Sabrina Carpenter on How She Really Sees Men: ‘I Feel Like We’ve Always Kind of Had to Train Them’

THE RUNDOWN

• Sabrina Carpenter spoke about her complicated views on men in an interview with Vogue Italia.
• “I do think that men have been a super entertaining species to watch in positive and negative ways,” she began.
• The single pop star also revealed she is writing a lot, even after releasing two albums in two years, and is in a period of introspection and flux.

Fresh off the release of Man’s Best Friend, Sabrina Carpenter is speaking candidly about how she sees men—and why it’s complicated these days. In an interview with Vogue Italia, the singer discussed the idea of women “kind of” having to train them, along with why she leans on sarcasm both on and offstage.

“I do think that men have been a super entertaining species to watch,” Carpenter said. “In positive and negative ways. I feel really adored and inspired and loved by some of them...and really confused and attacked and ridiculed by others.”

She quipped, “When one of my female friends announces that she’s having a son, I just rejoice for that young boy. Because I know he’s going to be raised right.” She laughed, then added, “Correct me if I’m wrong, I’ve only been on Earth for 26 years, but I feel like we’ve always kind of had to train them. Unfortunately, it’s a tale as old as time.”

Carpenter explained that she uses humor to share her more nuanced viewpoints: “Part of life is making light of moments that maybe make us uncomfortable, or at least, that is for me,” she said, adding her wit has made a difference, too. “My whole life I felt like humor was just this, and it wasn’t even always humor, I think it was usually just sort of a wit that kind of saved me. It was always there to make sure that at the end of the day I was protecting myself for the future.”

The singer discussed staying true to herself amid fame, crediting her friends and team for supporting her and “my weird brain. That’s the only way that I can continue to stay as authentic as you possibly can in a world where it’s so easy to lose that so quickly.”

“My shows can sort of feel like I’m playing a character, but the second that I’m speaking to the audience, I’m speaking as myself,” she added, noting that she does protect her private life. “What I did that day and how I feel that day in the moment...those are the moments that I’ve kept to save for me.”

Carpenter admitted this is a period of flux for her: “I feel like as a person I’m really changing all the time...something that I feel today is going to be so different in a month from now.”

That has led her to do “a lot of introspective thinking right now,” she explained. “I really want to do things intentionally and things that bring me life and give life and give those around me life.”

The single star revealed she has been journaling a lot—and teased there may be more music in the works. “I’m doing a lot of writing right now, which you wouldn’t probably expect after two albums, two years in a row.”