Sabrina Carpenter: You know her, you might love her, and once again, the two-time Grammy winner is sparking online debate over her impact on feminism and women in society.
Last week, Carpenter released a new single, “Manchild,” alongside the cover art for her upcoming album, “Man’s Best Friend.” The cover features Carpenter kneeling next to a faceless man in a suit. The man is pulling Carpenter’s hair, probably like a leash. The next photo in the Instagram post features a dog wearing a collar that also reads “Man’s Best Friend.”
The Instagram post is filled with negative comments providing feedback like, “Explain to me again how this isn’t centering men? How this isn’t catering to the male gaze?” “maybe let’s not fetishize abuse?” “This isn’t satire, this is not empowering to women. You’ve missed the mark by so much hun.”
This photo, subsequent photo shoots, and discourse on social media echo similar conversations that have plagued Carpenter’s career for years. Most notably, the Internet is frequently wrapped up in the frenetic debate over how she performs her song “Juno” in concert.
The song includes a line referring to sex positions: Carpenter sings, “Have you ever tried this one?” While performing, she makes a different pose every night, typically something that could be interpreted as sexual. Concert attendees share photos and videos of the performances. And without fail, commenters asked how Carpenter could be promoting sex in such a way, especially citing young fans who could be influenced by this show of sexualization.
Typically, replies to comments like these include arguments that parents should know in advance where their children are going and what they are seeing—those parents are making those choices for their own children. But that argument doesn’t end the discourse. And frequently, the conversations surrounding Carpenter complain that she oversexualizes herself, to the detriment of other women.
This is also the conversation that surrounds “Man’s Best Friend.” How could someone in this influential position of power use something that could be construed as violence or abuse? Some argue that she is glorifying abuse, centering the male gaze, or contributing to the oversexualization of women.
Perhaps Sabrina Carpenter and her art are contributing to how society views women: perhaps Carpenter posing naked for Vogue or talking about sex tells men they can talk about women the same way; perhaps Carpenter posing like a man’s dog tells men they should treat women like dogs. But conversations like this didn’t start with Carpenter’s art. And how men talk about and treat women hasn’t changed because one 26-year-old sometimes sings about sex.
Perhaps that isn’t the conversation we should be having. Perhaps we should be talking about why men who talk about sex are treated differently—especially in the music industry—or why men who mistreat women are excused because some other woman chose to pose nude. Ultimately, this falls into the same category as blaming women for “what she was wearing”: it excuses bad behavior and shifts the responsibility away from those causing harm.
What Is Fourth Wave Feminism?
Instead, this conversation marks the understanding of what the fourth wave of feminism is and will be.
Feminism, as it formally began in roughly the mid-1800s, began as a movement looking for voting equality. The focus of the earliest feminists was gaining the right to vote. What is known as the Suffrage Movement also became known as part of the first wave of feminism, the first surge in activism for women’s rights.
The second wave of feminism came in the mid-1900s, alongside the Civil Rights Movement and anti-Vietnam War protests. This wave was marked by Betty Friedan’s book, The Feminine Mystique, published in 1963.
Third-wave feminism was announced by Rebecca Walker (daughter of prominent second-wave leader, Alice Walker) in 1992, while watching Anita Hill testify against Clarence Thomas during his Supreme Court nomination hearing. Hill accused Thomas of workplace sexual harassment. While the previous two waves of feminism centered around reforms, specifically legislative changes, this new era “focused on tackling problems that still existed,” like workplace discrimination and sexual harassment, and allowing women to embrace their own sexuality. Third-wave feminism is also marked by movements like Riot Grrrl (led by Kathleen Hanna and Bikini Kill).
While these periods are roughly situated in time, they are not distinct eras between specific years. So while feminism may still be in its third wave, the conversations surrounding Carpenter could be markers of the fourth wave of feminism. And while equality for women is still about issues like ending workplace harassment and inequality, it seems that we have transitioned to a wave of women’s empowerment and work for change in societal views.
How Does Carpenter Play Into This?
Carpenter is a moment that is part of this wave. She does what she wants, despite criticisms from the media, from men, and from women.
She shows what fourth-wave feminism can be about: If women want to force equality, they should operate in a place of disregarding what other people say and think. For so long, men have been allowed by laws and society to do whatever they want, sometimes with too little consequence. Should women do the same? Should women wear what they want, do what they want, and be what they want?
While the comments criticizing Carpenter on her new album cover are theoretically harmless (though words do hurt), it does what these comments are warning against: Women commenting that this image shows Carpenter romanticizing abuse and violence allow men to do the same. And though perhaps Carpenter may be romanticizing violence, violence is perpetrated by the abuser, not by the victim.
The real conversation of fourth-wave feminism, beyond allowing women to do and be who they want, should continue to center on punishing bad behavior. The issue with what some may say is “slutty,” is not that the person wearing the “slutty” clothes is allowing violence to happen to themself. The issue is the person who interprets “slutty” clothes (or any clothing for that matter) as an implicitly agreement for violence. And the aggressor should not get away with aggression, just because of “slutty” clothes.
But that change in society and outlook is easier said than done.
Carpenter’s responses, though fundamentally difficult to allow negativity to wash over you, are a good start: “It’s always so funny to me when people complain,” she told Rolling Stone, recently. “They’re like, ‘All she does is sing about this.’ But those are the songs that you’ve made popular. Clearly, you love sex. You’re obsessed with it. It’s in my show. There are so many more moments than the ‘Juno’ positions, but those are the ones you post every night and comment on. I can’t control that.”
Wherever Carpenter and feminism go next, this is important to remember: Do what you want, wear what you want. If you like something, don’t let anyone tell you it’s wrong. If you don’t want judgment to come your way, don’t send out judgment to anyone else. And, maybe Sabrina Carpenter will be as synonymous with fourth wave feminism as Bikini Kill is for third wave feminism and Betty Friedan is for second wave feminism.
What's Your Reaction?
