Diet Prada and Cosmopolitan magazine question if the discourse around Olivia Rodrigo’s baby doll dresses is really about policing women rather than protecting women from exploitation
l’ve been noticing lately on social media a hate train on Olivia and I will not be participating.
Ok-Grape-9274 on
I feel like the only one who thinks the babydoll dress is cute on her
probnotaloser on
Ok so theyre just being purposely obtuse and acting like the babydoll dress is the issue when it is NOT, it’s the fucking ruffled bloomers.
Global_Crew3968 on
I love that the MV was on film (or looked like it). I loved the location and the song. I hated the voyuristic POV and child-like bloomers. Women can own the baby-like vibe and make art however they want, but as a 30 year old woman, that POV is not for me.
cwningen95 on
You don’t like her babydoll dresses because something something what can we blame women for this time. I don’t like her babydoll dresses because I think they look dumb. We are not the same.
ElleMaeSinclair on
They keep saying “it’s pedo bait” but like… she’s literally an adult? Are we also going to bitch at Courtney Love for doing it in the 90s too? Idk. I feel like there’s a puritanical element to the complaints about the babydoll dresses and pastel colors. You can’t “bait” pedophiles if you are an adult, point blank. They are not going to see a grown woman in coquette clothing and go “oh my god, I should harm more children”.
I wish people would save this energy for the actual abusers holding public office, or the tiktok and pinterest adult content that is peddled towards children.
WoofDen on
So women can’t be cute and whimsical and frilly because men are sick perverts? K.
Vegetableau on
So Olivia Rodrigo can’t wear short dresses but Sabrina Carpenter can?
h0neym00nave on
Right. Also don’t we have bigger issues going on. Why are women policed so much? Yet Chris brown is on tour 🤢 our president is a criminal. The economy in shambles. Let Olivia wear whatever she wants!
Decodaku on
Frankly I agree. A woman wearing a baby doll dress is not inherently sexualizing herself. The music video and the song are not sexual at all so im not sure why olivia got targeted with the self-infantilization & sexy baby accusations when theres other pop stars who are actively leaning into that image.
As always this old Tumblr post remains relevant 10 years later
It’s not like she’s sexualising herself while wearing it or adopting any “child-like” attitude either.
It’s just a cute outfit, that’s it
Altruistic-Star-3862 on
You mean the girl that’s heavily influenced by 90s female bands also goes for some of their fashion cues?
Some people would’ve absolutely imploded if they were around when kinderwhore was a trend.
ChartParticular8975 on
I always felt like this whole situation says more about the people who are sexualizing this look than her wearing the look in general…just my opinion. I’m glad to see I’m not alone cuz I felt like I was going crazy for a second…
phoebebridgersfan26 on
I’m just sick of always having women fighting with each other and it’s all because of men at the end of the day. :/
Can’t wear certain clothes, follow certain aesthetics, certain hairstyles, etc. I was told I shouldn’t decorate my car with girly stickers because I am at risk of being followed. I think that’s the real discussion we should be having. So we can’t be anything other than mild and meek and modest?
teacupghostie on
My lukewarm take is that the babydoll dresses Olivia’s team are choosing are just pretty generic. I really think they could have done a lot more with the fabrics and silhouettes.
That said, women should be allowed to wear what they want, babydoll dresses are not a new concept, and that a lot of the criticism of them comes from people projecting moral panic that would be better served towards actually pedophiliac media.
AlleyRhubarb on
I’m not defending the dog pile on her. However, there is a clear difference that IMO makes Rodrigo’s stand out as more overtly youthful than the other referenced looks – the styling. Sharon Tate and Courtney Love are one hundred percent styled as adult women – Courtney’s in particular creates a wonderful juxtaposition with her very womanly look and the overdone make-up and doll-like clothes. Olivia Rodrigo is doing really youthful makeup, she herself looks very young and fresh, and her stockings and socks and shoes lean into the Lolita look rather than contrasting with it. I think it makes the whole thing look contrived and not edgy and that’s why it is being read as pandering. It’s the same thing as Sabrina Carpenter’s album cover – it’s lacking in irony and doesn’t come across as a cohesive, in your face pop and leaves room for people to question it.
HappyEverAfter7 on
Breaking news, rabid fanbases trying to start a hate train on a widely adored woman. Unfortunately a tale as old as time and they will never make me hate Olivia Rodrigo! Let women wear whatever they want challenge
Also, if seeing a full grown woman in a ruffle babydoll dress makes you think of a child, that is demented
Metaboschism on
Leave Olivia Alone.
No_Book622 on
I’m happy that this conversation is happening because I SWEAR i felt like i was going crazy for thinking she looked cute
broke_n_rich2147 on
Yk what…. Hell yeah. I can get behind this. This changed my mind a bit.
