Sabrina Carpenter claims there is a 'lot of nuance' in Man's Best Friend content
Sabrina Carpenter has defended the sexualised nature of her new album Man's Best Friend and claims that there is a "lot of nuance" in her creative choices.
Sabrina Carpenter claims that there is a "lot of nuance" to the choice of imagery on the album cover for Man's Best Friend.
The cover – which depicts the Manchild hitmaker on her knees while an anonymous figure is pulling her hair – was criticised by women's aid groups but the star claims that she was trying to reflect "something that women experience" in the sexualised imagery and choice of lyrics.
Speaking to Interview magazine, Sabrina said: "I felt like, 'Why is this taboo?'
"This is something that women experience in such a real way, becoming comfortable with themselves and who they are. There's so many reasons why I called it Man's Best Friend and there's so many layers in the experiences I was going through at the time where, emotionally, I felt like one.
"I'm really, really grateful that there's enough of my audience that really knows me as a person that will be able to hear these songs how they're intended."
Sabrina revealed that she was "fascinated" by the response to the album cover, which the Glasgow Women's Aid charity branded "regressive" and "pandering to the male gaze".
The 26-year-old singer said: "When I came up with the imaging for it, it was so clear to me what it meant.
"So the reaction is fascinating to me. You just watch it unravel and go, 'Wow.'
The Espresso hitmaker recently stated that her new record is "not for any pearl clutchers", although she defended her songwriting approach by suggesting that anyone can listen to Man's Best Friend and "find something that makes them smirk and chuckle".
She told CBS Mornings: "The album is not for any pearl clutchers.
"No, but I, I also think that even pearl clutchers can listen to an album like that in their own solitude and find something that makes them smirk and chuckle to themselves..."
Sabrina accepts that her lyrics can be "bold" but claims that her music is just "fun" at heart.
The Please Please Please singer said: "I think that's the thing, is sometimes people hear the lyrics that are really bold or they go, 'I don't want to sing this in front of other people.' It's like it's almost too it, it, it's TMI [too much information].
"But I think about being at a concert with, you know, however many young women I see in the front row that are screaming at the top of their lungs with their best friends. And you can go like, 'Oh, we can all, like, sigh of relief like, 'This is just fun.' And, and that's all it has to be."
