Poll: Is Sabrina C.'s new album cover satire or not?

[REALITY 76,045]

It certainly doesn't hurt that she's very conventionally attractive, so even if she's sexualizing herself in a satirical way, she still works out for her because she is beautiful.

I think it's ultimately satirical, and while it's not my cup of tea, I think the outrage is ridiculously overblown. First, I don't understand why so many people have an issue with this now. The same people complaining about this were defending her months ago when conservatives were whining about how she was "too sexual" during her concerts. Now all of a sudden it's a problem?? That's weird...

While I understand where the root of the criticism is coming from, I also think it's dangerous to equate sexuality and being sex-positive with misogyny. A huge part of feminism is the idea of being pro-choice, not just within the confines of the abortion debate, but in all aspects of life. The reason why feminism exists as a concept and ideology is because for far too long, men & the patriarchy have controlled women and their day-to-day lives. Women should be able to choose what they do with themselves and their bodies. It is completely within Sabrina's right to present herself this way. If people are demanding that she change it, they are part of the problem and are actually perpetuating misogynistic ideas. Even if you disagree with what she's doing, telling her to change herself is hypocritical. 

[Plastic Flower 4,586]

I feel like she’s just being kinky yet satirical 

[Ziggy 11,597]

Why is this controversial in any way shape or form? There are world issues both more existentially pressing AND silly dumb we could focus on. How did we land on a nothingburger for our attention? Lmao

[RenegAde 18,961]

9 minutes ago, salty like sodium said:

For someone who complained about someone else twisting your words two posts above, you're very good at doing it to others.For someone who complained about someone else twisting your words two posts above, you're very good at doing it to others.

I stopped reading after this part because why cant you keep our exchange focused on what we’re actually saying to each other? 

[Ivy 12,339]

I don't really see a sign of satire, but I guess when the album comes out it could become more clear

Imo this cover wouldn't even be talked about that much if it wasn't released at this time when women's rights are being taken away in the US. I think basically a lot of women are just saying like ENOUGH we don't wanna cater to men right now

For me the discussions and fights are really interesting actually because it's so much of a complex topic

[salty like sodium 1,651]

2 hours ago, RenegAde said:

I stopped reading after this part because why cant you keep our exchange focused on what we’re actually saying to each other? 

that's such a lazy reply just because you didn't have any clap back to say to what I just wrote to you, just grasping at any excuse to not have to address what I was actually saying.  I was giving you the benefit of the doubt until now but I clearly see now that I was wasting my time.  

2 hours ago, Ivy said:

I don't really see a sign of satire, but I guess when the album comes out it could become more clear

Imo this cover wouldn't even be talked about that much if it wasn't released at this time when women's rights are being taken away in the US. I think basically a lot of women are just saying like ENOUGH we don't wanna cater to men right now

For me the discussions and fights are really interesting actually because it's so much of a complex topic

but she's not catering to men though? her core audience are women and gays.  she doesn't make music for straight guys... i know that the whole industry revolves around "sex sells" but realistically straight men do not listen to sabrina carpenter's music (minus a few exceptions).

I feel like dazed summarized the situation really well: https://www.instagram.com/p/DK2LN48KxCl/?img_index=1

[27monster27 12,799]

This may not have been her intention, but the album cover represents the behaviors of most female Trump supporters very well I would say.

[gagafan1394 79]

who cares

[Bedazzler 15]

People defending this are giving me the ick! For it to be satire it can't look exactly like the thing it is satirizing, it would have to make men feel uncomfortable. 

Also the fact that her team deliberately had this intention is much worse, right now her fans are belittling DV victims on social media and inc*ls are saying that if the feminists dislike it they are fans.

The purity discouse too is unhinged, accusing woke women of being conservative, when there is nothing more conservative than a woman being subjugated by a man for likes and views.

[Ricardo 7,771]

I believe this is just for shock value and it's not cool imo 

[Controversiaga 10,595]

Weird for an album cover 

but anything goes these days 

[AyeshaErotica 1,660]

Now exactly 100 people have voted and it now has some statistical significance.

Exactly one third (33%) believe it is not satire, while 42% consider it satire against men, and exactly a quarter (25%) consider it satire against inconsistent feminists. GagaDaily has no consensus on this, and opinions vary widely.

