Why female pop stars embracing sex is still controversial in 2025

Whereas Madonna’s overt sexuality felt radical, Carpenter’s has a more tongue-in-cheek feel – to the point where some have questioned whether it’s a marketing ploy. Criticism intensified in June when she unveiled the cover for Man’s Best Friend, featuring the singer on her knees as a man grabs her hair. It drew ire from several quarters – some feminists, women’s charities and fans thought it was degrading to women. Conservatives thought it was overtly sexual. Others defended the singer, calling the reaction puritanical and suggesting the image was satire. Carpenter later revealed an alternative “approved by God” cover – and this week said the original image was about deciding “when you want to be in control“.

It all ramped up anticipation for the album’s release, fuelling speculation on whether this might be Sabrina’s Erotica, a daring and subversive, sex-positive album. In fact, the album has turned out to be, as one critic for The Times described, “surprisingly vanilla”. Despite the provocation prompted by the cover – and nine out of the 12 tracks being labelled as explicit – there is nothing especially radical in either the music (perfectly pleasant, occasionally great ’90s-and-Abba-inspired pop, with no hooks to quite rival Espresso) or the lyrics. Sure, there are plenty of lines that would make your grandmother blush, but Carpenter’s album doesn’t reveal anything that shocking – just a young woman exploring her sexuality and writing smart, funny and sometimes smutty lyrics about the realities of modern dating. So why all the fuss? 

In October, she will appear as a guest star on her friend Taylor Swift’s new album, The Life of a Showgirl. When Swift revealed the various covers for the record – including shots of her in a barely-there diamanté bodysuit – some seemed disappointed. “This isn’t what fans come to Swift for,” said one writer, suggesting the star’s “sultry new era is out of sync with everything Swift has told us about who she is”.

Such criticisms seem blind to the fact that the cover of her last album, The Tortured Poet’s Department, featured Swift writhing around on a bed in her underwear, while the album track Guilty as Sin? had references to masturbation. Or that, for a 35-year-old woman who has had several high-profile relationships – including an engagement that this week broke the internet – and frequently mines her private life for inspiration, it’s actually weirder that she hasn’t written more about sex. As for the “girl next door” tag… even your wholesome neighbour has sex sometimes. That pop stars still need to choose between expressing their sexuality or being “relatable” only seems to perpetuate the age old “Madonna/whore” dichotomy.

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Admittedly, Swift herself did once say: “I’m just not generally a sexy person.” But that was back when she was still feeling the pressure not to do anything to alienate her young fanbase – including speaking up on politics. She was allowed to change her mind on that, so why can’t she embrace her sexuality, too?