Dolly Parton would consider herself a feminist

Asked about her stance during an interview with Time editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal for ‘TIME100 Talks: Finding Hope’, she said: “Well, that’s really kind of a tricky question.

“I suppose I am a feminist if I believe that women should be able to do anything they want to. And when I say a feminist, I just mean I don’t have to, for myself, get out and carry signs … I just really feel I can live my femininity and actually show that you can be a woman and you can still do whatever you want to do.

“But I’m all for all our gals. I think everybody has the right to be who they are.”

The ‘9 to 5’ hitmaker’s comments come after she said in February 2019 that she wouldn’t label herself as a feminist because she doesn't feel the need to "march, hold up a sign or label myself" to prove she supports other girls.

She said at the time: "I don't think ... I mean I must be if being a feminist means I'm all for women, yes. But I don't feel I have to march, hold up a sign or label myself.

"I think the way I have conducted my life and business and myself speaks for itself. I don't think of it as being a feminist. It's not a label I have to put on myself. I'm just all for girls.”

Meanwhile, Dolly said she usually shies away from being vocal about politics, and although she famously joined Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin onstage at the Emmys in 2017 where the actresses publicly condemned US president Donald Trump, she did not take part in the protest.

She said: "I want to be my own individual self. If I've got something to say, I'll say it, but I don't want to be dragged into it. It was not a surprise, knowing Lily and Jane. I just did not want everybody to think that whatever they think is what I think. I don't really like getting up on TV and saying political things. I don't even want to make a deal out of it, but I want people to know I'm my own individual self."