Why Would a Man Be There? Male Centralization in Pop Culture & Media

Everywhere you look on social media, you will see and hear the phrase decenter men. At the height of this topic, after the 2024 presidential election, it was heavily discussed and promoted in response to the election poll breakdown and the misogyny that was being spewed in thousands of comments, tweets, and posts thereafter. Decentering men is supposed to be what it sounds like, but some may lack discernment and comprehension or just take it too literally. What was once supposed to be about women centering themselves, their goals, lives, values, and hobbies first is now starting to be weaponized nitpicking at what the next woman is doing wrong.

Since then everyone has been on high alert in recognizing artists, influencers, actresses, media, and content with alleged male-centered focuses. Celebrities like Sydney Sweeney, Latto, Sabrina Carpenter, Megan Thee Stallion, Olivia Rodrigo, and even social media influencers, specifically in the dating coach and femininity spaces, have been included in the conversations regarding the male gaze and decentering men on both spectrums.

Now, with the current state of the world and the conservative “red-pill” agenda being pushed, more people are waking up to the idea of this being done purposefully. We all know that agendas are often pushed through the media and pop culture first, as they are the biggest and most influential places of consumption. Post-election, everyone collectively crashed out and reflected on the signs that this is the direction we were being pushed towards as a society (we’ll dive deeper into that another day). Before the current talk about influential women and them centering or decentering men, the feminist movement in music and media was the start to this all. Women’s empowerment, expression, irony, and satire are where the original discourse derives.

Ironic or Idiotic?

The 1970s is a notable period where the world started to see the slow rise of irony and satire in women’s music as a form of protest for feminism. In the 1990s, it only picked up and kept growing and going through the decades in different forms. Artists were making statements left and right—portraying themselves in a stereotypical way, making fun of it, and contrasting the lyrics to piece it all together. Objectifying or sexualizing themselves as a way to control their narrative before a man can do it, like Adina Howard’s Freak Like Me. Even portraying men in a stereotypical way, shaming and demeaning them in an attempt to even the scales, like Christina Aguilera & Lil Kim’s Can’t Hold Us Down. It didn’t always land right away, as some people were still evolving and catching up, even decades later. In 1999, Missy Elliot’s “She’s a Bitch” was noted and created as the reclamation of the word “bitch.” Lil Kim’s unapologetic sexual lyrics were one of the starts of women in music reclaiming their sexuality as a topic of discussion on a more mainstream level in the 90s, especially in the Black community. She received mixed reviews but still a lot of backlash about the example she set for young women and girls. Some accused her of lacking self-respect, claiming she was sexualizing herself for the attention of men while neglecting the needs of young Black girls.

We Can Do It (But Not Like That)

In the late 2000s and early 2010s, we saw the feminist movement expand. Everyone was telling girls how independent they can be and how cool it was to focus on their dreams and goals, putting slogans on tees, recreating the We Can Do It photo, and even men were getting in on the topic—Ne-Yo with Miss Independent and Fabolous with Make Me Better. For a moment it was fresh and quirky, revolutionary, and really sticking it to the man.

We also started to see more satire and irony in music, movies, music videos, magazine covers, and interviews. Lady Gaga and Beyoncé had their iconic moment with the Telephone music video, as did Miley Cyrus with Can’t Be Tamed. With this new rise of feminism came an influx of criticism towards the girls who did feminism outside of the “appropriate” or “good role model” way.

By textbook definition, feminism is defined as the equality of both sexes. From this, women wanted equality in every aspect, and for a few, that included sexual liberation. Though when artists expressed this on their terms, it was deemed classless, provocative, and degrading. A lot of people like to forget, but Rihanna was torn to shreds when she released S&M, from her fifth studio album Loud, by both men and women. While the song was Rihanna’s fun and satirical expression of her relationship with the media, the critics allowed the sexual lyrics to overshadow that while also giving space for many to demean her sexual expression. With her more sensual and expressive rebrand, she was deemed a slut, seeking attention from her abusive ex.

Miley Cyrus wanted to take back her power and reclaim her image that was consumed by Hannah Montana at the time, and she was deemed a terrible role model and classless for being in a cage and daring to be hot. Which is ironic considering the feminist movement that was jumping off at the time. Many would think that women’s empowerment and sexual liberation are under the same umbrella, but that was not always the case, and it seems as though it still isn’t.

