“I like my boys playing hard to get, and I like my men all incompetent” croons Sabrina Carpenter on Manchild, the lead single from her forthcoming seventh album Man’s Best Friend. The song has already shot to Number 1 around the globe, while the much-anticipated reveal of the album’s cover has sparked some, shall we say, passionate debate.

Carpenter is pictured kneeling on the ground with her flowing blonde curls in the tight grip of a man’s fist, her hand teasingly placed on his upper thigh, eyes wide and mouth agape: you work out the rest. It’s the sort of overtly sexualised image that has propelled Carpenter to the forefront of pop culture: she enjoys sex, and she doesn’t care who knows it.

But unlike largely positive reactions to previous projects – from her Netflix festive special, which saw her sit, purring, on Santa’s lap, to her last album Short n’ Sweet, the cover of which featured a flirty but comparatively PG image of Sabrina with a lipstick mark on her shoulder – which were lauded as feminist-friendly and empowered, the R-rated cover of Man’s Best Friend seems to have backfired.

Fans on social media have been quick to criticise what they perceive as a degradation of women. One X user said “the concept of being a man-hater yet making your album cover a pic of you getting on your knees for a man while he grips your hair in a degrading manner is so odd,” while on TikTok, fans suggested she was “setting women back” by using such a sexual image; one labelled it “a straight-up Pornhub fantasy”.

Since she broke free from the Disney Channel shackles several years ago, Carpenter’s sexual frankness – and apparent creative control – hasn’t been to everyone’s tastes. Despite now being one of the world’s most successful popstars (Short n’ Sweet featured multiple Number 1 singles and its subsequent tour sold out in minutes) she has been criticised for what some label her deliberate ‘Lolita’ marketing. Her savvy decision to capitalise on her youth (she is 26 but could pass as an early adolescent) and tiny stature (she is just 5ft) has led to suggestions her provocative lyrics, outfits and choreography are inappropriate, especially considering a large swathe of her fanbase consists of pre-teens.