[StrawberryBlond 14,768]

By definition, it is not satire. Wikipedia states that it is when: "vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposing or shaming the perceived flaws of individuals, corporations, government, or society itself into improvement." It is a straightforward depiction of the traditional gender roles - dominant man and submissive woman. There is no attempt to portray a clear message that the man is in the wrong by grabbing her hair so roughly. Instead, Sabrina is smiling, suggesting that she is enjoying it, which validates what the man is doing to her. I have asked numerous people to point out where the satire is and not one of them has responded. That tells me all I need to know. Katy Perry claimed her Woman's World video was satire when it got slammed for sexism and it was rightly pointed out that it wasn't satire because the same vibe is present throughout and there isn't a strong enough switch-up. And if Katy, the current internet's punching bag, had made this, you would've dragged her to hell and back and you know it. Funny how people forget what satire is when it involves someone who's currently popular.

Sabrina's team knew what they were doing. And granted, I should've put the criticism on them more than her as so many artists aren't in control of things like image and are encouraged to do certain things due to label pressure. If they wanted to make a raunchy cover, go ahead. But there's a way to make submission sexy in a way that doesn't look like abuse. Look at how Kylie's been doing submissive sex kitten sexiness since she debuted. As it is, as a full grown adult, I would feel too embarrassed to ask for this album for Christmas, so it puts her teenage fans in a very unfortunate position unless she puts out a mainstream variant.

8 hours ago, Bronco said:

Her music makes it clear its satire. Satire of herself and her terrible taste in men that results in them treating her like **** and taking advantage of her before she drops them. 

Please, please, please/good graces/dumb & poetic/sharpest tool/man child/bed chem/slim pickins/juno/lie to girls/couldnt make it any harder. 

Like her entire gimmick and stance is beyond obvious if you actually engage with her content. 

With all that being said - if you have to explain satire you've missed the mark. I think she's swung and missed this particular instance. But some folks are showing a real lack of critical thinking skils or media literacy with some of the accusations they throw her way.

Music and image can be different. Some album covers would suggest that the music within is very different to what it actually is. Case in point, my totally out of the loop mother didn't know who Selena Gomez was and almost bought her When The Sun Goes Down album blindly because the album cover art being all 1920's art deco flapper made her think it was retro vintage music. Still don't know why Selena chose to mislead with that cover but it's not unheard of. So I really don't care what the music within sounds like, visuals are far more impactful. Look at what I said above for proof that I genuinely understand satire. Just because people don't agree with you doesn't mean they lack critical thinking skills or media literacy. 

8 hours ago, high culture said:

What I really dislike about the "feminist" take on this is that they are completely leaving out of the conversation agency, consent, and kink.. They are basically arguing that Sabrina as a grown 26 year old woman cannot consent to having her hair pulled or is not allowed to be interested in exploring power dynamics. While the feminism I grew up with I believe would argue that having the power to explore this is the result of years of feminist activism. 

No one is saying a consenting adult can't do this stuff. Do it in private all you want. But taking a photo of it and putting it into the world for mass consumption when you're famous and successful with influence and power is a very different matter. Sex is by nature, a primal and private act. When it's photographed, especially without context, it can look abusive in some instances. Fetish content involving hair pulling especially looks very jarring with no context behind it when you don't know if consent was involved and the nature of the relationship. Anyone in the BDSM community will tell you that consent is paramount in this business and that includes the consent of onlookers. That's why they call women walking men on leashes around supermarkets posers who are just wanting attention because they are totally disrespecting the lack of consent from people just doing their weekly shop who were suddenly bombarded with highly sexual imagery that made them feel uncomfortable. No one should be forced to see anything sexual against their will. Sabrina's picture gives you the distinct impression that you're seeing something you shouldn't, like peeking into someone's private photo album. 

[salty like sodium 1,651]

1 hour ago, Bedazzler said:

People defending this are giving me the ick! For it to be satire it can't look exactly like the thing it is satirizing, it would have to make men feel uncomfortable. 

Also the fact that her team deliberately had this intention is much worse, right now her fans are belittling DV victims on social media and inc*ls are saying that if the feminists dislike it they are fans.

The purity discouse too is unhinged, accusing woke women of being conservative, when there is nothing more conservative than a woman being subjugated by a man for likes and views.

except she's not being subjugated by a man? the man is 100% the prop/object in this picture. the only part of his body you see is his hand, not even his face, because he doesn't matter. he matters so little, in fact, that she's looking at you, the viewer, not the man.

[salty like sodium 1,651]

1 hour ago, StrawberryBlond said:

By definition, it is not satire. Wikipedia states that it is when: "vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposing or shaming the perceived flaws of individuals, corporations, government, or society itself into improvement." It is a straightforward depiction of the traditional gender roles - dominant man and submissive woman. There is no attempt to portray a clear message that the man is in the wrong by grabbing her hair so roughly. Instead, Sabrina is smiling, suggesting that she is enjoying it, which validates what the man is doing to her. I have asked numerous people to point out where the satire is and not one of them has responded. That tells me all I need to know. Katy Perry claimed her Woman's World video was satire when it got slammed for sexism and it was rightly pointed out that it wasn't satire because the same vibe is present throughout and there isn't a strong enough switch-up. And if Katy, the current internet's punching bag, had made this, you would've dragged her to hell and back and you know it. Funny how people forget what satire is when it involves someone who's currently popular.