Sexuality, Satire, and Scrutiny: The Modern Pop Dilemma

In the year 2025, everything has been done, recycled, and reheated. There has been a shift in the early 2020s of consumers deciphering between genuineness and publicity stunts and marketing strategies. So often, to the point that everything is questioned in the name of performance and pandering. Are they really trying to make a statement? Are they really for the decentering men movement? Do they care about their audience? Are they really being ironic? Is it a marketing tactic and just executed poorly? Even today’s pop princess candidates aren’t exempt from this line of questioning, no matter how clear or unclear their brands may be.

Recently, Sabrina Carpenter has been the topic of discussion after releasing the cover to her upcoming album, Man’s Best Friend. On the cover, the ‘short and sweet’ blonde is on all fours in front of a man who is pulling her hair. This sparked immediate discussion and outrage on the internet, in which she followed up with a milder alternative cover.

Sabrina was already mentioned in and out of discourse surrounding the male gaze vs. the female gaze and male-centered topics, so for some, this was the cherry on top. Some love it, but many hate it. Comments and discourse sounded off immediately: “She’s setting women back 50 years” and “Get up, girl.”

While I believe the outrage regarding the references to Lolita is completely valid, her new album cover remains up for debate. The main topic of her brand is her being too sexual for the male gaze. Meanwhile, everyone has been yearning for pop stars to come back and stop playing it safe, begging for a new Britney Spears, but at this rate, are we ready for them?

Megan Thee Stallion received the same backlash from her 2022 single Pressurelicious promo covers, with the same dialogue: she’s setting women back, she has no self-respect, etc. This type of dialogue makes me question the decent men movement. Centering yourself as a woman means putting yourself and your interests first, right? Shouldn’t self-expression be included in that?

Pressurelicious was off of Megan Thee Stallion’s second studio album, Traumazine, a project where she expressed her painful and dark emotions navigating through past and current traumas. People were ready to write her album off from those photos, saying they were tired of everything being about men and sex with her.

We haven’t even heard Sabrina Carpenter’s album yet, but the cover has the think pieces flowing, and she appears to be next on the chopping block for some. We don’t know if the cover is just her expressing sensuality or if it’s satire not executed properly to the masses. Again, the concerns and opinions are valid, but looking through the eras and different forms of women fighting for themselves and their voice, it seems as though there is no way to win. I can’t help but think if the over-criticism is what’s actually setting us back.

Blurred Lines: Where Is the Limit?

With the constant whiplash from consumers and critics, people make some great points. Criticism of art and creative expression can be tricky to navigate and express regardless, especially with this topic, since so many have different lines and boundaries of what is too much or not enough. No one is above critique, but the intention behind it needs to be noted. What’s damaging the work that’s been done over the last 5+ decades, and what’s progressing it? What’s basic and unmoving or extreme and pandering? In this political climate, is irony the gotcha moment we think it is when attempting resistance to misogyny? Is Intention vs. Result to blame? Is it satire or just in poor taste? Is satire the go-to excuse to cover up poor execution? Are they actually male-centered, or are we just policing women’s sexual expression and identity? But my question remains unanswered: where is the line?

While those upset or calling out women for keeping men at the topics of their art and expression or being sexual allegedly in the name of the male gaze and feeding into the patriarchy, it’s also a bit contradictory because you’re also policing their freedom of expression and sexuality—which also feeds into the patriarchy. Most of the criticism mentioned in this post has a bottom-line factor of how we look or are presented to men. Almost like respectability politics. Policing women’s sexuality and their expression of it is actually upholding the patriarchy instead of dismantling it, which was the goal of the entire decenter men movement. So, where is the line?

While I think that there are levels and limits to everything, it’s not up to me to determine those for others, especially with their own expression and their art. I think our response to things is what determines if we are upholding the patriarchy or dismantling it. Think about it, the first thing you hear when someone is called out for playing into the male fantasy or the man’s stereotype for women is “this is what they (men) want,” “you’re giving the red-pillers fuel,” “she’s setting women back 50 years,” or my favorite sarcastic line to see, “Oh, she sure told them; that’ll teach them.” All of that literally puts men in the center of the conversation, whether that’s the artist’s or art’s intention or the critique’s intention, and that keeps the patriarchy going; that keeps men at the center of everything. But then, without critique, where would there be room for accountability? So I ask again, where is the line?