Dolly Parton, 77, was shamed for her cheerleading outfit. Now her defenders are calling out ageism.

Here they come again. It's the age police, who regularly tell women what they are and are not allowed to wear at certain ages.

This time, the subject of their dismay is singer Dolly Parton, who dared to rock a re-creation of the famous uniform that the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders wear, as she performed during halftime at the team’s Thanksgiving game. The 77-year-old donned itty-bitty shorts and a low-cut royal blue shirt that bared her midriff over a sheer, sparkly bodysuit and tights. While she looked amazing, there’s been a lot of chatter about her ensemble in the days since.

The outfit and performance

“How do you like my outfit?” the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer and philanthropist teased the crowd at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, before launching into a set that featured fan favorites “Jolene” and “9 to 5,” as well as a couple of arena-friendly covers, “We Are the Champions” and “We Will Rock You,” both of which are from her latest album, Rockstar.

She swayed and walked up and down a stage placed on the field, as the team’s official cheerleaders trotted out to the theme song from Parton’s 1980 movie, 9 to 5, in which she starred with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. There's been speculation about the set, with the Dallas Morning News asking, “Did Dolly Parton’s stage malfunction at Cowboys halftime show?” Parton never stepped onto the star platform with a hole in it that was behind her, and her manager had hyped it as the largest production the team had ever done for a halftime show. But again, it was what she was wearing that drew the most attention.

The criticism — and Dolly's response

Although Parton is one of the most beloved figures in entertainment, her unexpected look generated some backlash. A sample of the negative comments on social media: “I loved her for decades and now I’m just so disgusted and disappointed with her”; “Dolly Parton should not be dressing like this”; and “Nobody wants to see a 95-year-old granny dressed like that even if you're worth $650 million.”

Well, they got one thing right: Parton’s staggering fortune, which she regularly uses to fund worthy causes, such as COVID-19 vaccine research. In fact, the game she performed at was the annual kickoff for the Salvation Army's iconic Red Kettle Campaign, and she modeled a traditional Salvation Army uniform and rang a bell in a prerecorded video shown just before she came out.

Vicki Larson, the author of the 2022 book Not Too Old for That: How Women Are Changing the Story of Aging, tells Yahoo Entertainment that many people just “don't want to see women past a certain age dress provocatively.”

"The idea of someone in her 70s dressing like a cheerleader, or women in their 60s like Madonna posting selfies on Instagram in barely-there lingerie, or women in their 60s and 70s displaying cleavage like on The Golden Bachelor means that they are still sexual beings, and many can’t wrap their heads around women displaying their sexuality,” Larson continues. “They want women past a certain age to ‘stay in their lane’ and look like their sweet grandmothers may have looked like. They often forget that either they themselves may (with luck) be that age one day and may embrace that part of themselves or their wife or romantic partner may want to embrace that part of themselves.”

Yahoo Entertainment contacted Parton for her response, although a number of others have already shared theirs...

The support

There's no shortage of celebrity love for Dolly.

Comedian Chelsea Handler posted a video in which she said, “Oh, hi! I was just dreaming about one day being half the woman Dolly Parton is, kicking ass onstage in front of millions of viewers at age 77, when I came across this bulls*** on the internet.” She then slammed a post that someone had shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, in which they said that a woman Parton’s age should be at home with their family.

“Listen up, you f***ing wingnut,” Handler said, “Dolly Parton is an American treasure. And the fact that she is on that stage at all is a gift to everyone who sees her. In fact, saying anything negative about Dolly Parton is anti-American, quite frankly. There are two people in this country that no one is allowed to talk s*** about, and their names are Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton.”

The former Chelsea Lately host then gave a quick overview of some of Parton’s good works, before saying she planned to be "proudly tits out well into my 90s,” adding, “We are only getting older and hotter, so f***ing deal with it!”

On The View, host Whoopi Goldberg brought up the subject during the show’s “Hot Topics” segment. “Seventy-seven-year-old superstar Dolly Parton stole the show on Thanksgiving at the Cowboys-Commanders game dressed as a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, but some critics told her to act her age,” she said. “Bite me!”

Goldberg added, “Everybody that participated in this, you should be ashamed of yourself.”

Model Christie Brinkley was moved to tell Dolly haters to “sit down”: “You should know you can’t define an icon like Dolly Parton by a number!”

Social media in general stood up for the “Hard Candy Christmas” singer.

The reason it matters

Deborah van den Hoonaard, a sociologist and professor at St. Thomas University in New Brunswick, Canada, tells Yahoo Canada there’s a traditional idea that “once a woman gets older, they should become invisible. They should just bow out and not be obvious.”

It's ageist, yes, but it’s commonly believed that women of Parton’s age “certainly shouldn’t be flamboyant.”

The reason for this comes down to peer pressure, fashion psychologist Dawnn Karen told PopSugar in March.

“If people are constantly inundated with messages that they have to look this way at a certain age, they’re going to gravitate toward that messaging when they reach a certain milestone,” said Karen, author of Dress Your Best Life.

Parton, who dressed like a Playboy Playmate in 2020, isn’t the only woman bucking the tradition of women disappearing beyond a certain age. They’re showing that you can be inspiring and fun at any age.

Pamela Anderson earned kudos in the fall when the 56-year-old Baywatch alum went sans makeup during Paris Fashion Week.

Actress Tracee Ellis Ross also went without cosmetics for a bikini photo.

In August, supermodel Cindy Crawford, 57, posed topless in a vacation photo that she shared with the world.

And Martha Stewart, the lifestyle guru and friend of Snoop Dogg, posed for the 2023 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue in May at the unprecedented age of 81.

Women such as Halle Berry, 56, also are speaking out about their age.

“Women are told that when we reach a certain number, we’re no longer valuable,” Berry told AARP in January 2022. “I believe the opposite. Society should look at us as jewels as we get older.”

We may have a ways to go on that front.

“Sadly,” Larson says, “society still has a huge problem with post-menopausal women. While most post-menopausal women are celebrating what anthropologist Margaret Mead called ‘post-menopausal zest,’ when many feel they have come into their power, too many still want to focus on youth and beauty. That’s a very narrow view of women, one that’s blatantly ageist, sexist and often ableist and racist. It is changing, slowly. Thankfully, a lot of post-menopausal women are doing their thing anyway, supporting other women, and fighting those narratives. I’m hopeful.”