Dolly Parton Wrote This 1968 B-Side Challenging Societal Expectations After “Breaking Her Husband’s Heart”

Dolly Parton has built her entire career on challenging female stereotypes and expectations, one sequinned quip of wisdom at a time. So, it should come as no surprise that the Patron Saint of Appalachia has committed herself to this endeavor both on and off-stage. That includes back in the 1960s, when doing so could have jeopardized her chances with her late husband, Carl Dean.

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During a 2003 interview with Rolling Stone, Parton revealed that she based the title track off her second album, Just Because I’m A Woman, on a real-life argument with her husband. She and Dean had been married for less than a year, she explained, when he finally asked her if she had had sex with anyone else. Parton had, but the issue never came up while they were courting, so she never bothered mentioning it.

Parton said that one minute, they were “happy as we could be.” Then, “all of a sudden, he decides to ask. I told him the truth, and it broke his heart. He could not get over that for the longest time. I thought, ‘Well, goodness. What’s the big damn deal?’”

Dolly Parton Wrote Her Response in “Just Because I’m A Woman”

Dolly Parton didn’t clarify in the interview whether Carl Deal had been with anyone else intimately prior to their marriage. But regardless, the anecdote is an all-too-familiar situation for most women. Societal expectations dictate that a sexually promiscuous woman is less valuable than a virgin. Meanwhile, sexually promiscuous men are respected. It’s an age-old double standard that no one should be beholden to, least of all between two people who are discussing their lives pre-marriage.

Parton’s B-side track from 1968, “Just Because I’m A Woman”, lays out the singer-songwriter’s response to her husband. (Though most women can relate to it just the same.) “I can see you’re disappointed by the way you look at me / And I’m sorry that I’m not the woman you thought I’d be / Yes, I’ve made mistakes, but listen and understand / My mistakes are no worse than yours just because I’m a woman.”

For whatever it’s worth, Dean eventually got over it. Moreover, he was later regretful that he had ever held his wife’s past sexual life over her head. “My husband doesn’t particularly like for me to tell this,” she told Rolling Stone preemptively. “But he’s old enough now, so he don’t really give a big s***.”

When you’re married to a woman who’s that much of a straight shooter, we’d imagine you can’t help but realize how pointless some of those stereotypical man vs. wife arguments can really be.

Photo by Gems/Redferns