Popmusic’s newest obsession,Sabrina Carpenter, has announced that her new album,Man’s Best Friend, is on the way. You would expect an outpouring of support and eager anticipation from fans considering the massive audiences that flooded stadiums every stop of Carpenter’sShort n' SweetTour, but the reality falls very short of sweet.Carpenter’s social media posts about the project have been met with skepticism at best and outright objections at worst.
It isn’t the sound of the album’s first single, “Manchild,” that is turning people off, or the album’s producer, but ratherthe implications of the album’s title and aesthetics. Across social media, moral objections have been levied against the pop star and her team, but they aren’t the only hot takes out there. Fans have gathered their defenses and fought back against the slew of criticism.
There’s Not Much We Know Yet About Man’s Best Friend
The Album Is Two Months Out
The roll-out for the singer’s new album has been sparse. Her previous release,Short n' Sweet, saw two single releases before the full album was released. “Please Please Please” and “Espresso” were battling it out forsong of the summerin 2024. Carpenter was cementing herselfnot only as a pop persona, but also as a bit of a comedian. Her “Nonsense” outros, witty double entendres, and tongue-in-cheek Mae West-like persona re-branded her from a child actor to a marketable pop sensation.
The new project is releasing so closely to the deluxe edition of her previous album that Carpenter doesn’t have to regain public attention; she already has it.
She is still performing shows tacked on to the end of herShort n' SweetTour that began in September of last year.It is surprising that she found the time to record an entire album and music videoin her short time off the road. The new project is releasing so closely to the deluxe edition of her previous album that Carpenter doesn’t have to regain public attention; she already has it.
Man’s Best Friend Is Already Proving To Be Controversial For Some
Accusations Of Misogyny Are Flying
Sabrina Carpenterrevealed her new album cover and title on her Instagram. The minimalistic album cover features Carpenter on all fours at the feet of an unseen man who is gripping her hair. The grainy film picture combined with the title,Man’s Best Friend,causedpeople to feel that Carpenter is subjugating herself to the control of men.
One commenter under the post wrote “[e]xplain to me how this isn’t centering men? How this isn’t catering to the male gaze?” Many people are taking umbrage with the sense that the album cover and title lack the obvious satire and humor they have come to expect from the artist. Her previous album is simply a joke about her height and demeanor: five-feet flat and charmingly sarcastic.
They take issue with Sabrina Carpenter seemingly promoting the comparison of herself to an obedient dog at the will of men. While the joke isn’t immediately obvious, if one is intended,not much is known about the contents of the album.
The album’s lead single and its title seem juxtaposed; “Manchild” criticizes men who are incompetent in relationships and expect their partners to care for them like a mother figure. Regardless, the album title and cover appear to some to celebrate the idea of serving men in one way or another.
This Controversy Is Also Being Called Out By Other Fans
Even Musical Icons Have Come To Her Defense
The album’s detractors have been met with a large-scale rebuttal. Many internet users have come to the artist’s defense. Sabrina Carpenter’s persona is very sexual; many of her recent songs are chock-full of sexual innuendos. Those defending the albumfind it strange that people suddenly have an issue with her being overtly sexual.
Popular Tik Toker and DJ,Griffin Maxwell Brooks, made a video suggesting thatcritics of Carpenter have fallen for a puritanical panicthat is more harmful to women than expressing interest in being in a submissive role. They said “women and femmes embracing their own sexuality or feminity will never be misogyny.”
Carly Simon found herself in a similar situation when her album,Playing Possum,was released in 1975. On her knees in black lingerie, Simon was dancing to a song she liked when the infamous photograph was snapped. It was not staged to be sexual in any way.
Of the Sabrina Carpenter controversy, she stated “[s]he’s not doing anything outrageous.“She finds that women are more likely to be ridiculed for expressing sexuality than their male counterparts, like the Rolling Stones album,Sticky Fingers, featuring a suggestive image of a man’s crotch in tight jeans.
The connection between the album’s lead single and title is not lost on its defenders.Sabrina Carpenter’s single displays to them that her album does not put men above women, and even talks down to them playfully.
