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Sabrina Carpenter’s bold album cover is reviving pop music buzz in 2025

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Instead of expressing my personal viewpoint about whether Sabrina Carpenter’s latest album cover is beneficial or detrimental to humanity, I’ll leave that judgment up to you. If you haven’t been keeping up with the recent buzz surrounding the singer, I’ll provide a brief summary of the controversy for your knowledge, but then we’ll shift our focus to a broader topic.

To summarize, Carpenter, who’s been in the music scene for over a decade, reached the peak of the pop music world with her incredibly catchy album “Short n’ Sweet”, released in 2024. As anticipated, she became a frequent attendee at major festivals and events.

She’s faced criticism, particularly from older figures in the music business, due to the explicit sexuality she expresses in her concerts. For further information, look up Pete Waterman.

Why are people arguing over a Sabrina Carpenter album cover?

Without a doubt, this kind of behavior isn’t unheard of in the music industry. The Red Hot Chili Peppers might have ruffled some feathers with their on-stage sock attire, but they mainly elicited chuckles. However, if Madonna, Britney, or any other artist were to don a thong, the world seems ready for an apocalypse.

Still, Carpenter’s latest controversy did seem to cross a line, even for some of her defenders.

The eagerly awaited new album from Man’s Best Friend, a follow-up to Short n’ Sweet, won’t be released until late August, yet it’s dominating the pop music news. However, it’s not the first single, “Manchild,” that’s generating all the buzz. While “Manchild” is decent, it’s not the topic of conversation among music enthusiasts.

They are too busy talking about the album cover.

The recently published image depicts the singer wearing a short black dress, kneeling at the feet of a man in a black suit, who appears to be headless. He grips her long blonde hair tightly, while she touches his thigh with one hand. Whether it’s a gesture of protest or affection remains unclear. The interpretation ultimately depends on the observer. In other words, different people might see different things in this picture.

In addition, there’s another detail to note. While the scene is presented in profile, Carpenter faces the camera with her head turned, giving a direct gaze. This is reminiscent of Harriet Andersson’s intense stare into the camera in Ingmar Bergman’s 1953 film, Summer With Monica. We’ll delve deeper into this comparison later.

The posture is undeniably suggestive and sexual in nature, but interpreting its underlying message is another matter entirely. Is it a symbol of power or humiliation, a critique of an artist’s role within the music industry, or something completely unrelated? It’s important to note that I am not expressing my personal viewpoint on this subject.

Let me share some thoughts on how album covers have historically portrayed female artists, focusing on the rock & roll era. Regardless of personal opinions about the cover of “Man’s Best Friend,” there are valuable insights to be gained from this analysis.

In the days before rock music reigned supreme, we find ourselves backstage during the 1950s and ’60s. Julie London, a captivating blonde singer and actress, was already making waves with her velvety voice. She had released an impressive 29 pop albums by this time, but as the 1970s approached, she decided to focus more on acting.

In the latter half of the ’50s, Julie’s albums were incredibly popular. However, as rock and roll started gaining popularity and changing the music landscape, her style of recording began to seem outdated, which led to a decline in her success.

One distinctive feature of Julie London’s early albums was the album covers. Her first album, titled “Julie is Her Name“, showcased a photograph of a woman with a serious expression, who seemed to be wearing a minimal dress that only hinted at covering her neckline. The image ends right where the dress begins, so it’s implied that she is dressed in some way.

In her subsequent albums, she continued to emphasize her fashion sense, particularly low-cut tops. The one titled “Calendar Girl” featured six distinct images of the artist, all showcasing various provocative outfits. This trend culminated in 1958 with the iconic album cover for “Julie,” where she was pictured reclining in a chair, one leg bent and the other extended, both legs exposed up to her waist.

It’s a stunning photo. Whether you consider it in good taste or not – I’ll leave that to you.

In essence, the music industry typically marketed female singers in a certain way – an image that was somewhat over-the-top. The attractiveness of these singers, like London, was deliberately emphasized. If they were already considered beautiful, their sex appeal was further amplified.

Starting from the mid-’60s, as the women’s movement started gaining significant traction, a new style of album covers became more prevalent. One notable example is the release of Dusty Springfield’s debut album, “A Girl Called Dusty,” which came out in 1964.

The image displayed a mid-length view of the 25-year-old Springfield, casually dressed in a denim shirt and dark blue jeans. She was grinning at the camera, slightly tilting her head to the right while playfully ruffling her short blonde hair with her hand. It’s an outstanding photograph; the colors are vibrant and eye-catching.

Instead of capturing the glamorous essence of Julie London, this portrayal of Springfield seems quite different. While Springfield certainly possesses attractiveness, the image doesn’t emphasize the conventional elements that might be associated with her sexuality.