BlackberryBelle on
I’m a Gen-Xer, so I was around during the Riot Grrrl era. I love that she’s bringing this back.
mittonkitten on
honestly i feel about this the same way i did about sabrina carpenter’s man’s best friend cover: complicated!
i haven’t been able to fully articulate it, but in exists in the same space as “girl math” and “i shave my legs because i want to, not because i have to.” if that makes any sense? nothing exists in a vacuum, and i don’t think a legitimate discussion on the rise of this style or its past influences is a bad thing. harassing people over it, however, is.
attracted2sin on
I assumed it was very much so inspired by Courtney Love’s early 90s look, especially since she’s been cited directly by Olivia Rodrigo as an inspiration for her work.
larryleggs on
I’m really enjoying this modern iteration of feminist thought that focuses on primarily slut-shaming young women. It’s really dope, and I’m really glad that the conservatives were able to completely co-opt feminist language in order to police women. It’s really great. I’m glad that we could use the value judgments of what men might or might not think to shut down what women want to do with their bodies.
throwawaylol666666 on
This whole discourse is dumb, but…
The reason why it feels different from Courtney or Kat is because Olivia Rodrigo is in no way edgy. She’s too “clean” and it kinda pulls the look far enough away from its original context/intention (the 90s version of it, anyway) that people get the wrong idea about it.
MeEyeSlashU on
Let her be!
greasygrandmas on
This was a great read, the discourse around her clothing is so icky
AlmostThere4321 on
I’m equally bothered by the infantilization, and sexualization of women as well as the policing our clothes because of the male gaze. I don’t know what to think
Spudinfinty on
This discourse is hilarious when melanie martinez exists lmao
According_Plant701 on
Can’t say I’m a fan of the look but people are using this as a really stupid reason to hate on Olivia and I’m not about that.
SoGenuineAndRealMadi on
People are being so weird about this. Not once did I think she looked like a child
These dresses are popular it would be one thing if she was cosplaying as a baby like Sydney in Euphoria but she is literally not
Lexnight on
If looking at an adult woman in a short dress makes you want to fuck children, perhaps 🤔 the issue 🤔🤔 is not the adult woman’s dress 🤔🤔🤔
lolbotomite on
I love babydoll dresses. I started wearing them when I was younger because Courtney Love. Olivia clearly drew inspiration from her as well.
It’s really important to remember this type of beauty and femininity belongs to girls and women, not the freaks who prey and sexualize us.
Bel_Canto on
This whole discourse has been so on its face dumb that I wonder if it’s bot-driven. Like, babydoll dresses are just a fashion staple, and not a single one that Olivia has worn makes her look like anything other than a normal young woman wearing a dress.
Like this absolute nothing of a “controversy”, the stuff with Chappell Roan earlier this year, and revelations around Geese’s rise to the mainstream genuinely make me wonder how organic some of this ‘cultural discourse’ is. Like, she’s literally just wearing a dress, and I and plenty of other adults I know own similar dresses. Where was the problem in the first place, like genuinely.
Ifonliesandjusts on
It’s literally impossible to win when you’re a woman
moreKEYTAR on
To a certain extent, it is not “policing” someone to have a negative reaction to their clothing/image choices. People use fashion and imagery to evoke a feeling or identity, and it is totally ok for people to say “no thanks I hate that.”
The way this blows up is a symptom of the digital community: the negative reaction is happening en masse and then gets more amplified by intersecting with online discourse and current outrage porn, as well as the historically consistent culture of harshly critiquing women/girls.
The level of hatred for women (manosphere), coupled with outrage over diminishing rights for US women (feminist, liberal sphere) and the non-prosecution of well publicized pedophilia cases means a style choice with the name “babydoll” EXPLODES with commentary. The style choice becomes a “symptom” of something, or the discourse becomes a “symptom” of something else, or both. The entirety of a movement becomes proven and disproven by the same fleeting, ephemeral outfit choice. The discourse is rarely in good faith and becomes a parody of itself.
I am glad to see some amount of good faith discourse, and my own opinion is that it is a bad look. I am not going to pretend that opinion is on aesthetics alone. I am personally tired of the sexy baby look regardless of historical style references.
TL;DR: She has every right to wear it and it does not make her a bad feminist. I hate it. The discourse is going to be a sloppy mess like always.
isthatclever on
Women can’t win, when female pop stars are young they’re told they’re dressing too sexy, and then when they actually do enter adulthood they’re still dressing too sexy, but also they’re somehow infantilizing themselves simultaneously. When ariana started her pop career I was surprised all the women I saw on sites like jezebel coming for her for dressing like a “sexy baby” for wearing …. the same type of outfits female pop stars always wear.
chairmandorre on
You can definitely do the babydoll dress look WITHOUT it giving lolita vibes but this is not it
74Lives on
GenX here and I’ll get downvoted for saying this but when Courtney Love took on this look, there was no mistaking her as a grown ass woman who also slayed a loud guitar and could kick pretty much anyone’s ass. OR already looks like she could pass for 15. How she’s wearing those clothes when we’re all still reckoning with Epstein and rampant pedophilia among the billionaires is certainly a choice. I think it’s questionable on SC as well.
