A conservative news outlet has made an argument that fellow right-wingers should cancel their vacations to Disney theme parks like Disneyland and Disney World in favor of visiting country music legend Dolly Parton’s Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. A writer for the conservative website wrote a column extolling the virtues of Dollywood while insisting that Disney sowed “sexual chaos” that was responsible for “destroying human happiness,” which is a bit ironic considering who the founder of Dollywood is.
Right Wingers Abandoning Disney For Dollywood
A writer for right-wing news outlet The Federalist recently published an article arguing for families with conservative values to cancel their upcoming vacations at Disney properties and instead check out the quaint charms of Dollywood. This push comes amid backlash after the company expressed concern about a new Florida bill that has been called the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by detractors.
The bill’s supporters claim that the bill will keep young school children from learning about inappropriate material, particularly material that covers sexuality or gender identity. The bill’s detractors insist that the bill is just a thinly veiled attempt to suppress topics that pertain to LGBTQ identities.
Joy Pullman’s Complaints On ‘Sexual Chaos’
With that in mind, Joy Pullman, an executive editor for The Federalist wrote of her recent trip to Tennessee where she was visiting family with her six kids aged 22 months old to 11 years old. Pullman admitted that she had never been to either Walt Disney World in Florida or Disneyland in California, adding that the two theme parks have “long been on our ‘over my dead body’ list.”
Pullman had quite a lot to say about Disney as a corporation, including what she called its efforts to “undermine sexual wholeness,” and its “recently revealed support for destroying human happiness through sexual chaos.”
Beyond the sexual wholeness versus chaos nexus, Pullman also had issues with content produced by Disney, writing, “I don’t want my kids taught to be whiny brats whose biggest lesson to learn is that all authority figures are dumb or evil. That’s a main message of almost every major Disney property, and it’s very bad for kids.”
In contrast, Pullman writes, Dollywood is a paragon of family values and is refreshingly un-branded. Another difference Pullman noted was the absence of in-your-face marketing unlike Disney, which “appears to be a dollar-obsessed cult that tries to monetize every flash of your eyeballs.” Pullman added that this “weaponizes family life as well as cedes parental prerogatives to strangers.”
Refreshingly Free Of Marketing
Dollywood had none of those parental traps, Pullman continued, and was wonderfully lacking in backstory-laden characters or “ear-shriveling pop tunes autotuned by embarrassingly sexualized tweens,” and, perhaps best of all, “no morally bankrupt but doe-eyed heroines trying to steal my daughters’ souls.” Instead, Pullman wrote, she just found “good, clean fun.” Maybe other families will find the same.
Regardless, it’s a bit ironic that Pullman wrote about the wholesomeness of Dollywood and specifically mentioned Disney’s criticisms of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Dolly Parton, our favorite country music legend and yours, has long been an icon in the LGBTQ community for the support and love she’s sent to it over her decades-long career. Many on social media called out this apparent logical disconnect, but Pullman was quick to dismiss the criticism.
Dolly Parton’s Record On LGBTQ Community
It should be noted that Parton is more than just “nice” to the LGBTQ community. In fact, Parton said in a 2014 Billboard interview about Dollywood and its Christian reputation, “[Dollywood is] a place for entertainment, a place for all families, period. It’s for all that. But as far as the Christians, if people want to pass judgment, they’re already sinning. The sin of judging is just as bad as any other sin they might say somebody else is committing. I try to love everybody.”
Pullman is standing behind her views, but at least she’s giving one of the best there ever was or will be a shout-out. Dolly Parton has continued to be an icon for all people and has backed up that status with her actions, whether that’s through her activism for the LGBT community or investing her royalties from the hit Whitney Houston ballad “I Will Always Love You” in support of the Black community.
Parton is the perfect example of what can be achieved through kindness, understanding, and open-mindedness. Perhaps Pullman would do well to learn a lesson or two from the “Jolene” songstress.
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