After Olivia Rodrigo’s career as a Disney star came to an end, she was quickly catapulted into fame. “Drivers License” was on every radio station, and she became a household name. Since then, she has released three studio albums, consistently topping the charts.
Her level of celebrity is shocking, and many people at her level of status become public figures in many different senses. People look to her for her music, but also for details about her life and her opinions.
Celebrities are often put onto pedestals and looked up to. As someone with a knowledge of this, Olivia Rodrigo uses it for good.
In my opinion, Olivia Rodrigo knows who she is and what she believes in, and this is what makes her a great role model. She uses her reach and influence to project positive thinking and share important resources through political activism.
Many of her fans are young women, and the political climate can feel worrisome and hard to navigate. Having a positive role model to look up to is deeply important.
In a Lilith Fair vein, Rodrigo recently held her own music festival, Daisy Chain Fields, which promoted all female artists and bands. Some of the acts on the docket were Bikini Kill, Doechii, Eli, Mitski, Santigold, and Stevie Nicks.
All of the money that was raised from the festival, Rodrigo is putting back into resources that aim to help women and girls. She partnered with 10 different non-profit organizations. Planned Parenthood, National Domestic Workers Alliance, Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health and Black Mammas Matter Alliance are all organizations listed as partners.
To kickstart this festival, she released the song “Serena Joy”, named after a character from the Handmaid’s Tale.
She shares a cautionary tale about oppression, and turning a blind eye to the way that rights are being stripped in the United States. She takes a firm standpoint and can share with her audience the things that are happening within the government.
Her primary audience is young women and girls, and Olivia uses her platform as a way for her audience to learn. Educating about the government and how it might not have your best interests in mind is a tricky subject to navigate but through her music she is able to express these truths.
Before Daisy Chain Fields, she began her professional relationship with Planned Parenthood in 2024, for her Guts World Tour. She launched the Fund 4 Good at the beginning of the tour, which she describes as a “global initiative that supports community-based nonprofits to build an equitable and just future for women and girls.”
During the tour itself, local abortion funds were invited to participate during different stops, and a cut of ticket sales went to the National Network of Abortion Funds.
During her stop in St. Louis, a local organization gave out free emergency contraceptives such as Plan B to concert goers. She received some criticisms for this choice, but this action again shows her dedication to what she believes in.
Missouri has severe restrictions on abortion and reproductive care, and she took the opportunity during her time there to provide resources to the women at her concert and offer an opportunity for education. an opportunity for education.
In a time that can feel scary and confusing, Olivia Rodrigo offers herself as a figure to look up to. She understands her audience and knows how to use her platform for good by advocating political causes that she cares about, and that deeply affects so many.
If pop stars are the role models that young people look up to, I would choose Olivia Rodrigo every time.