"Why You Gotta Be So Vicious" to Sabrina Carpenter?

Being a master of marketing, Carpenter has taken the music industry by storm. While her fame may have seemed overnight to some, her rise to success was certainly no accident. The niece of voice actress Nancy Cartwright (the voice of Bart Simpson in The Simpsons), Carpenter started acting from a young age and, being a semi-nepo baby, had a slight leg up compared to many other girls trying to break into the industry. Her role as Maya Hart in Girl Meets World (2014-2017) was her first major role that put her on the map, and in the same year the show began to air, Carpenter’s music career also began with the release of her first EP, Can’t Blame A Girl For Trying. The songs from the EP were also later included in her debut album Eyes Wide Open, released in 2015. Between 2017 and 2019, she released three albums, EVOLution, Singular Act I, and Singular Act II. At this point, her music had developed past the teen pop sound from her first album, as she had more creative control over the music she was making and was co-writing on the majority of the tracks in the albums. However, she still hadn’t quite hit the turning point in her career that set her apart from other aspiring singers. That wouldn’t come until the release of her hit album, emails i can’t send in 2022, when she completely shed her image as a Disney star and stepped into the role of the next pop sensation. 

Sabrina Carpenter's album, emails i can't send

There are numerous reasons emails i can’t send reached the level of success that the other albums seemed to fall short of. With new producers and having more control over the music she was making, her sound shifted from what she had made before. The lyrics had more depth than any of her songs in the past, with the album having both fun, upbeat tunes that she had become known for while exploring heavier topics such as her father’s infidelity in the title track “emails i can’t send.” All of these things were pivotal in furthering Carpenter down her path to stardom. But what truly set this era of music apart from the rest of her discography was the way they sold her music. At this time, she was knee-deep in the Olivia Rodrigo and Joshua Bassett drama, but rather than shy away from the public eye, she defended herself with “because i liked a boy” and showed with the rest of the track list that she wasn’t afraid of a little scandal. The snarkiness of her personality came out during this time, and she quickly became not only a girl with a killer vocal range, but someone that fans around the world could relate to. emails i can’t send also had a very distinct, very marketable aesthetic; it was hearts and femininity laced with a little revenge and universal experiences that reminded the world that the woman they were hating on was just like everyone else. It humanized her. And it skyrocketed her career. 

Coming on stage each night of her tour in different variations of a corset and mini skirt, Carpenter’s brand became synonymous with the idea of a girls' night out and the growingly popular coquette style. While the costuming and overall energy of the album stood out, what truly made headlines was the “Nonsense” outros tradition that began on the first night of her tour in Atlanta, Georgia. Coming up with a new outro each night, each one getting more sensual and funnier than the last, Carpenter leaned into her wit and risque humour that endears fans today. And with discovering the ironic, playful energy that fans had learned to associate with her, she had finally found her niche in the industry: the satirical pop princess. 

Jumping into the present, Carpenter released her Grammy award-winning album Short n’ Sweet just last year, honing in on the fun and sexy side of her music, and recently just announced her upcoming album, Man’s Best Friend, due to drop in late August. “Manchild” is the lead single that was released in early June, and it falls under the same category as her Short n’ Sweet tracks, being unserious, catchy, and the perfect feel-good song for summer. However, despite fitting her brand perfectly, Carpenter has faced unprecedented backlash for her new album and new single. Why? Because critics and fans alike have claimed she is being “misogynistic” and “catering to a male audience.” People have complained that she is selling her body rather than her music. They want the “old” her back. They miss the role model she used to be. Which is, in the words of Sabrina Carpenter herself, “nonsense.” 

