As if to remind the public of the irony and self-deprecation of modern feminism, Sabrina Carpenter released the cover art for her upcoming album, Man’s Best Friend. The art depicts a suggestive image of the star so shocking and reviling that even feminists on X have attacked her. The image not only sexually degrades Carpenter, but it also compares women to animals, which the album title suggests is the theme of her new work.
Carpenter’s feminist critics accuse her of promulgating misogyny by appealing to the “male gaze” with the explicit photo. Their biggest qualm with her new cover is its insensitivity to the current political and cultural climate.
Presumably, feminists are referencing the Trump administration and rise in traditional conservatism. They believe that now is the wrong time to even satirically joke about pleasing men or comparing women to animals.
However, the radical feminist critics fail to admit that feminism, followed to its logical conclusions, was always going to degrade women this way. Only now that feminism has reached shocking heights (especially while Trump is in office) are some women trying to step backward.
At the same time, many liberal feminists are willing to accept these shocking photo ops as the consequence of their feminist worldview. They defend their star, arguing that Carpenter deserves “autonomy over her sexuality” and that feminism demands she be allowed to express herself in any way she sees fit. If men treat women like dogs, they argue, why shouldn’t Carpenter be allowed to call this out as explicitly as she wants to?
Carpenter’s History
Carpenter is no stranger to explicit content, even though her audience is composed largely of young girls. Carpenter’s most popular moments are not her quiet love songs, but rather her raunchy dance moves and mimed sex acts, performed regardless of whose young daughter may be watching.
Even before the Man’s Best Friend controversy, Sabrina was criticized for her explicit performances. The singer found this ironic.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Carpenter points out this simple fact. “It’s always so funny to me when people complain… like, ‘All she does is sing about this,” said the pop star. “But those are the songs that you’ve made popular. Clearly you love sex. You’re obsessed with it. … There’s so many more moments than the ‘Juno’ positions, but those are the ones you post every night and comment on.”
Carpenter is inarguably right. The star is pursuing the same kind of fame and pulling the same stunts as many female pop icons before her. A sex “obsessed” culture, as Carpenter phrased it, is nothing new.
Not only is her behavior cliche, it is also upheld by fans who make Sabrina’s most raunchy moments viral. Carpenter knows her audience, and she caters to the culture. The same mothers who cover their daughters’ eyes during the most explicit parts of her shows keep their own eyes wide open to consume the over-sexualized performance.
The Vicious Cycle of Modern Feminism
Despite a culture that encourages Carpenter’s actions, she is by no means innocent in this controversy. The star herself is just as much a promoter of feminism as she is its victim. She has been encouraged to throw dignity away in pursuit of sexual “freedom,” and her example encourages her audience to do the same.
Though feminists are choosing this cultural moment to fight back against Sabrina’s dehumanizing actions, they have previously set her up as the perfect role model and feminist icon. Feminists have pushed for women to sell their bodies to and reject the children of their relationships with men. These feminists have no grounds on which to criticize celebrities that exercise these “freedoms” publicly.
Instead of pushing dangerous narratives onto young women and then stepping back in shock when disaster ensues, it is time to give them good role models who demonstrate how to build up their confidence and character without the lies sold to them by modern feminism.
Madison Fossa is an editorial intern at The American Spectator and a student at Grove City College.
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