Man’s Best Friend is finally here, and while we soak up every last innuendo, Sabrina Carpenter is reflecting on the chaos that ensued when she first revealed the album’s provocative cover art back in June.
As you may recall, Sabrina’s album announcement sparked all kinds of discourse thanks to the accompanying art she shared on Instagram, which featured the star on all fours while a man pulled her by the hair. Naturally, mayhem ensued, with critics slamming Sabrina’s submissive pose as “degrading” and accusing her of glamorizing subservience to men. Meanwhile, others (like, ahem, myself) argued that the cover art was intended to serve as an ironic response to the exact kind of slut-shaming it generated and that criticism framing sexual submission as inherently degrading represents a fundamental misunderstanding of how Dominant and submissive dynamics actually function in kink. In short, it was…a time!
Now, three months later, Sabrina has addressed the chaotic response to the album art in a new cover story for Interview magazine’s September issue.
“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,” the star told Interview editor-in-chief Mel Ottenberg. “You just watch it unravel and go, ‘Wow.’”
And while Sabrina maintained that the cover art was intended as “a metaphor” rather than the literal representation of her own (presumed) sexual submission many took it to be, she did weigh in on the Dom/sub dynamic the image evoked.
“I do feel like submission is both dominant and submissive,” Sabrina told Ottenberg. “It really depends on what your intentions are and what you want, and what you crave, and what you need.”
And may I just say: Yes! Thank you, Sabrina! This is completely correct. In kink, Dominance and submission is not about one partner having complete control while the other has none. Rather, it’s a power dynamic involving a consensual exchange of control.
As I wrote back in June re: the album cover discourse, “Being submissive isn’t about having no autonomy but rather willingly relinquishing control to a Dominant partner.” And as certified sex and relationships psychotherapist Gigi Engle added: “In kink, the sub is not actually powerless. The Dom and sub are both in control because the scene has been negotiated and boundaries have been established. Therefore, you can let go and be submissive, but ultimately you know you are not, in fact, powerless.”
So let’s all say thank you to Sabrina for this little Kink 101 PSA. Now that we’ve cleared that up, I’m sure this means everyone will be totally chill and normal about it next time Sabrina does a cheeky sex thing, right guys?
