Sabrina Carpenter shocked the world this past summer on June 11 with the announcement of her new album Man’s Best Friend. It wasn’t people’s excitement that made the album announcement go viral, but rather an overwhelming wave of hate towards it. The album cover showed an image of Carpenter on her knees in front of a mystery man in a suit who’s holding her hair lightly, suggesting a submissiveness towards him. The title of this album alludes to a dog, which could be interpreted as referring to women as “men’s bitches.”
Critiques of the album called it misogynistic, folks even argued that the cover itself sets feminism back by decades.
“Some say the cover may resemble misogynistic ads from the ‘60s.” Sara Delgado, an editor for Teen Vogue, wrote in an article this past June. Furthermore, on “X”-formally known as Twitter-a user went as far as stating that the album posed a threat to women’s safety.
Carpenter was the cover for the July/August 2025 Rolling Stone double issue. The cover featured her on her knees, wearing nothing but delicate lace stockings with hair long enough to touch the ground, playing into the submissive, sex-icon, male-gaze role. Carpenter didn’t seem to care though; she knows what she’s doing. At the end of the day, all publicity is good publicity. She’s constantly being criticized for over-sexualizing herself, even though those criticizing are the ones consuming her content.
“Those are the songs that you’ve made popular. Clearly you love sex. You’re obsessed with it,” Carpenter said for the Rolling Stone when asked what she thinks about the controversy surrounding her.
The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 366,00 album units, surpassing her last year’s hit album Short n’ Sweet, which opened with 362,000 units. It is obvious that the controversy surrounding her recent album did nothing but help it reach a huge audience.
At the end of the day, Carpenter is a smart businesswoman who knows what to say to get the people talking. Man’s Best Friend is a sarcastically feminist work of art. Poking fun at men for being incompetent at treating women right nowadays as they fail to provide women with the bare minimum in heterosexual relationships. It is loved and praised by gals all over the world because it is a relatable struggle to date men who think they are the prize. And who doesn’t like making fun of men who act like boys?
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