Fricke also seems to consider Dolly's self-awareness and sense of humor about herself to be important elements of her persona that immunize her from criticism for being "superficial" or "fake" or for adhering to an image of femininity created by males. In that regard, the standard opening line she uses for her concerts to thank her fans for paying to see her is "It takes a lot of money to look this cheap." If Dolly Parton maintained her career by emulating the "busty blond with a golden heart" Madonna achieved success through many "reinventions and possibilities" of her Madonna persona. In doing so, the one constant seems to have been that she always had a "desire to push the boundaries" during her career. The author recounts memories of her sister trying to dress in the "Material Girl 80's-era, can-can, dancer/street urchin togs" that Madonna popularized in her heyday. According to Fricke, Madonna transformed herself continually almost like a chameleon. Whereas part of Parton's charm has always been her sense of humor about herself, "for Madonna, the medium-or, in her case, the image-is the message."

Fricke references the 1994 book "Outlaw Culture: Resisting Representations, by feminist theorist Bell Hooks, that "took Madonna to task" in that regard. Whereas Parton has always successfully bridged the culture gap separating her various audiences, Madonna's vogueing originally became popular...

The author does acknowledge that that Madonna has overcome some of these disappointments. Whereas Parton must succeed as the character she has always represented, Madonna has had the freedom and safety of being able to simply morphs into yet another character, such as Evita Peron. Like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon, Madonna transformed her revolutionary figure, eventually emerging as a single mother and wife of Gary Richie. In her most recent metamorphosis, Madonna became a children's book writer pretending to blend in with British high society, complete with accent. According to Fricke, Madonna's message delivered with each transformation has always been "I'm not going to apologize for who I am. You don't have to like it if you don't want to. I feel like that's something girls need to hear." Whereas Parton has always been loved by the press, Madonna has had to continually "stay ahead of the press."
Ultimately, Fricke leaves no doubt that she admires both artists although for different reasons. She considers both to be special talents who are icons of the 20th century by virtue of their proven success, longevity, continued ability to release popular new albums, capture new audiences and maintain their original fan base. They just do in different styles.