Within the past few weeks, the world was struck by the loss of two pillars of female empowerment: Dolly Parton and Gloria Steinem.
Two different but important figures who shaped women’s futures and taught us how to live fully.
Dolly Parton was more than a country music legend. To be honest, her success as a musician is the icing on the cake of the life she led and the people she inspired along the way. Especially in her later years, she reminded women how to find themselves, live creatively, and live fully, no matter their age. One of her most famous pieces of advice was to find out who you are and live it on purpose.
Dolly’s music was ahead of its time. In 1973, “Jolene” gave women a voice for vulnerability and losing those we love. In 1974, after writing “I Will Always Love You,” she famously turned down Elvis’s request to record and release the song. The power it took to say “no” during that period in society for women, to the King of Rock & Roll, was no small feat. “9 to 5” in 1980, a cult classic, highlighted the frustrations women faced in the workplace. Dolly wrote songs to share the stories others couldn’t.
She had a heart of gold, and her philanthropic initiatives, big or small, showed the world what someone with her stature could do to truly make a difference. Dolly was also an inspiration to many up-and-coming female artists, paving their way in the industry. Everyone’s world was impacted by Dolly Parton, the truest definition of an American icon. As she once put it:
“You know, I look like a woman, but I think like a man. And in this world of business, that has helped me a lot. Because by the time they think that I don’t know what’s goin’ on, I then got the money, and am gone.” – Dolly Parton
The world also recently lost another trailblazer: Gloria Steinem. When you look up “trailblazer for women’s rights” in the dictionary, she pops up. She was a journalist who launched Ms. Magazine, a space ahead of its time for women to discuss the real issues they faced; a political activist; and, most famously, a leader of the movement that revolutionized the professional lives of women across the country.
She campaigned for equal rights and equal pay. She changed the way women could see their future, showing them a path that includes both a professional life and motherhood. She risked her own career to carve an easier path for women in society. Rather than women adapting to the world in front of them, Gloria fought for the opposite: to reshape the world to fit women.
“Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It’s about making life more fair for women everywhere. It’s not about a piece of the existing pie; there are too many of us for that. It’s about baking a new pie.” – Gloria Steinem
This is just scratching the surface of the legacy these two pioneers of women’s history leave on the lives they touched. We have the privilege to say we lived in a world at the same time as Dolly and Gloria. Two diamonds in a rhinestone world.
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