A floral babydoll dress worn by Olivia Rodrigo has unexpectedly turned into one of the internet’s biggest fashion debates. After sporting the look during performances of her song “Drop Dead” in Barcelona and at Spotify’s Billions Club Live concert on May 8 the singer found herself facing intense online backlash.Olivia Rodrigo is pushing back against criticism over her babydoll dress. (Instagram/ @oliviarodrigo & X/ @PopBase)The 23-year-old acknowledged that it has left her genuinely upset and not just for herself but for what it says about how society treats women.What is the Babydoll dress, why is Rodrigo wearing it?Far from being a random style choice, Rodrigo said the look was a deliberate nod to the female punk icons of the 1990s who inspired her, according to The Guardian.The babydoll dress actually has a long and rich history. It was originally created in 1942 in the United States during World War II as a practical response to fabric shortages. It gained popularity in the late 1950s and '60s when it was worn by style icons like Brigitte Bardot, Twiggy and Jane Birkin. Even legendary fashion designer Cristobal Balenciaga created a high-fashion line of babydoll dresses in 1958. In her "Drop Dead" music video, Rodrigo actually wore Jane Birkin's very own party dress, per Elle.Also Read: Great American State Fair lineup: Young MC, Morris Day pull out of Trump-linked event- full list of performersAccording to Elle, the babydoll dress became popular again in the 1990s when grunge stars like Courtney Love and Kim Gordon started wearing it. They mixed the soft and feminine style of the dress with the bold and edgy image of their music. Over the years, the dress has come to represent confidence, individuality and femininity rather than dressing to please others or for the male gaze, as per reports. Rodrigo has spoken openly about her love for the silhouette. “I really love the idea of a babydoll dress,” she told Vogue in May. “I just remember being younger and having pictures of Courtney Love and Kat Bjelland from all these riot grrrl punk bands in their babydoll dresses, just owning it.”According to Elle, Olivia Rodrigo styles the babydoll dress in a similar way. Working with her stylists Chloe and Chenelle Delgadillo, she mixes feminine outfits like Betsey Johnson and vintage Miu Miu dresses with tougher fashion pieces such as worn combat boots and chunky Mary Jane shoes.Also Read: Matthew Perry’s assistant sentenced: Why did Kenneth Iwamasa keep injecting Friends star with ketamine that killed him?What did Olivia Rodrigo say about the Controversy?In an interview with the New York Times' Popcast, Rodrigo addressed the criticism directly."That's been making me so upset," she said.“Not even for me. People can say whatever they want. What's really disturbing is I have worn outfits that are maybe revealing on stage. I've been on stage in a sparkly bra and little shorts, which is my right, that's fun, I felt cool and comfortable in that. And that wasn't inappropriate, but me fully covered up in a dress that people deemed to be childlike was inappropriate," she added.The singer said the reaction pointed to a deeper cultural problem. “I think it shows how we really normalize pedophilia in our culture. Also it's just this rhetoric we're fed as girls since we're so little, which is, don't wear that because then a man is going to sexualize your body and it's your fault. It's so weird,” she told the Popcast.Rodrigo also made clear that she never intended the dress to be provocative. “I didn't think that I looked sexy in that at all,” she said. “I was like, this is so cool. I feel I look like Kathleen Hanna or Courtney Love, all these people who are my heroes, and I felt cool and comfortable in it. I just think if we start dressing in a way that's like, 'I don't want some fucking freak to think that I'm sexy like a baby' or some crazy thing like that, I think it's losing the plot a little bit. I'm just very protective of younger women, girls, and I don't ever want them to be fed that rhetoric."Additionally, her third studio album, "You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love," is set to release on June 12. She has already dropped two singles "Drop Dead" and its follow-up “The Cure.”