"My weaknesses have always been food and men - in that order"
About this Quote
Dolly Parton slips a whole survival strategy into a punchline. “My weaknesses have always been food and men - in that order” sounds like a flirt, but it’s really a boundary with rhinestones on it. She frames “weakness” as appetite, then immediately ranks it: pleasure first, romance second. The joke lands because it flips the expected hierarchy. In country-pop mythology, women are supposed to be undone by love; Parton lets desire in, then refuses to let it run the show.
The line also performs the Parton persona: self-deprecating without surrendering power. Food is safe indulgence, a humanizing vice that reads cozy, domestic, nonthreatening. Men are the more culturally loaded temptation, the one that invites judgment. By putting them second, she preempts the moral audit. She’s telling you she enjoys men, but she’s not defined by them, and she’s certainly not pleading for their approval.
Context matters: Parton built a career in an industry that rewarded sweetness and punished women who looked too ambitious. Humor became her camouflage and her weapon. The “in that order” is the dagger, delivered with a smile. It asserts autonomy while sounding like small talk, a classic Parton move: disarm the room, then quietly take control of the terms.
The line also performs the Parton persona: self-deprecating without surrendering power. Food is safe indulgence, a humanizing vice that reads cozy, domestic, nonthreatening. Men are the more culturally loaded temptation, the one that invites judgment. By putting them second, she preempts the moral audit. She’s telling you she enjoys men, but she’s not defined by them, and she’s certainly not pleading for their approval.
Context matters: Parton built a career in an industry that rewarded sweetness and punished women who looked too ambitious. Humor became her camouflage and her weapon. The “in that order” is the dagger, delivered with a smile. It asserts autonomy while sounding like small talk, a classic Parton move: disarm the room, then quietly take control of the terms.
Quote Details
| Topic | Witty One-Liners |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Parton, Dolly. (2026, January 17). My weaknesses have always been food and men - in that order. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-weaknesses-have-always-been-food-and-men-in-30824/
Chicago Style
Parton, Dolly. "My weaknesses have always been food and men - in that order." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-weaknesses-have-always-been-food-and-men-in-30824/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"My weaknesses have always been food and men - in that order." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-weaknesses-have-always-been-food-and-men-in-30824/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
More Quotes by Dolly
Add to List
