Another day, another female popstar under scrutiny for being, well, themselves? Sabrina Carpenter — the fizzy pop pin-up whose raunchy, tongue-in-cheek lyrics solidified her as a popstar with a point of view — announced her latest album with a provocative post to her Instagram, and naturally, the internet is abuzz with everything from delight to outrage to claims that Carpenter’s setting feminism back 50 years. It’s all very dramatic (and dare we suggest, ill-informed), but here’s the TLDR if you don’t have time, or the energy, to scroll through the comments section.
What Did Sabrina Carpenter Post?
Earlier this week, Carpenter posted a carousel to her Instagram to announce the release of her new album, Man’s Best Friend, on August 29. The first shot was of Carpenter on her hands and knees next to the lower half of a suited man, who holds a fistful of her hair, while the second photo was a close up of a dog’s collar, the album’s title engraved on its tag.
The Internet’s Thoughts…
People were pretty quick to criticise Carpenter’s post, suggesting that the shot was transgressive and denigrating, accusing it of centring the male gaze. One user wrote on Instagram “Explain to me again how this isn’t centering men? How this isn’t catering to the male gaze?” Another, “This cover makes me uncomfortable… especially in times like these. Absolutely tone deaf.” Some commenters believed it perpetuated the idea of females as subjects or pets.
Considered in isolation — that is, without the context of Carpenter’s oeuvre which is deeply witty, sarcastic and subversive in the way it plays into female tropes only to undermine them — sure, this album artwork might raise some eyebrows. But to know Sabrina Carpenter is to understand that she’s not just in on the joke, she wrote it. The artist’s whole schtick is leaning into the blonde-bombshell-sex-symbol of it all just so she can flip it on its head. Her genius lies in making us believe she’s one thing when she’s clearly the other, and at the end of the day, she’s having the last laugh.
It's Hard Out Here For A Chick
Plenty of critics of Carpenter’s post references the trying political climate for women in the US, especially post-Roe vs. Wade and under the Trump administration, suggesting that it’s “irresponsible” for her to promote her album with this kind of visual. On the other side of the coin, it’s also raised interesting questions about the infiltration of conservatism and traditionalism into discussions and ideals of feminism. Not to mention, lively and frankly, important conversations around sexual empowerment (particularly for female-identifying people), kinks and shame.
They’re topics that could (and probably will) be debated in the comments section indefinitely, but what Carpenter’s really getting at probably won’t come to the fore until she drops the album in August. In the meantime though, as one user eloquently put in their comment on Carpenter’s post, “let women be horny on main!!”
