If you’re constantly on the internet like I am, then you know Sabrina Carpenter had her rise to fame this past year. A former Disney star turned pop icon, Sabrina really gained her popularity when she opened for Taylor Swift on the Eras Tour and released her sixth studio album Short n’ Sweet.
Sabrina recently released the deluxe version of this album with the following songs: “15 Minutes,” “Please Please Please (feat. Dolly Parton),” “Couldn’t Make It Any Harder,” “Busy Woman” and “Bad Reviews.” As much as these are pop bangers, one stood out to me for the wrong reasons.
Now, don’t get it twisted. I am a Sabrina Carpenter fan, so much so that I’ve seen her twice in concert. I am a bigger fan of her fifth album Emails I Can’t Send, which I think has a more diverse track list, where the theme of her most recent album is simply…horny. And listen, I love a sexy pop song as much as the next gal, but I can only relate to singing “I’m so fucking horny” so much.
However, Sabrina’s song “Busy Woman” is full of lyrics that made me raise an eyebrow. This song got popular very quickly, and I’ve seen a lot of people listening to it and enjoying it online and in real life. But, being the English major and feminist that I am, I found it necessary to sit down and talk about this song and why I have an issue with it.
Sabrina Carpenter is most known for her silly, dirty lyrics full of funny lines and innuendos. “Busy Woman” is no exception, though I do think she was trying too hard to be funny with these bonus tracks. I also think it’s important to note that Sabrina is an incredibly conventionally attractive, blonde, heterosexual woman. It’s not that surprising that she is so famous. The media loves to boost the ideal person into stardom, and Sabrina definitely has that look. She also presents herself in an incredibly feminine way. She shows off her body, wears skimpy outfits, and does sex positions on stage. However, there’s duality to this disposition. On the one hand, Sabrina is presenting herself in a very heteronormative way. She’s a pretty blonde woman singing about having sex with men. What’s new? However, she’s also singing explicitly about her sexuality and celebrating it, showing off her body in what you could argue is in an empowering way.
Anyway, let’s get into this song. In “Busy Woman” Sabrina sings about her mixed emotions about desiring a romantic relationship but settling for a purely sexual one because of her busy schedule as a pop star. She warns the man she’s singing to that if he doesn’t want her, there will be consequences.
And that’s my issue with this song. In the first verse Sabrina sings “I’m so mature, collected and sensible / Except when I get hit with rejection / To turn me down, well, that’s just unethical / I’ll turn into someone you’re scared to know.” Sabrina warns her love interest that she is usually good-natured, but if she’s rejected, then she’ll become unpleasant. As much as this line, and this entire song, could be a joke, it comes off pretty serious. And this line in particular plays dangerously close to the hysterical woman trope. Once Sabrina’s looks are discounted, and she isn’t desired by men, her self-worth plummets. This is suggesting that as a woman, Sabrina’s value is placed in the hands of others and she must rely on the approval of men to feel any confidence in herself. That’s bad.
She then backtracks and says if this man doesn’t want her she “didn’t want your little bitch-ass anyway.” Upon rejection, Sabrina then insults her love interest in a vulgar way and demeans his masculinity. Not only is this playing into the hysterical woman trope, but this line is upholding traditional values and placing the pinnacle of masculinity as sexual conquest. The man is then regarded as simply an object for sex, a machine if you will, one who is regarded as broken for not wanting Sabrina’s traditionally attractive femininity.
This point is proved further when she sings “If you don’t want me, I’ll just deem you gay.” Oh boy. How I hate that line. The only reason a man must not want to be with her is because he’s not attracted to women. Sabrina is known for embodying hyper-feminine attributes and being the model for traditional beauty. This line implies the over-sexualization of men, and if a man doesn’t want this desire of beauty, it’s because there’s something wrong with him (i.e. he’s gay).
In an instance when she does see this man she sings “So much to shave and lipstick to reapply.” Oh my god. This line makes me want to die. Sabrina might be shaving her body and applying makeup because she wants to, and it makes her feel put-together and sexy, but I can’t help but cringe at this line which is just consumed by the male gaze. To be considered beautiful and desirable, Sabrina must be well-shaven and smooth (which is oddly childlike if you really think about it), as well as ultra feminine and put-together, suggesting that how Sabrina naturally looks (with body hair and no makeup) is undesirable and not good enough for someone to desire her.
This is a lot to say about a song that is three minutes and seven seconds long. However, the media we consume shapes our thoughts and opinions in a conscious and unconscious way so it’s important to analyze the things we are consuming. It’s also totally fair to see this song as a complete joke. However, as much as I do think there are some joking elements to this song, there’s a problematic underlying truth that is important to think about. And this in no way means I’m not going to listen to Sabrina Carpenter. She has some bops. When “Bed Chem” comes on you know I’m cranking the volume all the way up.
Average Asexual 