The Male Gaze, Feminism under capitalism, and the magic within.
If you’ve had the honor of having ears this past few months you’ll have noticed Sabrina Carpenter’s Espresso blasting on the radio or on the playlists of Brandy Melville and Anthropologie. Full confession, I have been absolutely hooked on this song since the first moment I heard it. As a man for whom it’s been a long time since I’ve felt the espresso of obsession that comes with new romance it struck a deep personal chord. Yet as I listened to it on a daily basis the layers of the song began to unravel, and I began to think on the themes of the male gaze, and women’s empowerment in our current cultural climate. So I thought I’d share my amateur analysis of Espresso with y’all.
Lyrics:
“Now he’s thinking of me every night oh, isn’t that sweet I guess so? Say you can’t sleep baby I know, that’s the Me-espresso” Right off the bat Sabrina tells us she’s got this magic that’s her espresso, the boys all want it, and frankly she could take or leave them. Alright so far so good, she goes on. “I can’t relate to desperation, my give a fucks, are on vacation, and I got this one boy, who won’t stop calling, when they act this way, I know I got them.” She establishes in a few lines that she’s not like the other girls, she’s not desperate, She’s not Ariana Grande pleading with us “there’s nothing I wouldn’t do” Or Taylor, trying to convince us that she “Wishes she was like the girls from your high school.” Yeah, sure Taylor… Sabrina doesn’t give a fuck about the boys because she knows she’s got the male gaze on lock. Her spell has already captured one boy and frankly she knows they all want what she’s got.
“Too bad your ex don’t do it for ya, walked in and dream came true’d it for ya, soft skin and I perfumed it for ya. That morning coffee brewed it for ya, one touch and I brand new’d it for you (so stupid) ” Now that we’re under her spell she taunts us with her seductive prowess, basically saying, “honey I’m so sorry your ex didn’t do it for ya, if she did, if she had this kind of espresso you wouldn’t be here now would ya?” Sabrina Carpenter walked in with her 4’11 frame and we were dumb-struck. She’s got that soft skin; which if you didn’t know women generally speaking have extraordinarily softer skin than men. I don’t know why; has to do with hormones or something we didn’t come here for the science.
She had us under her spell and she even perfumed it for us, bestowing us with her fragrance. She has captured us by catering to the male gaze and she’s not feeling shy about it. She’s got the coffee for us, she’s got the magic touch better than any Viagra on the market. Her eye rolling “so stupid” comment feels like a nice homage to the general playful ridiculousness to the song. “Holy shit, is it that sweet I guess so?” She remarks in an interlude between the next verse. She doesn’t even know her own sweetness, the flower can’t taste it’s pollen that’s why she needs the honeybee. The spell she taunts us with would would not be possible without the male desire and gaze.
Cultural Context:
So here’s the catch and I’m going to try and drop the sarcastic and condescending tone for a minute. Women’s rights and empowerment has been a defining topic of the modern world. The fight against misogyny, for equal pay, for bodily autonomy, for basic human rights is ongoing battle all over the world. A song like Espresso, which dazzles us with its pop beats and let’s be honest super sexy lyrics. Feels like it is speaking to this empowerment in one sense, “I got these boys wrapped around my finger, look at this spell I can cast on them with my me-espresso; They are a dime a dozen and I am a queen.” Yet in other ways this sexiness still feels in line to the values the patriarchy has always held for women. The themes of sexual allure, devoted attention, and submissive service.
Why in a world so progressive as ours in which so many women have fought to attain equality and to free themselves of patriarchal tyranny; do we still have a culture that worships and pays tribute the male gaze? It is my opinion that a large part of modern culture parades around feminine empowerment in the service of capitalism. We live in a world of extraordinary capitalistic greed, and this has created a culture that cares about women’s empowerment as long as they are still buying stuff. Secure women aren’t going to chronically spend money on copious amounts of beauty products and new furniture. Well adjusted men and women wouldn’t spend 300$ a month on an Equinox membership to try and attain ridiculous beauty standards. In this culture of late stage capitalism we want women to feel empowered to be girl-bosses and leaders, but we don’t want them to be secure in their self or their bodies, that wouldn’t be good for business. The powers that be need an insecure base of people trying who are brainwashed or scared enough to believe happiness and meaning comes from material goods outside of oneself.
Look I don’t disagree with a lot of the themes of this song. The men’s humble submission to the radiant beauty of the feminine. A knock-out cutie who’s perfumed and more than willing to be of service to her partner. There is nothing inherently wrong with this if it’s what makes an individual happy. Yet, consumer culture has taken these archetypes and ballooned them up to ridiculous proportions that us mere mortals can never live up to. Which often leaves one feeling hollow and insecure. A hollowness that a shopping spree at ULTA or Alpha Protein Powder and Andrew Tate compilation videos aims to fill. Don’t even get me started on the Espresso music video which presents Sabrina in black and white until she brings out a gold credit card which turns the world into color.
Yet I believe there is still something at the whole of Espresso something which has escaped me with all this intellectual posturing I’ve been doing, something that drove me to like the song intuitively from the first listen. I choose to believe that at it’s heart Espresso isn’t about late stage capitalism, or the male gaze or any of this nonsense. (Which I begrudgingly admit I spent the first two pages arguing). Espresso is the light that all of us have, that others can see in ways that we ourselves are blind to. Espresso is the magic that makes us ‘us’ and is about finding someone who just wants to drink you in. Mike Birbiglia said in one of his stand up specials, “Love makes people do crazy things like kill other people or shop at Crate & Barrel. I think on some level it makes us all delusional. Deep down, our whole lives, no matter how low our self-esteem gets, we think, I have a special skill that no one knows about and if they knew they’d be amazed.”
Espresso is shared love and appreciation, a part of self-confidence is knowing that you have this love within you and are able to give it to yourself as well as share it with others. So to you dear reader, I wish that you may know your espresso, that you may appreciate your Espresso and be able to share it with others. That you may find or are lucky enough to have found someone who relishes your Espresso, who can see and taste all the subtleties and spices to your Espresso that you are blind to, and that you can do the same for them. I hope that even after that initial caffeine high and brightness has faded, that you may still drink each other in like morning coffee and appreciate one another’s presence. If you can’t tell, your author is a hopeless romantic, but that’s part of Me-Espressso. What does your Espresso look like? What kind of Espresso do you want to cultivate within yourself? How do you want to share it with the world? In my humble opinion it would be selfish to keep all that goodness and light to yourself 🙂 Thank you for reading.