When Sabrina Carpenter’s new album cover came out on June 11 controversy sparked; The image of her kneeling on the ground and a man grabing her hair along with the title “Man’s best friend” scandalized millions online and her comment section filled with people shaming her for being “male-centered” “anti-feminist” and “out of touch”

But does this do more harm than good?

In the recent rise of conservatism in society the term “Male-centered” has become the new socially acceptable way to call a woman a slut; You don’t even have to say the word anymore. Just accuse her of “centering men,” and you’ve already painted her as desperate, shallow, or unworthy of respect. It’s a coded insult, but the message is the same: she exists for male validation, and that makes her lesser.

Sabrina is not new to this treatment and neither is any female celebrity who has dared to embrace her sexuality; we have seen it over and over again from Madonna to Megan fox and more recently Sidney Sweeny with her bar of soap scandalizing millions and calling her “male centered”.  the Truth is women can only be sexualized if they dont benefit from it, the moment she takes control we shackle her to this term.

We talk a lot about feminism and empowerment, but then turn around and use girl-coded language to tear each other apart. Instead of saying “slut,” we say “pick-me.” Instead of “attention whore,” we say “male-centered.” Instead of “fake,” we say “not empowering.” We wrap it all in intellectual, feminist-sounding language—but at the end of the day, we’re just repackaging the same old shame.

The truth is feminism should be about allowing women to choose and to be free of being dissected under a microscope for every action they take. There is nothing wrong for wanting to be sexual or desired. We turn celebreties into symbols and the moment they dont act like how we percieve “Empowered women” to act we punish them. Women dont need to be pure or dettached from men to be powerful, this is just one more example of how Gen Z has taken the “non-chalant epidemic”, lack of empathy, and “woker than thou” mentality into yet another way to separate us and tear us apart.

So before you call a woman “male-centered” think twice if the word you are actually wanting to say is “slut” and why.