On August 29th, 2025, American singer Sabrina Carpenter released her highly anticipated seventh studio album. Man ’ s Best Friend followed Carpenter’s highly acclaimed, fun, sexy, and humorous album Short n ’ Sweet, released only a year prior, launching her into pop stardom. Short n ’ Sweet debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart and with singles ‘Taste’ , ‘Espresso’ , and ‘Please Please Please’ still roaming the charts.
With such beloved songs and a new wave of fans for Carpenter and her music, pressure arose for her next album. She released the lead single Manchild on June 5th, with fans getting excited for a new record. Comments such as ‘yes Barry you’re in trouble, ’ ‘song of the summer, ’ ‘she is such an icon, ’ and ‘Barry you’re cooked’ lined the Instagram comment section with many referring to Irish actor, Barry Keoghan. Carpenter and Keoghan were rumoured to be dating in 2024, where they allegedly broke up at the start of 2025.
On June 11th, Sabrina released the cover and announced her upcoming album, Man ’ s Best Friend. The cover received instant attention and controversy over the imagery of Carpenter on her hands and knees, looking into the camera with a man pulling her by her hair. Such a saying refers to the relationship between dogs and their owners, so with Sabrina using this term there is the immediate comparison of a woman to a dog. I would argue that the cover is reinforcing what the album title is suggesting, that a woman should know her place as a ‘Man’s Best Friend. ’ I ask, considering Sabrina’s previous public image and the political backdrop of women’s rights in the West, what does this cover reinforce? Does it feed into the misogynist ideal that women should be submissive to men? Or is this a display of sexual freedom and empowerment for women?
As fans waited for the release date, Carpenter released multiple alternative album covers where she joked about one in her Instagram caption ‘here is a new alternate cover approved by God available now on my website, ’ with an unserious and humorous reply which is very on brand for Sabrina. When asked about the cover in a CBS interview and the negativity it received, she said, ‘y’all need to get out more, ’ and her interpretation of the cover was, ‘being in on the control, being in on your lack of control and when you want to be in control. Like, I think as a young woman, you’re just as aware of when you’re in control as when you’re not. ’ I think there is some truth in that, but I don’t think this cover portrays that sentiment.
On the release day for the album, I, like many fans, was disappointed with the music. I hoped that with such a cover, Sabrina would be playing against misogynistic and harmful female stereotypes, perhaps saying ‘this is how you, (the audience, the male gaze) want me to act, but I’m actually doing the opposite. I’m powerful as a woman, and I don’t need a man to give me power or worth, ’ but to me, the album felt contradictory, and was rather feeding into the misogyny that the cover and title suggested.
I think to have such a controversial cover, there is going to be an extra amount of pressure to deliver something of substance, especially with the political climate of women’s rights being taken away or rewritten, for example the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade in certain states in America. The question can be asked, is this album part of New Wave Feminism or is it working for the male gaze?
New Wave Feminism is a movement that is always evolving and encouraging women to fulfil their life desires in all aspects, highlighting how the patriarchy upholds male perspectives and treats women unjustifiably. Sexual liberation and promiscuity is embraced within feminism, however there needs to be an understanding of what is the intention behind your actions. For example, a woman openly talking about her sex life because she wants to, and feels a level of liberation in contradicting traditional female stereotypes and the patriarchy, is feminist. However, if a woman were to discuss her sex life with the drive of performing for men and their validation, then I would not consider it to be wholly feminist due to feeding into patriarchal values.
Feminist film theorist Laura Mulvey states that ‘the gender power asymmetry is a controlling force in cinema and constructed for the pleasure of the male viewer, which is deeply rooted in patriarchal ideologies and discourses. ’ Mulvey is explaining how the male gaze works in cinema, which I think translates into the wider media industry, where women are viewed through the lens of a heterosexual man and are represented as passive objects for a male’s desire.
The premise of the album is Sabrina’s relationships with men and how turbulent some have been, giving us an honest and relatable insight into her personal life. We witness the highs with ‘Tears, ’ ‘When Did You Get Hot?’ and ’House Tour’ and the lows of endings and heartache with ‘We Almost Broke Up Again Last Night, ’ ‘Nobody’s Son, ’ and ‘Don’t Worry I’ll Make You Worry. ’ Woven throughout this album are smart innuendos and double meanings like in the second track, ‘Tears’ where Sabrina subverts the listener’s expectations from an emotional heartbreak song, to a fun and upbeat one about how attractive she finds a man who is responsible. Diving deeper into the song, it comes across as though such qualities, that should be a bare standard for men to possess, get rewarded sexually as the hook suggests; ‘I get wet at the thought of you/Being a responsible guy/Treating me like you’re supposed to so/Tears run down my thighs. ’ This continues with, ‘A little respect for women can get you very, very far, ’ insinuating that respecting women is something that needs to be credited.
