Fifty Shades of Grey: I Guess This Kind of Abuse Falls into a "Grey" Area?

I've been seeing a lot of hype lately about the movie adaption of the oh-so-popular, pornographic novel called Fifty Shades of Grey. If you've been living under a rock for the past couple of years, the novel is about an insecure, young brunette woman named Anastasia Steele who attracts the attention of a much older, richer, and mysterious businessman named Christian Grey. After "courting" Ana for a while, Christian finally reveals his big secret: BDSM. He gives her an ultimatum, to sign a contract and become his submissive, or stop seeing him. Luckily for him, Anastasia just can't stay away from him, signs the contract, and enters into an abusive relationship similar to the one found in the popular Twilight Saga. Oh wait! That's because Fifty Shades of Grey is literally the Twilight Saga without the vampires. The novel started out as a Twilight fanfiction called "Master of the Universe." When E.L. James realized how popular the story could be, she took it down, changed the character names, and sent it to a publisher.

Back to the point though, the actions of Christian Grey towards his submissive Ana fall under the CDC's qualifications for intimate partner abuse. Through the contract Christian makes her sign, Anastasia is put under a strict diet and exercise regimine, forced to take birth control so that Christian doesn't have to wear a condom, and supposed to report to him on all her activities. She loses her independence in signing that contract. But that's not all, Christian invades every aspect of her life because of his jealousy, purchasing the company she works for and flying to her location when she goes out without his permission. Most importantly, the BDSM performed in the novel is obviously not written by someone who understand it. For instance: BDSM practitioners take consent very seriously, but Christian Grey seems to find the concept laughable, complaining and making Ana feel guilty when she uses the safe word . Furthermore, James implies that Grey's interest in BDSM arose from trauma, perpetuating a stereotype established in the 1950s that sadomasochism is a symptom of a sociopathic personality.

Plain and Simple, Fifty Shades of Grey is making a commodity of violence towards women, something that is already a huge problem in the world. It makes sexual abuse glamorous and erotic, and it teaches men and women alike that this sort of behavior is "okay" when it's absolutely not. I'm worried that the book and movie, because of their popularity, will be used as an example to follow when experimenting with BDSM, that Christian and Ana's relationship will be viewed as the "romantic ideal," and that true advocates for the lifestyle will be overshadowed by this dangerous interpretation.

Instead of supporting Fifty Shades of Grey, this Valentine's Day, donate the money you would have spent going to the movie or buying the book to your nearest women's shelter, or the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

For more information on this topic, and the sources I used, please check out the websites below!

http://www.blogher.com/troubling-message-fifty-shades-grey http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/intimatepartnerviolence/definitions.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carey-purcell/fifty-shades-of-grey-feminism_b_2395932.html

http://50shadesofabuse.wordpress.com/ http://health.usnews.com/health-news/health-wellness/articles/2013/08/12/whats-wrong-with-50-shades-of-grey-and-what-you-should-know-about-bdsm

Image from: http://www.projectcasting.com/news/domestic-violence-fifty-shades-of-grey/ c

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