The Album Cover That Got People Talking
Sabrina Carpenter’s new album cover dropped and the internet exploded. She’s on all fours in a short black dress, being held by the hair by a man whose face we never see. The image is provocative, charged, and very clearly styled with a BDSM aesthetic in mind.
The backlash came quickly. People said it was anti-feminist. That it set women back. That the generation after #MeToo was throwing away everything feminism fought for.
Here’s the problem with that take: it misunderstands both feminism and kink. Because this image? It doesn’t betray feminism. it embodies one of its most radical values: choice.
Consent Is What Changes Everything
In the context of kink, submission isn’t about being less than. It’s not about being forced or degraded against your will. It’s about consent. About choosing to give up control in a way that feels safe, hot, freeing, or emotionally intense.
That’s not weakness. That’s not oppression. That’s autonomy in action. And that’s what makes it feminist.
Why Submission Isn’t What You Think It Is
For people outside the kink world, seeing a woman on her knees with someone gripping her hair might look like humiliation or degradation. But in a consensual dynamic, those same visuals can symbolize trust, power, intimacy, and control—on her terms.
Being submissive doesn’t mean you’ve given up power. It means you’ve decided where it goes, who holds it, and for how long. The submissive often sets more boundaries than anyone else in the room.
Yes, This Image Is Loaded. That’s the Point.
Sabrina knew exactly what she was doing. This wasn’t an accident or a mistake. It was a deliberate embrace of erotic power dynamics, something kinksters understand, but that makes mainstream culture deeply uncomfortable.
And that discomfort says more about us than about her.
When someone sees this image and says “this is why feminism is failing,” what they’re really saying is, “I don’t like that a woman chose this.” They don’t trust women to want things that challenge tidy definitions of empowerment.
Feminism Means We Get to Decide
There’s no one way to be empowered. That’s the whole damn point. Some people feel strongest in a boardroom. Some feel it in a bedroom. Some feel it while being held by the hair and looking straight at the camera, fully in control of the gaze.
Feminism isn’t about telling people how not to be oppressed. It’s about making space for all the ways people find their power, including through consensual submission.
Final Thoughts: She’s Not a Victim. She’s in Control.
If you look at that cover and see weakness, ask yourself why.
If you see a woman on her knees and assume she’s lost something, maybe you’re missing what she’s actually gained: agency, intention, and full ownership of her narrative.
Because a woman choosing to kneel—on her own terms—isn’t a step backward.
It’s a step deeper into her own power.
And yes, it’s feminist as hell.