ADVERTISEMENTPop princess Sabrina Carpenter has divided fans and sparked moral outrage after revealing the new cover art for her upcoming album ‘Man’s Best Friend’.
Depicting the 26-year-old on her hands and knees in a black minidress while a faceless suited figure grips her hair, fans have argued the image perpetuates patriarchal values and degrades women by relating them to pets.
“This entire thing is so disturbing. Why are we proudly comparing ourselves to dogs,” wrote one commenter on Carpenter’s Instagram post.
“Love Sabrina – but this picture – why is the man in there like that? Its [sic] not a very empowering image for women. I think its [sic] a mistake since most [of] her fans are women and as a dv [domestic violence] survivor i find it uncomfortable and id [sic] rather see her empowered than like that,” said another.
Responding on Facebook, Glasgow Women’s Aid, a Scotland-based domestic abuse charity, called the album’s artwork “regressive”, adding: “Picturing herself on all fours, with a man pulling her hair and calling it ‘Man’s Best Friend’ isn’t subversion. It’s a throwback to tired tropes that reduce women to pets, props, and possessions and promote an element of violence and control.”
The heated responses also reflect a heightened anger and sensitivity at a time when women’s rights are being eroded by governments – and threatened by the manosphere’s (a collection of online spaces that promote misogyny) toxic cultural influence.
“This screams trad wife at a time when many of us are fighting for bodily autonomy. It’s so poorly aligned with this political moment that it’s either intentional trolling or just blatantly out of touch. Either is not ok right now,” one fan said.
Meanwhile, others have countered the discourse with reminders that Carpenter has always owned her sexuality by playing with male fantasies – and that outside of the album’s wider context, we still don’t know its true meaning.
“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,” a response reads on X.
Following her mainstream breakthrough last year, with frothy earworm Espresso the most-streamed track on Spotify in 2024, Carpenter has become one of pop’s biggest superstars. Known for her tongue-in-cheek playfulness and provocative performances, she sparked some controversy last year after filming a saucy music video inside a church, for which the priest that authorised it was stripped of his duties.
While sex has always been an intrinsic part of Carpenter’s image and appeal, it’s most often utilised for satire and innuendo. In a new Rolling Stone interview, the singer further defended this, saying: “It’s always so funny to me when people complain. They’re like, ‘All she does is sing about this.’ But those are the songs that you’ve made popular. Clearly you love sex. You’re obsessed with it.”
Still, despite those that bemoan Carpenter’s ongoing backlash as overblown, lacking nuance and missing the point of her hypersexualised and kink-coded brand, contentious discussions continue on the blurred lines between reclamation and regression.
“Satire only works when it clearly exposes, exaggerates, or critiques the thing it’s referencing. Rn, Sabrina’s cover recreates sexist imagery without disrupting it, so it reads as compliance, not commentary,” one fan said.
Earlier this month, the singer performed at Barcelona’s Primavera festival for the first time, and released ‘Manchild’ – the lead single from her upcoming seventh studio album, set for release on 29 August 2025.
