Of the many glorious clips of Dolly Parton rushing around the internet this week, one that has been catching my attention in various forms is her response to the question of why she didn't have children of her own. Invariably, in her ever-charming responses to such personal inquiry, she always hits the same notes: I tried, I couldn’t, and so I am a mother to everyone.

There is so much I could say about Dolly, much of which is obvious and unanimous. What I hadn’t dwelt on much before was her maternal femininity — other aspects of her femininity being, of course, quite self-evident.

Watching her age and continue to embody that stable, familiar character of love, wit, and charm, but also strength in gentleness, it occurs to me that she is the perfect mother. In the same way that Maria Von Trapp is the perfect mother - a mother one step removed, without the physical, hormonal and psychological implications of having given birth or the tired, nerve-worn years of sleep deprivation.

In the well-established trope of the wicked stepmother, the avoidance of these sacrifices is evidence of selfishness, but I hadn’t really noticed (or named) before its contrary: the Infallible Mother; The mother who, unable to sacrifice in a literal bodily sense, is alchemically transformed into goodness and love, a mother whose capacity is seemingly boundless, almost holy. Miss Honey, Maria, Dolly…It’s a more recurrent archetype than I realised, and such a crucial one. A mother to all, The Dollai Mama. And with all the incredible things she did with her money and her tireless, skilful redirection of animosity, forever converting shit questions into golden answers, she was the best possible embodiment of this archetype.

Here again is my cover of Do I Ever Cross Your Mind (posted once before):