Sabrina's team knew what they were doing. And granted, I should've put the criticism on them more than her as so many artists aren't in control of things like image and are encouraged to do certain things due to label pressure. If they wanted to make a raunchy cover, go ahead. But there's a way to make submission sexy in a way that doesn't look like abuse. Look at how Kylie's been doing submissive sex kitten sexiness since she debuted. As it is, as a full grown adult, I would feel too embarrassed to ask for this album for Christmas, so it puts her teenage fans in a very unfortunate position unless she puts out a mainstream variant.

Music and image can be different. Some album covers would suggest that the music within is very different to what it actually is. Case in point, my totally out of the loop mother didn't know who Selena Gomez was and almost bought her When The Sun Goes Down album blindly because the album cover art being all 1920's art deco flapper made her think it was retro vintage music. Still don't know why Selena chose to mislead with that cover but it's not unheard of. So I really don't care what the music within sounds like, visuals are far more impactful. Look at what I said above for proof that I genuinely understand satire. Just because people don't agree with you doesn't mean they lack critical thinking skills or media literacy. 

No one is saying a consenting adult can't do this stuff. Do it in private all you want. But taking a photo of it and putting it into the world for mass consumption when you're famous and successful with influence and power is a very different matter. Sex is by nature, a primal and private act. When it's photographed, especially without context, it can look abusive in some instances. Fetish content involving hair pulling especially looks very jarring with no context behind it when you don't know if consent was involved and the nature of the relationship. Anyone in the BDSM community will tell you that consent is paramount in this business and that includes the consent of onlookers. That's why they call women walking men on leashes around supermarkets posers who are just wanting attention because they are totally disrespecting the lack of consent from people just doing their weekly shop who were suddenly bombarded with highly sexual imagery that made them feel uncomfortable. No one should be forced to see anything sexual against their will. Sabrina's picture gives you the distinct impression that you're seeing something you shouldn't, like peeking into someone's private photo album. 

there is nothing straightforward about this image – the fact the interpretations differ so wildly is evidence it's purposefully ambiguous to generate discourse.

for a lana del rey fan you sure missed the entire point of this image, which is both surprising and also not surprising somehow. sabrina is definitely a lana del rey listener (man child is inspired by the song nfr) and her entire brand is built upon tongue-in-cheek criticisms of the men she dates, infantilising them, demeaning them by calling them stupid, etc. the point of this cover is to highlight two things:

1) the satirical aspect is that sabrina is tongue-in-cheekily claiming she'd be willing to let a guy treat her worse than his pet if she was attracted enough to him. it's all "good fun", even if they break up she'll have a good time and write a good song or two about it to boot. that's the established dynamic and ethos she has embodied through the last few projects she worked on, and it's an inside joke with her fans: "i know this guy is trash but i just can't resist him but don't worry we'll break up eventually anyway and i'll write some good music about it, you'll see". it's telling she's looking at the fans, rather than the man, because ultimately this is a moment she is sharing with her listeners/audience, the man is just a prop to help her write more songs about the negative experience. it also feeds into a broader discussion that most women will likely understand if they engage with the artwork meaningfully, which is the extent to which women are willing to accept unacceptable behaviours from men in the name of love: the cover raises an important question: "how far is too far before i have to break things off?" so many women let men steal from them, cheat on them, lie to them, abuse them, hurt them. is the limit when they're on their knees with their hair being pulled? or is the limit before then? or after? this is another question the cover seeks to pose.

2) it's also a searing criticism of misogyny: the album is called "man's best friend", a title reserved to dogs. The commentary is clear: men treat their women worse than their pets, and she clearly has things to say about it that will likely become apparent in other tracks.

The music video for ManChild further supports this: it shows Sabrina seducing a string of questionable men, growing bored with them, then murdering them and moving on to the next one. She knows the men suck when she meets them but they seem like fun so she just goes with it, and ultimately ditches them whenever she feels like it and they end up dead when she's laughing her way into the next man's car. The entire video is focused on her own desires, and how she is in control because she decides when to start the relationships, when to end them, and how they end. And ultimately, even though the men are seedy, she's more dangerous than them so they better watch out.

Her intentions this era are very clear and I may not have been a fan of her at all but defending her vision on this topic now makes me want to become a fan of hers just for the sake of it lol.

Edited yesterday at 03:44 AM by salty like sodium