," she said in a 1977 interview with Barbara Walters.
Nearly 60 years after her song debut, women with golden locks still face "dumb blonde" and "blonde bombshell" stereotypes.
But Parton is here to remind the world that looks can be deceiving – in a good way!
She shared an old clip of herself singing 'Dumb Blonde' on Instagram this week. The 'Jolene' hitmaker captioned the video with famous lyrics from the song.
"Just because I’m blonde, don’t think I’m dumb / ‘Cause this dumb blonde ain’t nobody’s fool."
Hear, hear to that!
ALSO READ: Dolly Parton's longtime husband dies aged 82
Listen to the full song below.
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Main image credit: Instagram/@dollyparton