Along with all of the positive things that the popularity of Fifty Shades of Grey has introduced to the population (even if you just count a renewed interest in shagging your spouse), rampant misinformation about the bondage/dominance/sadism/masochism lifestyle might be one of them, say some sex experts.
A recent ABC News story addressed a less-talked-about Fifty Shades phenomenon:
“On the one hand if you are looking at it as a formulaic romance novel, it fits the formula perfectly,” said Emily Prior a BDSM/Kink/Fetish teacher at Sex Coach University and director of the Los-Angeles-based Center for Positive Sexuality. ”But if your audience is people who already are in a lifestyle or are being introduced to the lifestyle, it starts to give misinformation.”
“It perpetuates the ongoing idea that people who do this are broken in some way,” she said. “And this is not true.”
Good point: It’s heavily suggested in the book that Christian Grey has his particular tastes because he was sexually abused as a boy. Also, the story says,
“‘Fifty Shades’ has been roundly criticized by the BDSM community and its depiction of the lifestyle is inaccurate,” [relationship psychologist and sex advice columnist Susan Quilliam] wrote in an email to ABCNews.com. “Christian Grey’s initial seduction of Anastasia breaks every rule in the BDSM book.”
Quilliam said the relationship portrayed in the book is exploitive “on both sides and therefore emotionally unsafe and not sane.”
Yeah, that nagged at us too. Anastasia is technically old enough to consent, but Christian probably shouldn’t have asked. But that’s what makes the fictional story a fantasy through and through, we suppose.
[ABC News]
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