In the last month, the world has lost two iconic female figures. On August 25th, female music legend Dolly Parton passed away at the age of 80. She was not only a beloved country singer, but she was also admired for her philanthropy. Gloria Steinem passed away shortly after Dolly on September 2nd at the age of 92. She was best known for her feminist efforts in the United States during the late 19th century. While these two women may seem to have existed in different spheres, they came together to advance women’s rights. Both women helped shape the world we live in today, and the loss of their presence is felt across the globe.
Named the “Queen of Country,” most people know Dolly Parton as the most successful country musician, but her philanthropy through Dollywood and the Dollywood Foundation created a bigger impact and legacy. The Dollywood Foundation was created in 1988 with the intention of decreasing the dropout rate of Dolly’s local high school. With this goal, she created the Buddy Program, where Dolly promised to reward every 7th and 8th grader 500 dollars if they graduated high school. This simple but effective tactic decreased the high school dropout rate from 35% to 6%. This success resulted in Dolly’s community spending more time and resources on keeping the dropout rate as low as possible.
The Buddy Program was the first of many contributions Dolly made to her community and other communities. In 1995, Dolly started Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. This monthly book-gifting program for children under the age of 5 started as a local program but created an international movement. This movement focused on increasing the literacy rate at a young age and inspiring a love of books. So far, over 330 million books have been gifted worldwide, and one in seven US children have received a book from Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. So, while everyone knows Dolly for her country music fame, her real impact was helping to build a more educated community.
Working for New York magazine, Gloria Steinem worked hard to beat sexist stereotypes, becoming an editorial and political writer in 1968. With this platform, she spoke out about a personal story of having an abortion and why it should be legalized; this sparked her engagement with the feminist movement. Gloria, along with other women, began to speak out about how the Ladies Home Journal failed to cover the women’s rights movement and instead only focused on housekeeping. As a result, in 1972, Gloria co-founded the Ms. Magazine to cover the women’s movement.
The Ms. Magazine is where Dolly Parton and Gloria Steinem’s paths crossed. In 1987, Gloria wrote an article featuring Dolly as the woman of the year. In her piece, Gloria helped bridge the gap between traditional feminism and Dolly’s brand of southern womanhood. Together, they helped develop a new definition of feminism. Dolly and Gloria’s efforts will continue to impact millions after their passing, and they will not be forgotten.
