2025's Most Controversial Popular Album Art?
Why I Like the Artwork for Man's Best Friend
While I prefer for my publication to reflect upon and review pieces of music, I am currently feeling the itch to write an opinion piece regarding something adjacent to music… album art, which I approach the same way I view book covers. A bad piece of visual art won’t turn me away from listening to/reading a recommendation or a critically acclaimed album/book, but a good cover will definitely intrigue me.
Personally, I appreciate the album artwork for Man’s Best Friend by Sabrina Carpenter.
Whether you like it or not, this picture has generated a lot of controversy. It’s valid to think that the content is trashy (I certainly don’t think that it, or anything to do with Sabrina Carpenter, can be considered “high-brow”). It’s definitely valid to dislike how it looks, or even feel uncomfortable when you look at it. I’m not saying it’s the best album cover of the year, and I wouldn’t say it’s a beautiful work of art. I wouldn’t even hang up a poster of it in my home.
However, I disagree with anyone who believes that the picture isn’t controversial due to some viewers thinking that it panders to the “male gaze.” Even if you think it lines up with the mainstream, the amount of discussion it has generated so far has made the picture subversive, at least to some extent.
I would also disagree with the opinion that the photograph presents a “degrading” view of women. A lot of people define “feminism” differently, and I will not pretend that I am an expert on the topic, but I try to educate myself as much as I can. Like anyone else who reads regularly and lives life as a feminine individual, I have formed my own beliefs on the subject. One thing that bothers me is the idea that any “submissive” depiction of a feminine individual is inherently misogynistic. To me, feminism is allowing a woman to do as she pleases, as long as she is not hurting others in the process. Some may argue that Sabrina, and other women, depicting themselves in this manner hurts how men see women as a whole, and I agree with parts of that argument. However, I think that women should be allowed to dress in ways that do happen to cater to societal beauty standards if that is what they wish.
Also, on a side note, I don’t necessarily believe that dressing and behaving like a stereotypical whore is necessarily pandering to the male gaze. Honestly, I think that this album cover would turn away certain men. Not all misogynists are like this, but many are bothered by the idea of a woman who is comfortable with sex, who has shown herself in a sexual manner to a lot of men, like Sabrina has done here.
Another subject in which I would not consider myself an expert, but have accumulated knowledge and a lot of opinions, is kink. For a lot of people (especially women) choosing to be submissive, masochistic, a pet, a degradee, etc. is actually a liberating and pleasurable thing. There is a huge difference between a submissive woman in a consensual sexual relationship communicating with her often male Dominant that she gives him permission to be used in such a way, versus a woman being raped by a man. I know people may disagree, but I know for a fact that some people do like having their hair pulled and being on their knees, so it bothers me when doing these things on one’s own terms can even be compared to sexual assault. Having the agency to do what one wants sexually without judgment, even if that places one in the submissive role, gives them power, and allows them to feel good.
In addition, there’s also a lot more to people than their sexual roles and lives. For instance, a lot of women who choose to be submissive in the bedroom are “dominant” in other areas of life. Or, a woman vocally enjoying sex with a partner does not necessarily make her a “slut” (solely definition-wise, as it means someone who has had a lot of casual partners, not that there’s anything wrong with that). But either way, while women clearly need to be respected for not wanting certain kinds of sex, or even sex as a whole, I’m tired of women being villainized for any sort of enjoyment it, whether it’s in the amount of partners they choose to have, or whether they choose to be submissive.
I’m not a person who believes that sex positivity means that depictions of sex should be everywhere. I think that sexual education is very important for children, but they should be given more wholesome media because childhood innocence is valuable for those who are able to experience it. In addition, I don’t believe that a lot of Sabrina’s content is particularly tasteful, and I’m not trying to defend her zealously. I’m just someone who thinks that any adult should engage in the consensual sex that they choose, and that adults shouldn’t have to hide the fact that they enjoy sex from other adults. Sabrina is a 26-year-old woman who is confident talking about and enjoys sex, and as someone in a similar boat (but to a much lesser extent), I appreciate that.
At the same time, people who have read my prior articles know that I have a strong preference for metal music, and Sabrina Carpenter is nowhere near that. She’s not an everyday staple in my library, and I wouldn’t call her music to be anywhere near magnificent, but I do enjoy some of her works, particularly Short n’ Sweet, my 11th favorite album of 2024. As someone who has listened to it quite a few times, I will say that she is very raunchy, and she can be quite graphic about sex in several songs (i.e. “Bed Chem,” the infamous “Juno”). However, a larger portion of this album (i.e. “Sharpest Tool,” “Slim Pickins,” “Lie to Girls”) is more so about failed relationships with moronic men. Even when she’s not talking about a relationship failure, she presents a man as being pretty dumb (i.e. “Please Please Please”).
It seems as though “Man’s Best Friend” will follow along the same themes, with Sabrina continuing to enjoy a submissive role in the bedroom while having issues with man-children being man-children. Obviously, I have not heard the album yet, but based on what I’m seeing here, this album shows nothing new from her, besides having spicier art to visually represent it. I think it’s fairly clever in some aspects, but maybe I’m just dumb, because the album and title made me think for a bit, as they nod to sex, both the more vanilla (i.e. doggy style position) and more kinky (i.e. petplay), as well as the term “bitch” being used to describe women. It made me curious about the album’s content and even somewhat excited.