For approximately ten years, this style or pattern persisted, possibly reaching its peak in 1975, marked by Robert Maplethorpe’s iconic photograph of his friend Patti Smith on the cover of her album “Horses.” In the image, Smith dons what seems to be a man’s suit and suspenders: a white shirt, black trousers, and a black coat casually thrown across her shoulder. Her countenance remains unchanged.

Whatever sex appeal may be there, it is in its most androgynous form.

At the same time singers such as Springfield and Smith were moving away from conventional feminine elegance, there was an abundance of hyper-sexualized depictions of women on magazine covers. The popularity of Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music amongst teenage boys was largely due to the growing trend of almost nude female models featured on their album artworks.

In 1974, it reached its most renowned height with the publication of “Country Life”. The cover image showcased two women who were largely unclothed. A casual observer wouldn’t need to scrutinize much to notice their visible pubic hair. This happened two years after the infamous “Mom’s Apple Pie” cover, which had to be modified due to concerns over its subtle depiction of female genitalia.

Towards the end of the current decade, American bands such as the Cars gained popularity. Their album “Candy-O”, released in 1979, was designed by Alberto Vargas, a renowned artist known for his depictions of pin-up-style women in the 1950s, most notably his cheesecake artwork.

It’s quite clear that Roxy Music, Julie London, Dusty Springfield, and Patti Smith are different, especially when it comes to their albums. Unlike the other artists, Roxy Music didn’t have any female band members. Instead, the women depicted on their album covers were models, not actual band members.

In 1975, which was also the year Patti Smith donned a man’s suit for her album “Horses”, Carly Simon was presenting a modern-day counterpart to Sabrina Carpenter. On her 1975 album “Playing Possum”, Simon adorned lingerie and knelt, much like Carpenter does today. And just a few years later on “Boys in the Trees”, she was seen once more in lingerie, casually pulling up a sheer stocking on her leg.

Simon faced criticism from some feminists. However, she defended herself by stating that she was expressing herself in a way that she found empowering, which, as far as she was concerned, embodied the essence of feminism.

Over time, album covers have seen a decline in their impact and significance. While music still comes with accompanying artwork, it doesn’t carry the same weight as before. The lines separating the sexualization of female figures remained largely undisturbed, even during the rise of influential artists like Madonna and her successors, despite the growing presence of women in the industry.

In essence, the discussion about album art during the ’90s and early 2000s often focused on depictions of male artists, such as Bobby Brown and D’Angelo. Compared to images of women, these portrayals drew more scrutiny, with sexualized imagery being particularly prevalent. Moreover, for male artists, the boundary-pushing themes also encompassed violent content.

1991’s “We Can’t Be Stopped” by the Geto Boys assertively presented a unique image of what could be marketed to a contemporary audience as an album.

It’s interesting to note that since Carly Simon’s era, explicit portrayals of female sexuality on album covers haven’t sparked many conversations. Although there are numerous women who freely express their sensuality through conventional and digital platforms, this topic is seldom brought up. Maybe it has just become the norm.

Back in the day, I can’t help but believe that the 1984 comedy masterpiece “This is Spinal Tap” drove the final nail into the coffin with its satirical “Smell the Glove” album cover – arguably the most iconic fictional album cover ever created (or not).

Before we get to Sabrina Carpenter, though, let’s talk about her recent cover. It appears to make a deliberate nod to the famous Spinal Tap cover featuring a woman kneeling and controlled by a man.

Many people might claim that Carpenter’s latest cover is merely an ingenious marketing tactic, generating significant attention. In fact, the album release is still two months away, yet here we are discussing it extensively. This strategy seems to be effectively capturing public interest.

But I think there is something else going on here, whether Carpenter intended it or not.

Music, especially popular tunes, can quickly slip into a generic formula. It’s a matter of passing through opinion polls and the technological prowess of today’s top producers to create something monotonous, massive, yet dull. However, Sabrina Carpenter stands out as anything but boring.

It’s unclear if the cover of “Man’s Best Friend” is undermining women’s rights or promoting them. However, one thing I am certain about is that Carpenter, much like the Harriet Andersson character in “Summer With Monica”, refuses to back down. I find this strength commendable.

I’m glad we’re discussing aspects of pop music beyond just Taylor Swift and Travis Scott, and even touching upon the depth and relevance of artists like Katy Perry. Pop music often stirs up debates about significant issues, and it seems clear to me that Sabrina Carpenter is aware of this.

Certainly, Once more, it’s up to you to judge if the particular image she selected for promotion is positive or negative. However, I admire her ability to make such a decision and have the courage to carry it out.

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2025-07-02 17:00

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