Olivia Rodrigo pushed back on criticism of her baby doll dress on Wednesday, saying the backlash says more about the people making it than about what she wore. Speaking on ’ Popcast, the 23-year-old said she should not be blamed for someone else sexualizing her in a way she never intended.
“You shouldn’t be responsible for some guy sexualizing you in a way that was never your intention,” Rodrigo said, addressing the reaction that followed her recent looks during promotion for her third LP, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So In Love. She said the response was especially strange because she has also worn revealing clothes on stage, including a sparkly bra and little shorts, without drawing the same judgment.
Rodrigo said the criticism centered on outfits she wore before Wednesday, including a pink flouncy dress for the album cover, a similar blue one for the “Drop Dead” music video and a floral babydoll dress with matching bloomers at Spotify’s Billions Club Live in Barcelona’s Teatro Greco. Those looks drew online complaints from commenters who accused her of sexualizing herself and promoting “pedo core,” prompting a sharp reply from the singer in remarks that followed earlier coverage of the backlash.
She said the contrast was what bothered her most. “What’s really disturbing is I feel like I have worn outfits that are revealing on stage,” she said. “I’ve been on stage in a sparkly bra, little shorts, which is my right.” Then, she said, “And that wasn’t ‘inappropriate,’ but me, fully covered up in a dress that people deem to be childlike was ‘inappropriate.’”
Rodrigo said that reaction, in her view, points to a deeper problem. “And it just shows how we really normalize pedophilia in our culture,” she said. She added that girls are taught from an early age, “Don’t wear that because then a man is going to sexualize your body and it’s your fault.”
She said she did not think she looked sexy in the dress. “This is so cool. I feel like I look like Kathleen Hanna or Courtney Love,” she said, describing the outfit as a punk reference rather than a provocative statement. Rodrigo has previously said she is inspired by artists such as Kat Bjelland and Love, who used baby doll dresses in performance to challenge expectations of women.
The dispute matters because Rodrigo is not just defending a fashion choice. She is drawing a line around how young women are judged for the clothes they wear, and she said she was speaking from a place of protection. “I just think if we start dressing in a way that’s like, ‘Oh, I don’t want some fucking freak to think that I am sexy like a baby,’ or some crazy thing like that… I just think it’s like losing the plot a little bit,” she said. “I’m just very protective of younger women and girls, and I just don’t ever want them to be fed that rhetoric.”
For Rodrigo, the issue appears settled: the dress was not the problem, and the instinct to police it is exactly what she wants younger fans to reject.
