Oh, I'm totally fine with her acting sexy if she wants to! God knows there are few things more attractive than Joanna Newsom's bodily incarnation (and that's coming from a gay guy). I'm only concerned because of how it affects interpretations of her records - most of the men I know that liked Have One On Me have mentioned more than a few times how 'hot' she is. Does her attempts at being a sex symbol detract from her music, do you think?
I agree that Dolly Parton is an extremely talented and influential musician that has allowed herself to be sexualised to quite extensively, but she's hardly a good role model, and I do think her image detracts from her music quite a bit. Dolly's hardly a feminist, though, and there are plenty of feminist interpretations of Joanna Newsom's music that can be made.