The singer Olivia Rodrigo is directly challenging the backlash against her costumes by pointing out that the public’s attitude towards her babydoll dresses highlights double standards regarding the way society views the sexuality of young women.
On Popcast, Rodrigo pointed out that the dresses, despite covering more of her body, received disproportionate criticism compared to more revealing outfits, which seemed to escape scrutiny altogether.
“What’s really, like, disturbing is I feel like I have worn outfits that are revealing on stage,” Rodrigo mentioned. “Like I’ve been on stage in a sparkly bra, little shorts, which is my right. That’s fun. I felt cool and comfortable in that.”
However, she noted the differences between those outfits and the ones the audience deemed improper. “And like that wasn’t ‘inappropriate’ but me, fully covered up in a dress that people deem to be, like, childlike, was inappropriate,” she said. “And I just think it just like shows how we really normalize pedophilia in our culture.”
In this case, Rodrigo connects the backlash against her outfit choices with the pressure girls often face growing up because of the way society perceives the relationship between their sexuality and men’s perception of them.
“And also it’s just this rhetoric that we’re fed as girls since we’re so little, which is like, ‘Don’t wear that because then a man is going to sexualize your body and it’s your fault,'” she said. “Like it’s so weird.”
The Grammy Award winner insisted that the outfits were chosen for different reasons in this case: they represented her inspirations, such as Kathleen Hanna and Courtney Love.
