The deaths of Gloria Steinem and Dolly Parton within eight days of each other prompted widespread reflection on their contrasting legacies in advancing women’s rights. Steinem, an overtly political activist who founded Ms. Magazine and conducted undercover reporting, dedicated her career to articulating feminist ideology and encouraging women to support one another. Parton, by contrast, rejected the feminist label while using her music and business acumen to highlight women’s struggles and advocate for equality through storytelling and humor.
Steinem publicly recognized Parton as embodying feminist principles, writing in 1987 that Parton exemplified feminism by discovering her unique power and helping other women do the same. In that essay, Steinem praised Parton not merely as a performer but as a shrewd businessperson who converted femininity into a source of authority and employed her success to assist working women and disadvantaged communities. However, Parton did not publicly embrace this characterization, deliberately avoiding political associations and the feminist label throughout her career. She explained in a 2019 podcast interview that she refused to engage in politics and preferred not to alienate fans across the political spectrum, viewing the term “feminist” as associated with extremism.
Parton’s work nonetheless addressed substantive issues affecting women, including songs about teenage pregnancy, abortion, and adoption, as well as her advocacy for equal pay. She authored “Just Because I’m a Woman” and starred in and performed “9 to 5,” both works exploring women’s experiences in a male-dominated society. Yet she eschewed terminology such as “oppression” or “patriarchy” and declined to endorse political candidates, distinguishing her approach from Steinem’s more explicit activism.
The contrast between their legacies reflects broader fragmentation within feminism over contentious policy questions and partisan divisions. Steinem witnessed major setbacks to causes she championed, including the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade and the failure to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. Contemporary debates surrounding abortion rights and political affiliation have complicated questions about what feminism means and whether individuals holding certain political views can claim the label. Both women ultimately emphasized that women’s autonomy and self-determination constituted the core principle, though they expressed this ideal through markedly different public personas and strategies.
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