Why Sabrina Carpenter's new album cover has sparked feminist debate online

Sabrina Carpenter just announced her new album "Man's Best Friend", and the album artwork is already sparking controversy and causing feminist debate on social media.

The pop star, who recently released the lead single 'Manchild' from the latest project, shared news of the new album set to be released on August 29.

In a post on social media, Sabrina revealed the album cover, which is a photo of herself on her hands and knees, while an unidentifiable figure in a suit holds her by her hair.

It has since sparked a lot of debate around what message Sabrina is sending with the bold image.

On the one hand, you have people who argue that the image is for the "male gaze" and that Sabrina is "pandering to men" with artwork which reflects misogynist fantasies, with some using it as a reminder of the violence women regularly face. Then there are people comparing it to actor Sydney Sweeney selling soap made using her actual bathwater, which also faced similar critiques recently.

A few acknowledged that the image could be satirical - something Sabrina is known for with her music - but say still "she’s objectifying herself."

"Maybe this is a bad take but I fear we have 'stop doing things for the male gaze'd' ourselves back into expecting women to be modest and shaming them otherwise, and it's Strange," one person said.

A second person wrote, "Thinking about how hair pulling was one of the first forms of violent misogyny me and many other women faced as young girls - I really hope this is not the album cover, it feels deeply irresponsible."

"Women face horrific domestic abuse and degradation at the hands of men every single day worldwide, but she wants to profit off of imagery of herself being degraded, comparing herself to a dog. Pandering to men will never be feminist, i don’t care if the lyrics say 'f*** men,'" a third person posted.

A fourth person shared, "I don’t care that this is satire, at the end of the day she’s objectifying herself. Intention vs effect."

"Idc if I get dragged but I’m so tired of this oversexualisation of women, this is not feminism and this is not empowering. Look at her comparing herself to a dog kneeling in front of a man, this is derogatory asf," someone else added.

Another person noted, "The concept of being a man-hater yet making your album cover a pic of you getting on your knees for a man while he grips your hair in a degrading manner is so odd."

"This album cover, Bonnie Blue’s petting zoo and Sydney Sweeney’s soap all running a train on feminism rn."

However, there were many who defended Sabrina and the album artwork as they pointed out that this, combined with the singer's album title "Man's Best Friend," is a metaphor to reflect how she feels men treat her like a dog.

Sabrina is known for making provocative jokes with her music, with her lyrics often including sexual innuendos and her latest single, she doesn't hold back in dissing men with the apt title 'Manchild'.

People who stuck up for Sabrina accused those berating her of "lacking critical thinking skills" and declaring "we really are in a media literacy epidemic," with the outcry being a reflection of the purity culture we're seeing more of these days.

One person said, "It’s a metaphor for being treated like a dog y’all."

"This is gonna be her feminist man ending record ! Sexually promiscuous women have been referred to as female dogs (b****es) throughout history. The album visual work is definitely ironic and you’ll see that once the album is out," a second person wrote.

A third person added, "I’m seeing a lot of discourse about Sabrina Carpenter’s new album cover… for those of you who may lack critical thinking skills, the cover is clearly satirical with a deeper meaning, portraying how the public views her, believing she is just for the male gaze."

"We really are in a media illiteracy epidemic, every song/mv she’s released has been about how men shouldn’t fuck w her/ killing men, & her first single is called manchild for this album, like please chose to engage with media critically, her whole gimmick is 50s housewife satire," a fourth person commented.

"Where’s that video explaining that comedy requires the audience to trust the person making the joke is a certain level of intelligent and explains why a lot of people don’t realize when women are joking," a fourth person noted.

Another person posted, "Sabrina Carpenter haven’t been killing man in all of her music videos the past 3 years for y'all to switch on her and not understand a f***ing album cover. Grow a brain."

"My 'woke' opinion but everyone’s reaction to this is just more purity bs that was forced onto women hundreds of years ago cause you just cant believe that women are something other than 'pure' and 'innocent,'" someone else shared.

To conclude, "The second I saw this posted on Instagram, I had a That's So Raven vision of every possible route of discourse, response to that discourse, response to that response, etc. that it would spark."

What do you think?

Elsewhere, is Sabrina Carpenter's 'Manchild' about Barry Keoghan? and Sabrina Carpenter releases 'Manchild' and everyone says the same thing.

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