Dolly’s got it covered
Dolly
The goddess that is Dolly Parton wants to be a Playboy cover girl again to mark her 75th birthday.
Forty-three years after she last posed for the saucy mag, the country legend thinks it would be a “hoot” to give it another go.
She may even dust down the same bunny girl costume (she’s never posed nude).
Dolly’s refusal to pull on a cardie and shuffle into retirement is inspiration to us all.
Playboy is struggling for relevance in a MeToo world. How ironic that a septuagenarian woman who keeps her clothes on could yet be its saviour.
It has happened in a relatively short space of time and has been brought about, in no small way, by the amazing capacity of social media to unite individuals, parents and families, allowing them to share experiences among themselves and with others who might have no knowledge at all about the condition.
What a incredible destigmatising effect that has had. What a beautiful thing social media can be when used in the right way.
The Facebook video of five-year-old Chloe Lennon, from Irvine, urging everyone to wear odd socks to mark World Down Syndrome Day on March 21 went viral and has earned the little beauty a modelling career.
Tommy and Maryanne Pilling, from Essex, are about to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary, which is believed to make them the longest-married couple with Down’s.
Actor Liam Bairstow has been a huge success playing Alex in
In fact, theoretically, even a 40-week pregnancy could be terminated – that’s full term. Now every mother wants the very best for their child, in health and opportunity. That’s natural. No one can, or should, tell a woman what to do with her body and she has the absolute right to make her own decisions, within acceptable legal constraints. But what message are women given when Down’s is treated as such a tragedy it merits special dispensation to late termination?
Pre-natal testing has substantially reduced the number of babies born with Down’s. In Iceland, it has effectively wiped them out. I’d suggest their society is all the poorer for that.
None of us are perfect, lots of us face challenges dealing with everyday life, some of us will always need support. But most of us were lucky enough that our “imperfections” were not detectable in utero so we get to show the wonderful ways we can contribute.
And few have the ability to make every single person we meet fall in love with us. Wear your odd socks with pride on World
Down Syndrome Day.