Growing up amid Kansas wheat fields and airplane factories, Sarah Smarsh witnessed firsthand the particular vulnerabilities, and strengths, of women in working poverty. Meanwhile, country songs by female artists played in the background, telling powerful stories about life, men, hard times, and surviving. Smarsh writes, "country music was foremost a language among women. It's how we talked to each other in a place where feelings aren't discussed." And no one provided that language better than Dolly Parton. Here, Smarsh explores the overlooked contributions to social progress by such women, including those averse to the term 'feminism,' as exemplified by Dolly Parton's life and art.