Here's Why Sabrina Carpenter's Album Art Is Being Compared to Sydney Sweeney's Bathwater Soap

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a day ago

A lot of people are talking about Sabrina Carpenter and Sydney Sweeney right now—and it's not because they're both blondes with names that start with the letter 'S.'
This all started when Sweeney dropped a provocative collab in late May, releasing a limited run of Dr. Squatch soap that was made with her actual bathwater, and some of which are currently being resold on the internet for thousands of dollars. Internet users were quick to question the target audience of this release, with many fans criticizing the Euphoria star for catering to the male gaze and rewarding her objectifiers. Others suggested the stunt was a bold way for Sweeney to reclaim her body autonomy and cash in on said objectification. Many thought the whole thing was just weird.
The original Instagram post, by the way, has since been removed from Sweeney's Instagram feed.
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What does this have to do with Carpenter? Well, the discourse surrounding her latest cover art is sparking similar conversations, with many even referencing Sweeney's bathwater soap in the process. But what is it about the Man's Best Friend album art that set off the internet? Here's the TL;DR.
Shortly after the release of her latest single, 'Manchild,' Carpenter announced her next studio album, Man's Best Friend. On June 11, the 26-year-old singer posted an image of herself on her hands and knees with her hair being held up like a leash by a faceless being in a suit (presumably a man). The second image was a close-up of a dog wearing a collar and a tag engraved with the album title.
'My new album, 'Man's Best Friend' 🐾 is out on August 29, 2025,' Carpenter captioned her Instagram post. 'i can't wait for it to be yours x'
While many were thrilled to get a new album so quickly after the release of Short N' Sweet in summer 2024, other fans and Internet users were unhappy with the album art, which was quickly described as degrading and antifeminist.
On one side, you've got critics saying that the image is degrading and feeds into a culture that sexualizes and demeans women. Many of those users brought up Sweeney's bathwater soap as further proof that our culture's depiction of women is regressing.
On the other, you have fans who believe the art is satirical and on-brand for Carpenter, who has written as many cheeky suggestive lyrics about sex as she has lyrics that make fun of her exes. Just look up the lyrics to 'Juno,' 'Bed Chem,' or a compilation of her ad-libbed 'Nonsense' outros from her Emails We Can't Send era.
Many have pushed back against that argument, suggesting the images themselves won't read as 'ironic' or 'satirical' to young audiences or those unfamiliar with Carpenter's stage persona.
Besides the Sweeney bath soap discourse? Well, Carpenter has faced similar backlash throughout her career, whether it's for her suggestive lyrics or for acting out some 'freaky positions' during the 'Juno' portion of Short N'Sweet tour—though those criticisms mostly seemed to come from parents who hadn't bothered to research the artist's career since her Disney days on Girl Meets World.
'It's always so funny to me when people complain,' Carpenter recently told Rolling Stone of that discourse. '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's 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. If you come to the show, you'll [also] hear the ballads, you'll hear the more introspective numbers. I find irony and humor in all of that, because it seems to be a recurring theme. I'm not upset about it, other than I feel mad pressure to be funny sometimes.'
Though she has not responded to this backlash specifically, she spoke about the online scrutiny women face during her recent Rolling Stone cover interview, published on June 12.
'I don't want to be pessimistic, but I truly feel like I've never lived in a time where women have been picked apart more, and scrutinized in every capacity. I'm not just talking about me. I'm talking about every female artist that is making art right now,' she said. 'We're in such a weird time where you would think it's girl power, and women supporting women, but in reality, the second you see a picture of someone wearing a dress on a carpet, you have to say everything mean about it in the first 30 seconds that you see it.'
She further explained how constant criticism can negatively effect artists. 'What people probably don't realize is the more eyes you have on you, the harder it is to love what you're doing, and you have to keep fighting to still love making things and to still love performing,' she says. 'Because the critical sides start to taint it, and they start to make things less fun. They start to make friendships and relationships less fun and enjoyable. [But] there's still so much light and goodness in this, if you're doing it for the reason of you love it and can't live without it.'
This is a complicated one, to be honest. There's no denying that there's been a noticeable shift in cultural depictions of women since Trump's second presidential elections, with pre-MeToo era marketing techniques returning in full force as the current administration lays siege to women's rights and reproductive rights (as well as the rights of trans people, people of color, and immigrants, of course).
That being said, I'm not sure Carpenter's album art belongs in that conversation. Do I think we need more blatant imagery of women being held down and subservient to men? Not particularly, though I'd argue Carpenter expresses a lot more agency in this image than people are suggesting. Regardless, does the art itself reflect themes Carpenter regularly explores in her music? Absolutely.
Just look at 'Please Please Please,' a song she wrote about purposefully ignoring red flags in the hopes her partner will prove her instincts wrong. As we then learn from 'Manchild,' they never do. (No, I'm not implying that 'Manchild' is about her ex, Barry Keoghan.)
'Most of the lyrical content is about disappointment in relationships and all the different shapes it takes,' Carpenter's producing partner Jack Antonoff said of the upcoming album. 'I think it's a celebration of those who let you down.'
As one fan joked about the cover art on X.com, 'sabrina carpenter is your friend who cries to you about how horrible her man is, you coach her through the breakup and they're back together by morning.'
I think it would be in bad faith to assume Carpenter's album art was designed to appeal to a male audience over the fans who already love and know her music. There's also something eerily puritanical about the way some commenters are critiquing Carpenter's sexual expression—or is sex positivity only for women who express it in a specific way?
In any case, I'll leave you with one final question: Should Sabrina Carpenter and other women in the entertainment industry cater their artistic vision to the internet's version of the ideal feminist or do we still crave authenticity and challenging, complex art? You can't really have it both ways.
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Originally Appeared on Glamour