Humble_Geologist_653 on
I just don’t like those damn ruffled diaper baby shorts she’s wearing.
41 Comments
They aren’t wrong 🤷🏻♀️
l’ve been noticing lately on social media a hate train on Olivia and I will not be participating.
I feel like the only one who thinks the babydoll dress is cute on her
Ok so theyre just being purposely obtuse and acting like the babydoll dress is the issue when it is NOT, it’s the fucking ruffled bloomers.
I love that the MV was on film (or looked like it). I loved the location and the song. I hated the voyuristic POV and child-like bloomers. Women can own the baby-like vibe and make art however they want, but as a 30 year old woman, that POV is not for me.
You don’t like her babydoll dresses because something something what can we blame women for this time. I don’t like her babydoll dresses because I think they look dumb. We are not the same.
They keep saying “it’s pedo bait” but like… she’s literally an adult? Are we also going to bitch at Courtney Love for doing it in the 90s too? Idk. I feel like there’s a puritanical element to the complaints about the babydoll dresses and pastel colors. You can’t “bait” pedophiles if you are an adult, point blank. They are not going to see a grown woman in coquette clothing and go “oh my god, I should harm more children”.
I wish people would save this energy for the actual abusers holding public office, or the tiktok and pinterest adult content that is peddled towards children.
So women can’t be cute and whimsical and frilly because men are sick perverts? K.
So Olivia Rodrigo can’t wear short dresses but Sabrina Carpenter can?
Right. Also don’t we have bigger issues going on. Why are women policed so much? Yet Chris brown is on tour 🤢 our president is a criminal. The economy in shambles. Let Olivia wear whatever she wants!
Frankly I agree. A woman wearing a baby doll dress is not inherently sexualizing herself. The music video and the song are not sexual at all so im not sure why olivia got targeted with the self-infantilization & sexy baby accusations when theres other pop stars who are actively leaning into that image.
As always this old Tumblr post remains relevant 10 years later
https://preview.redd.it/9zwka6ohwj0h1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=566268efa74c6765df535f7966fa5cabe7940797
There’s nothing wrong with the way she wears it.
It’s not like she’s sexualising herself while wearing it or adopting any “child-like” attitude either.
It’s just a cute outfit, that’s it
You mean the girl that’s heavily influenced by 90s female bands also goes for some of their fashion cues?
Some people would’ve absolutely imploded if they were around when kinderwhore was a trend.
I always felt like this whole situation says more about the people who are sexualizing this look than her wearing the look in general…just my opinion. I’m glad to see I’m not alone cuz I felt like I was going crazy for a second…
I’m just sick of always having women fighting with each other and it’s all because of men at the end of the day. :/
Can’t wear certain clothes, follow certain aesthetics, certain hairstyles, etc. I was told I shouldn’t decorate my car with girly stickers because I am at risk of being followed. I think that’s the real discussion we should be having. So we can’t be anything other than mild and meek and modest?
My lukewarm take is that the babydoll dresses Olivia’s team are choosing are just pretty generic. I really think they could have done a lot more with the fabrics and silhouettes.
That said, women should be allowed to wear what they want, babydoll dresses are not a new concept, and that a lot of the criticism of them comes from people projecting moral panic that would be better served towards actually pedophiliac media.
I’m not defending the dog pile on her. However, there is a clear difference that IMO makes Rodrigo’s stand out as more overtly youthful than the other referenced looks – the styling. Sharon Tate and Courtney Love are one hundred percent styled as adult women – Courtney’s in particular creates a wonderful juxtaposition with her very womanly look and the overdone make-up and doll-like clothes. Olivia Rodrigo is doing really youthful makeup, she herself looks very young and fresh, and her stockings and socks and shoes lean into the Lolita look rather than contrasting with it. I think it makes the whole thing look contrived and not edgy and that’s why it is being read as pandering. It’s the same thing as Sabrina Carpenter’s album cover – it’s lacking in irony and doesn’t come across as a cohesive, in your face pop and leaves room for people to question it.
Breaking news, rabid fanbases trying to start a hate train on a widely adored woman. Unfortunately a tale as old as time and they will never make me hate Olivia Rodrigo! Let women wear whatever they want challenge
Also, if seeing a full grown woman in a ruffle babydoll dress makes you think of a child, that is demented
Leave Olivia Alone.
I’m happy that this conversation is happening because I SWEAR i felt like i was going crazy for thinking she looked cute
Yk what…. Hell yeah. I can get behind this. This changed my mind a bit.
