To find this Dolly joke meme in bad taste?

[ITanya78]

I’ll just start by saying I do have a sense of humour so please don’t accuse me of not having one!

There’s a meme going round, mostly posted by men, of a coffin with moulded breast shapes on the lid referring to Dolly Parton’s passing.

I know she used to joke about it herself and may well have laughed at this but it feels a bit bad taste to me and a bit depressing in this day and age to see a late, great woman (or any woman!) reduced to just her breast size. Wish we could focus on her amazing character and all the good she did!

I think it's entirely possible to both appreciate her for the amazing woman she was and to make a joke about her appearance, after all, she manipulated and used her appearance, intentionally, to sell her records.

I think Dolly would have found that hilarious tbh.

She had a wicked sense of humour and I don't think a traditional, solemn affair where everyone was serious and just going on about what a good person she was would have done her justice at all. She loved a boob joke as much as the next person.

It's probably a crack she'd have made herself, given the opportunity.

True though her music was actually good- I don't think she could have become as successful as she did if it hadn't been.

Well, she had a private funeral, for all we know it could well have been a traditional, solemn affair. I would suspect it was.

She was an astute business woman and she very much used appearance as part of her marketing strategy.
But death isn't part of her business strategy. It is the death of her as a human being. And joking about her appearance in death is actually totally disgusting and disrespectful.

I don't understand people think it's acceptable to joke about other people's bodies. I wonder if all these people who think it's acceptable to joke about Dolly's body would feel if their own bodies were subjected to public ridicule?

It was sent to my husband in jest and he thought it was in poor taste. She was more than just her boobs!

I remember a joke she made herself about the size of her breasts when being interviewed by Des O'Connor. He remarked on what tiny feet she had and she replied "Nothin' grows in the shade, Des"

Very quick-witted and able to laugh at herself - so likeable

(edited to add - not sure about the coffin joke though....)

I think that many of the previous posters who say that Dolly would have been fine with this kind of crass 'joke' are missing one very pertinent point. Making jokes about one's own appearance is very different to having strangers on the internet doing the same thing. It's similar logic to people who refuse to understand why it is acceptable for black people to use the 'N-word' and not for white people to do so.
It is all a case of intent and context. I would hope that most people could see that there is a clear difference between a woman making, often witty and self-deprecating remarks about her own appearance and strangers on the internet, probably mostly men, ignoring her life and legacy and reducing her to two body parts in order to make a cheap and crass 'joke'. The latter example is offensive, degrading and misogynistic in the way the former is not.
It is certainly possible that Dolly may have laughed at this, I imagine she spent most of her life being forced to laugh at jokes at her own expense so as not to seem like an 'uptight bitch'. Even being rich, successful and respected wouldn't have meant she was entirely free of this sexist shit.

It is in bad taste, but that's why it's funny. It's a 2sec laugh. It doesn't stop her from having been an amazing and talented woman though. We all know she wasn't just her boobs. But her boobs were very much a part of her.

It’s pretty gross, she has a family, let her be.

She often made reference to her ample chest, and I think she'd have found this funny. As the tributes from the last few days show, she was loved and admired for many things alongside her physical attributes. So I think this one is OK.

It’s no different to any other meme about any other deceased celebrity/actor/singer etc. all of them can be seen as being in bad taste.

Yes: that and prurient speculation about her sex life. Even her self-deprecating humour only went so far and this was her line in the sand. She refused to be drawn.

Yet, the minute she was gone, some people started turning over the dirt. Her sexuality was her own business and she quite rightly defended herself to no one.

Edited to add the point that even those who want to keep their politics to themselves struggle in today's climate. You either have to wave visible symbols of adherence or you're seen as 'not one of us', or worse, not a 'safe' person by the standards of some groups who flock together. But I don't want to do that. First and foremost I simply want to be a person; one with every right to keep my own counsel. The world isn't queuing up to hear my opinion, and that's the way I want it.

I understand where she was coming from.

I feel a bit sad about this. Yes, she probably would have laughed but as others say it’s a bit reductive.
A truly amazing talent and a lovely person.

Not as bad as the Daily Hate posting the 911 call to Tim Curry's house online today.
Yuck.

But yes, you'd think we'd have gone past Dolly's breast jokes by now.

Dolly would have laughed her head off. That's why she was so refreshing in this politically correct, humourless world.

Part of her charm was that she could always laugh at herself. And I’m sure she would laugh at this.

Real bad taste was the ‘jokes’ flying about after Diana died - and this was before social media. 🤷‍♀️

There's no such thing as a joke after someone has died.
If someone had made a joke about my mum it would have just triggered my pain again, even now a year after her passing.
It doesn't matter whether they would have found it funny if they were still here. It's just a reminder that they are not here to have an opinion.

Whether or not she might have made a joke about her appearance, or even laughed about such an image herself, isn't the point. It's not particularly funny, and if anyone of my acquaintance circulated such an odd image, I would definitely judge them for doing so.

Most people I know have shared very different reactions to the news of her death, because they loved her/ her music/ her philanthropy/ her personality & outlook on life. This has nothing to do with any of that, and is a very strange & reductive (& seemingly sexist) way to speak of any woman after her death.

Probably because she was from a time when women were told to appease men and she would have been told she was no fun if she didn’t laugh along. It’s hard to shake that off when you’ve been brought up to be that way, even when it’s 2026 and things are apparently better.

Thank you, you have expressed the point far more eloquently than I did!

Well, yes, but if you feel like that, someone talking seriously and respectfully about your mum would have triggered you as well.

My world crashed when my DH died, but I’m quite happy to share and laugh, with others, about his funny little ways. He’d have loved it. 😊

I'm reminded of Scott Mitchell putting 'that' photograph on the back of Barbara Windsor's order of service, because she'd always joked that the scene of her bikini coming off in Carry on Camping would 'follow her to her grave'.

As Barbara's husband, Scott was best placed to judge what would have brought a smile to his late wife's face. It's harder to say whether that kind of risqué humour is inappropriate when it's an internet meme by randoms - probably for Dolly's loved ones to make that call rather than Mumsnetters.

I'm sorry for your loss.

It’s a meme. All memes are slightly offensive/on the edge. If you find this much much worse than any others, I suspect you’re probably a little sensitive on the topic.