The eleventh song, ‘House Tour, ’ furthers this with the lyrics, ‘Baby, what’s mine is now yours, ’ and ‘My house was especially built for you, ’ reinforcing the idea of performing and customising yourself to fit into the male gaze and in turn, the patriarchy. Here, Sabrina is suggesting that such bare minimum treatment from men is something that should be rewarded, where sex is used as the currency. This reiterates the album’s cover image and its title where women can be customised into fulfilling men’s ideals, where Sabrina is benefitting from this with the success, money, and relevancy that the record is providing her; she is directly profiting off the male gaze.
On a wider scale, the critical response to this album has been mixed. Consequence of Sound rated a 83/100 with, ‘the brightest star in pop basks in soul-piercing honesty — and has a lot of fun doing it. ’ Pitchfork rated a 79/100 and stated, ‘Carpenter’s new album takes her persona to its apex, and maybe as far as it can go. ’ The Irish Times gave a 60/100 writing, ‘The star’s ambitious LP lacks the sense of fun that crackled through Short n ’ Sweet. ’ And Exclaim! granted a 50/100 stating, ‘With Man’s Best Friend, her latest record, she serves up a reliably flirty, teasing, Americana-tinged peepshow: confident, proud, and unashamed of its own horniness. Yet, while it provides plenty of tell, there’s not nearly enough show. ’
I think these mixed reviews reflect how anticipated Man ’ s Best Friend was, and how the music fails to live up to the pressure, regardless of the controversial cover. The sound overall is fine, the upbeat songs are fun and radio hits, whereas the slower songs fly under the radar a bit; they aren’t saying anything that we haven’t already heard before. However, it is important to highlight that Sabrina’s mezzo-soprano voice is forceful, strong, and sounds incredible on the record, like on the rest of her catalogue, which is why to me, this record feels like a thematic disappointment.
Sabrina Carpenter is of course not the first, nor the last woman to use the male gaze to her advantage, where actor Sydney Sweeney is another recent example of this. In June of this year, Sweeney collaborated with soap company Dr. Squatch where a limited edition soap called ‘Sydney’s Bathwater Bliss’ was released and sold out within minutes. Sweeney also promoted the brand’s body wash with a promotional advert where she was in a bathtub saying, ‘Hello you dirty little boys, are you interested in my body…wash? Well you can’t have it, because this isn’t for boys, it’s for men. ’ The video received a lot of backlash and controversy, with comments such as ‘this is sad, ’ and ‘genuinely embarrassing, ’ in the comment sections. The problem with this advert, despite how cringe and embarrassing it is, is how Sweeney is actively working for the male gaze for profit. She recognises the power that it gives her career, and the way her white, pretty privilege maintains her relevance as she will always be able to mould and uphold the beauty trends, much like Sabrina.
These examples display why it is important to try to break the cycle of craving male validation. It is by no means easy to rewire your outlook when society is built that way, when beauty trends, standards, and capitalism derive from it, but that is why it is essential to see it for what it is: making money off of women’s insecurities. The male gaze benefits capitalism (shocker), so I want to make it clear that I am not blaming Sabrina Carpenter, nor any woman for being a victim of patriarchy. Every woman is affected by it, and the mindset of ‘I can’t beat it, so why can’t I use it to my benefit?’ perpetuates it further.
With that said, there should be an element of responsibility to acknowledge Sabrina’s place in perpetuating patriarchal stereotypes in imagery and the language that she creates. There is nothing wrong with wanting to engage with men, but it is important to understand and question what your intentions may be and what is driving it. Is this happening because you want it to, or because you are wanting validation (eg: money, success, respect, admiration, confidence) from it? The danger of performing for the male gaze and seeking male validation is how binding it is. There are chains wrapped around you, ways in which you have to act in order to stay desired and wanted, which is an exhausting job. By conforming in this way, there is the risk of the patriarchy taking more control of your life.
The unsettling factor in Man’s Best Friend is the blatant misogyny, yet how it can be disguised through a pop, upbeat and ‘girl boss’ lens and if you aren’t looking for it, music with messages like this can slowly alter how you view the world and yourself.
