Overview

• Carpenter’s lead single “Manchild,” released June 5, uses a campy ’70s B-movie aesthetic to lampoon male behaviors with lyrics like “useless,” “stupid” and “slow.”
• The album imagery shows Carpenter kneeling with her hair grasped by a suited man, fueling debate over whether it satirizes misogyny or reinforces submissive stereotypes.
• Social media reactions span applause for her playful rehumanization of female sexuality to criticism that the cover undermines women’s empowerment or caters to sexist fantasies.
• Salon’s Amanda Marcotte contends that Carpenter’s ironic sexiness and over-the-top outfits challenge puritanical views and reclaim the pleasures of pop eroticism.
• ‘Man’s Best Friend’ is scheduled for August 29 release and is expected to further explore themes of feminism, humor and sexual empowerment.