Olivia Rodrigo is the latest guest on The New York Times Popcast hosted by music critics Jon Caramanica and Jon Pareles. The full interview premieres today, but the podcast has published a preview on its social networks in which Olivia responds to the criticism she received for the babydoll dress that she has usually worn at some of her concerts.
Rodrigo is “upset” with the criticism and believes that it responds to the cultural normalization of pedophilia. “It makes me very angry, it’s really disturbing. I have worn revealing outfits on stage, which is my right. That babydoll dress, in which I was completely covered, was not inappropriate. People considered it childish and that shows how we normalize pedophilia in our culture. It is the discourse with which we grow up as girls: that they tell us “don’t wear this or a man will sexualize your body and it will be your fault,” she says.
Olivia clarifies, if necessary, that she did not feel “sexy” at all wearing that dress, unlike other concerts in which she has used more “revealing” outfits. She indicates that, in fact, she thought it was a “very nice” outfit, which reminded her of certain looks that her idols Kathleen Hanna and Courtney Love have worn in the past.
“I am very protective of young women and girls. You should not be responsible for a man sexualizing you in a way that was never your intention,” she clarifies.
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