I love Dolly Parton

There, I’ve said it. Probably not the best title for a post, but I’m sure it is at the root of why I am wound up about this, the attempt by an opposition councillor to attack Rotherham council for promoting a new literacy scheme.

Apologies for stating the bleedin’ obvious, but I’d have thought it was a great idea for kids to get a free library of books, and at an early age. Also, it’s a pretty good idea to publicise it, and by getting an international star to come to the Magna centre is about as much publicity as you can get in Rotherham. Even Look Leeds (sorry, North) have ventured south of the M62.

But what’s even more ridiculous about Councillor Mannion’s comments is his implication that Councillors are letting the town down by delaying a council meeting by one hour. Because of course the best way for councillors to improve the town is to spend as much time as is possible sitting in the town hall. I’m sure there is proof of that in election results across the country.

However what really irritates me about this story is the snobbery. It’s not the fact that councillors might miss something because they are off meeting a celebrity. It’s that they are meeting a country music star. For goodness sake she is blond and 5ft 2, how could she be worth meeting. The leader must of course be an idiot if he likes her.

Councillor Mannion is missing the really great thing about Dolly Parton – she combats every type of snobbery. From helping beat literacy problems, which after all is one of the most serious types of social exclusion there is, to not giving a damn what people think of how she dresses, Dolly Parton is a prime example of how idiotic and pervasive snobbery is. She tells a story about when she was young seeing a woman (who she was told was a lady of ill-repute) and loving the way she dressed. Dolly didn’t care what people thought, she thought she looked great and wanted to grow up to look like that.

 

The really worrying thing is that snobbery, whether it’s cultural, aspiration or educational (also at this time of year, just being snotty about other people’s Christmas lights) is that it is one of the means of excluding people which is hardest to combat, and needs to be spoken up against. Even by Dumb Blondes.

 

What’s not to like about Dolly Parton for this? Congratulations to Councillor Stone for liking Dolly Parton, and taking a lead in improving literacy in Rotherham, even if it does mean leaving the town hall now and again.