Quote:
Originally Posted by michelej1
It's fine to do what works for you, but just don't expect other people to do that same thing or counsel them to do it, judge when they don't, or make assumptions that they will/should. Dolly Parton was not advising other women to play the dumb blond role.
There are as many ways to be a woman as there are women.
Michele
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When has Stevie ever tried to turn the next generation of artists into little mini-me's? Just because she has a very strong ideal of who & what she is doesn't mean she's ever tried to repaint the world in her image. Being proud & comfortable in one's own skin does not equate to looking down your nose at anyone who's different. Let's look at this from a different perspective. We've considered the Stevie of the late 70's & early 80's that although she wasn't always taken seriously she was one of the most famous and successful women in the music industry. As such she garnered a fair degree of imitators and at the very least respect was given lip service. Since 1997 she has been heralded as some kind of Earth Mother, living legend that has and continues to inspire multiple generations of women artist. We have not, however, considered the Stevie of the late 80's and early 90's. She was out of step with the mainstream. She couldn't pay for airtime. On good days, she was seen as a quaint reminder of happy memories of another time. On bad days, she was the butt of jokes. Through it all she remained unapologetically and unsuccessfully feminine. I realize that Stevie was not at her best at this time. She was struggling with a prescription drug problem and battling her weight. Had drugs not been an issue, I have no doubt that the music she might have created during this time would have been more dynamic. I also have no doubt that it still would have been out of touch with the mainstream because Stevie still would have been Stevie. Moreover, flighty though she may at times seem, I don't believe Stevie is a dumb blonde any more than Dolly Parton is a dumb blonde. I believe she is intelligent enough to recognize that had all of the ensuing female artists been cut out of the same cloth as Stevie herself, then she would have lost a certain individuality that has made her stand out all these years. No doubt Stevie prefers that women maintain their femininity. That's a personal preference...we all have those. That doesn't mean Stevie's saying that the female artist has to be feminine to be successful. IMO she's saying a woman should be able to be their own the creation, not the creation of a bunch of spin artists trying to get rich and use of this year's flavor before moving on to the next crop. It's got to hurt seeing talented young artists being reduced to kleenex. Snatch one of them up; use them; cast them aside; start again...over and over and over again.