Sabrina Carpenter's new album cover, Man's Best Friend

The biggest issue people seem to have with the new album is how she’s depicted on the cover. In the picture, she is seen on her hands and knees with a man’s hand in her hair, clearly satirically playing with the idea that, like a dog, she’s a “man’s best friend.” While I think it lines up with her brand of being very tongue-in-cheek and provocative in a fun way, others seem to think differently. Some say it’s derogatory to women and degrading to her music, and others complain that she seems to be veering away from the actual content of her songs and towards the appeal of her looks. And while, yes, her current music is a lot shallower than some of her past productions, I’d argue most people still listen to it because of her catchy rhythms, rather than because her skirts are shorter than they used to be. Maybe her music isn’t as meaningful as it has been in the past, but that doesn’t make it bad. It just means it isn’t serious. And with the way Carpenter has been singing, dressing, and acting, her whole goal right now is that she isn’t being taken seriously. She isn’t looking to move an audience with what she writes; she’s just looking to have fun with her career. 

Still from her new music video for Manchild

In our modern age of supporting feminism, people of all ages are being taught to celebrate accomplished and successful women, which is why the slander of Carpenter’s new album is so confusing. She’s embracing her sexuality, something that radical feminism aims to promote, so why should she have any reason to be ashamed? Why is there anything wrong with a woman making the music she wants to make? And for people who are worried over the influence her choices may have on young girls, it’s important to note that Carpenter herself has expressed that her music is not catered towards children. It once was when she was a child, but as she’s matured, so has her music and her audience. Just as artists such as Cardi B and Adele aren’t slammed for making music that targets older individuals, Carpenter shouldn’t be criticized for simply making music for people her age either. While her brand has centred more recently around her sexuality and has taken advantage of her beauty, there also isn’t anything wrong with young girls being exposed to the way she’s being marketed. If when I was younger I could have looked up to someone like Sabrina Carpenter, I don’t think the message I would have taken from her is that I should dress more revealingly; it would be that I as a girl have the freedom to make the choices I want and be confident in my skin without caring what the rest of the world has to say. 

Perhaps the most baffling part of this whole ordeal is the connections it has to numerous other complaints against singers in the past. The situation is reminiscent of when Carpenter herself was caught up in the Joshua Bassett drama and pitted against Rodrigo, being labelled a “slut,” which, in a sense, is the label society’s given her once again. Back when Taylor Swift was in the early stages of her career, she was pressured into crossing over from country to pop, but after the releases of Red and 1989, people were upset that she was changing too much. This juxtaposes now the way that Carpenter was praised for the new sound of Short n’ Sweet, but because she’s sticking with the same theme in her new album, people have a problem with it. All in all, there are so many other examples of this in music history, but the sad truth of the matter is that nearly every instance is in relation to a female artist. And the double standards between men and women in the industry extend past just the genre of music they make and the labels they’re given. It also affects their careers as a whole. While many men can write the same type of songs from the day they debut to the day that they die, women don’t get that privilege. If we don’t adapt and move with the times, we’re often forgotten or replaced. Carpenter understands this, arguably more than anyone else in the industry, and she knows that with how fickle society can be, she’s very potentially at the peak of her career. We live in a consumer-run world, where what people buy is what people end up selling, and youth is what sells in a society that prioritizes looks over all else. So what this means for women in this industry is that we need to capitalize upon the opportunities that arise when they do, because it isn’t promised that the same things will present themselves a year or two down the line. Carpenter does this by taking advantage of the assets she currently has: her money, her looks, and the demographic of her fans. She isn’t becoming a vapid artist by any means; she’s just making music she knows she can’t sell in fifteen years. 

I cannot guarantee to anyone that I will like Sabrina Carpenter’s new album. Maybe there will be too much synth in the composition, the lyrics will sound reused, or it just isn’t her best work. But for now, I’m reserving all judgment, because who knows; maybe when the album comes out, it will be her deepest and complicated one yet. We just don’t know. So, for everyone who has dragged her through the mud in their reviews over the cover, I urge you to wait until her actual music comes out. You can’t judge an album based on its lead single, and you definitely can’t judge it by its cover. And even if, when it comes out, it’s nearly identical to the sound of Short n’ Sweet, just know that she put time and effort into creating something she thought was worth sharing with the rest of the world. Just because it isn’t your cup of tea doesn’t mean it isn’t someone else's. And it definitely doesn’t automatically make Carpenter a misogynist who’s subject to your unrelenting criticism. It just means you don’t have to listen to the album if you don’t want to.