Sabrina Carpenter playfully incorporates her sexuality into her lyrics, choreography and on-stage outfits, and despite it being 2024, she gets lots of stick for it.
The singer recently spoke to TIME for a cover interview, and was asked whether she has escaped the kind of "vilification" that artists like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera used to get in the 2000s for embracing their sexuality in their work.
"No, I definitely get that as well," Carpenter said.
Even though she's frustrated by it, she has a good strategy for coping with the criticism.
She explained, "Someone told me this, whenever I would get upset or feel like I'm the only one getting criticized for something other people are able to do seemingly so freely: I'm the one that's seeing all the negative sh*t about myself. My friends don't see that."
Carpenter continued, "But you'll still get the occasional mother that has a strong opinion on how you should be dressing. And to that I just say, don't come to the show and that’s okay.
"It's unfortunate that it's ever been something to criticize, because truthfully, the scariest thing in the world is getting up on a stage in front of that many people and having to perform as if it's nothing. If the one thing that helps you do that is the way you feel comfortable dressing, then that's what you’ve got to do."
The star then referred to her 94-year-old grandpa attending one of the shows on her Short n' Sweet Tour, and some of the comments she received about it.
"My fans online are like, I can’t believe she's bending over in front of her grandparents!" she said. "I'm like, girl, they are not paying attention to that. They’re just like, I can’t believe all these people are here."
Fresh off her show in Hartford, Carpenter is playing in Boston on Thursday, followed by Baltimore on Saturday. Her international tour runs through March 26.