I’m a Gen-Xer, so I was around during the Riot Grrrl era. I love that she’s bringing this back.
honestly i feel about this the same way i did about sabrina carpenter’s man’s best friend cover: complicated!
i haven’t been able to fully articulate it, but in exists in the same space as “girl math” and “i shave my legs because i want to, not because i have to.” if that makes any sense? nothing exists in a vacuum, and i don’t think a legitimate discussion on the rise of this style or its past influences is a bad thing. harassing people over it, however, is.
I assumed it was very much so inspired by Courtney Love’s early 90s look, especially since she’s been cited directly by Olivia Rodrigo as an inspiration for her work.
I’m really enjoying this modern iteration of feminist thought that focuses on primarily slut-shaming young women. It’s really dope, and I’m really glad that the conservatives were able to completely co-opt feminist language in order to police women. It’s really great. I’m glad that we could use the value judgments of what men might or might not think to shut down what women want to do with their bodies.
This whole discourse is dumb, but…
The reason why it feels different from Courtney or Kat is because Olivia Rodrigo is in no way edgy. She’s too “clean” and it kinda pulls the look far enough away from its original context/intention (the 90s version of it, anyway) that people get the wrong idea about it.
Let her be!
This was a great read, the discourse around her clothing is so icky
I’m equally bothered by the infantilization, and sexualization of women as well as the policing our clothes because of the male gaze. I don’t know what to think
This discourse is hilarious when melanie martinez exists lmao
Can’t say I’m a fan of the look but people are using this as a really stupid reason to hate on Olivia and I’m not about that.
People are being so weird about this. Not once did I think she looked like a child
These dresses are popular it would be one thing if she was cosplaying as a baby like Sydney in Euphoria but she is literally not
If looking at an adult woman in a short dress makes you want to fuck children, perhaps 🤔 the issue 🤔🤔 is not the adult woman’s dress 🤔🤔🤔
I love babydoll dresses. I started wearing them when I was younger because Courtney Love. Olivia clearly drew inspiration from her as well.
It’s really important to remember this type of beauty and femininity belongs to girls and women, not the freaks who prey and sexualize us.
This whole discourse has been so on its face dumb that I wonder if it’s bot-driven. Like, babydoll dresses are just a fashion staple, and not a single one that Olivia has worn makes her look like anything other than a normal young woman wearing a dress.
Like this absolute nothing of a “controversy”, the stuff with Chappell Roan earlier this year, and revelations around Geese’s rise to the mainstream genuinely make me wonder how organic some of this ‘cultural discourse’ is. Like, she’s literally just wearing a dress, and I and plenty of other adults I know own similar dresses. Where was the problem in the first place, like genuinely.
It’s literally impossible to win when you’re a woman
To a certain extent, it is not “policing” someone to have a negative reaction to their clothing/image choices. People use fashion and imagery to evoke a feeling or identity, and it is totally ok for people to say “no thanks I hate that.”
The way this blows up is a symptom of the digital community: the negative reaction is happening en masse and then gets more amplified by intersecting with online discourse and current outrage porn, as well as the historically consistent culture of harshly critiquing women/girls.
The level of hatred for women (manosphere), coupled with outrage over diminishing rights for US women (feminist, liberal sphere) and the non-prosecution of well publicized pedophilia cases means a style choice with the name “babydoll” EXPLODES with commentary. The style choice becomes a “symptom” of something, or the discourse becomes a “symptom” of something else, or both. The entirety of a movement becomes proven and disproven by the same fleeting, ephemeral outfit choice. The discourse is rarely in good faith and becomes a parody of itself.
I am glad to see some amount of good faith discourse, and my own opinion is that it is a bad look. I am not going to pretend that opinion is on aesthetics alone. I am personally tired of the sexy baby look regardless of historical style references.
TL;DR: She has every right to wear it and it does not make her a bad feminist. I hate it. The discourse is going to be a sloppy mess like always.
Women can’t win, when female pop stars are young they’re told they’re dressing too sexy, and then when they actually do enter adulthood they’re still dressing too sexy, but also they’re somehow infantilizing themselves simultaneously. When ariana started her pop career I was surprised all the women I saw on sites like jezebel coming for her for dressing like a “sexy baby” for wearing …. the same type of outfits female pop stars always wear.
You can definitely do the babydoll dress look WITHOUT it giving lolita vibes but this is not it
GenX here and I’ll get downvoted for saying this but when Courtney Love took on this look, there was no mistaking her as a grown ass woman who also slayed a loud guitar and could kick pretty much anyone’s ass. OR already looks like she could pass for 15. How she’s wearing those clothes when we’re all still reckoning with Epstein and rampant pedophilia among the billionaires is certainly a choice. I think it’s questionable on SC as well.
I just don’t like those damn ruffled diaper baby shorts she’s wearing.