Dear Patron,
This week I had planned to merely share photographs of Carson and his great ass, but I wanted to take a minute to mention a great loss we are all enduring: the loss of Dolly Parton.
Like everyone, I’ve always been aware of Dolly. It’s impossible not to be aware of such a transcendent human. But I think I truly discovered her in my early 20s when a friend of mine was telling me about a paper she was writing on the queerness of Dolly Parton’s music. “Jolene is a story about a woman obsessed with another woman. There is no description of her man; his existence is all that’s noted.” Made curious about this conversation, I was led down the rabbit hole, discovering her music and films.
I think about my friend’s interpretation of Jolene a lot. It’s not that I think Dolly Parton was gay, far from it, but the clear-eyed and confident expression of a kind of lesbian-esque obsession is what makes her so important, especially in light of the current rise of religious conservatism in American culture. Just last week I saw a video of a woman saying “young girls shouldn’t hold hands” because it opens the gateway for indecent thoughts (wtf?). She was honest and thoughtful, unafraid of things other people might see as negative or problematic. But I don’t need to tell you, I’m sure, why Dolly Parton was a meaningful figure.
I’ve always been grateful for the way she crafted her life and narrative, and for the dignity and respect she had for herself and others. She had an unapologetic confidence and self-image, often declaring that she modeled her look after “the prettiest woman she ever saw,” the town tramp who everyone called “trash.”
Dolly seemed to never be afraid of pejorative labels – “if she’s trash that’s what I’m going to be” she has said over and over again. Growing up at a time when the most over-used pejorative label was “that’s so gay,” the message that things most people perceive as negative can be beautiful was essential to my personal psyche.
I remember so clearly when Elie Wiesel passed in 2016, and thinking, for some unknown reason, that his death could be a historical turning point. Only later to be proven right in November. This loss, too, feels so personal. We’ve lost someone whose absence will echo across time.
We still have her music, her movies, and her work, but to me it was her person that shone brightest – the simple act of her transcendent existence.
Hard to share somewhat unrelated photographs but here we are... Please enjoy Carson and his sexy butt.
Have a great week !
X
Matthew