Sabrina Carpenter’s 7th studio album, ‘Man’s Best Friend’, was released on the 29th of August 2025. The album was announced on the 11th of June with an Instagram post featuring the album cover: A picture of Sabrina getting her hair pulled by a man. The album cover was immediately met with backlash because of the supposedly demeaning and anti-feminist undertones. Defenders, however, argued that it perfectly matched Sabrina Carpenter’s brand and sense of humour. While the controversy about the album cover itself has died down, the whole debacle has raised an important question: What level of responsibility do women in positions of power have in representing their communities?
The criticism surrounding the album cover stemmed from the fact that it was construed as having misogynistic undertones that “reduced women to pets” or “promoted violence towards women”. Sabrina has clarified this by saying that the album cover was meant to represent the fact that even with the power and knowledge she has, she still ends up in relationships and situations where she makes mistakes and feels powerless. While the explanation gives the album cover some important context, the general consensus was that there were better ways to put this point across without the controversial imagery.
With the rise of female pop stars over the past few years, people may assume that the level of gender disparity in the music industry has reduced. However, behind the scenes, the music industry remains a male-dominated industry with 84.2% of top executives being white men. This puts pressure on the women who do succeed, as there is an expectation for them to become advocates and representatives for all women in the industry. This is especially exacerbated for artists who gained success through having a strong female fanbase, like Sabrina Carpenter. Since she has benefited from the support of women, there is an expectation for her to represent the community fairly.
At the level of fame that Sabrina has, she is seen as a pillar of female representation and inclusivity in the music industry. Sabrina has a diverse team, with female songwriter Amy Allen being heavily featured on this album. However, it’s also worth noting that both the producers on ‘Man’s Best Friend’ were male. This proves a point on the inequality in the industry since most of the main pop artists still have all-male teams producing their albums. In that context, it makes complete sense that the image received such strong backlash. In a male-dominated industry where many women are still fighting to make a name for themselves, releasing an album cover where a woman is “obeying” a man understandably hits a nerve.
While the initial backlash towards the album cover is understandable, one can also argue that the continuous criticism is unwarranted. The debate has gone so far that it has circled back around to being anti-feminist. Instead of commenting on the album cover and the message it sends, some people have focused on criticising Sabrina herself, claiming her entire personality is inauthentic and overdone. Diminishing her entire brand and criticising a woman for showing artistic expression is inherently misogynistic and just further contributes to the problem. Sabrina Carpenter is allowed the creative freedom to present her album however she chooses.
That being said, I do think this could have been a great opportunity to spark a conversation about female empowerment. Instead of facing the comments head-on, Sabrina brushed them off by saying that she did not care about the controversy and that people “need to get out more” instead of criticising her artistic choices. I do find fault with her response here because she wasted the chance to acknowledge the misstep and send a powerful message. This could have been her chance to accept her responsibility and make a statement that could instil confidence in other women who are also trying to defend their artistic choices.
To sum it up, I do think the album cover is ironic and that Sabrina is allowed to use her creative freedom to curate her albums to her liking. However, I think a bigger conversation needs to be had about how women are represented in media. Especially in the music industry, where women are underrepresented, a proper response to the backlash could have started a conversation about how female pop stars have such a responsibility to represent women well because there are so few women in the industry. A proper response to the backlash would have been a great way to start a conversation on the ongoing issue of gender inequality in the music industry.