It’s the fashion in kinky circles to decry E L James’s “Fifty Shades” series. Indeed, I was perhaps the first to review it on a spanking blog, at the very start of May, and I was hardly positive in my observations. It’s badly written and boring. There are concerns about how it portrays kink – a relationship that appears to lack informed consent; an implication that being a top or dom results from past psychological damage. And it’s frustrating that it’s sold so many copies in comparison to better-written, more genuine work such as Sophie Morgan’s highly-recommended “Diary of a Submissive”.
Yet there are real upsides to the “50 Shades” phenomenon, too. Wandering round a branch of W H Smith last week, I was struck by the thought that much of it looked like a kinky porn shop – with entire displays given over to salacious, kink-themed volumes. Now, most of those are badly-written too – but it has to be good that kink is more in the open, with people confident browsing, buying and reading this sort of thing – our sort of thing – in public.
Whilst there’s a sense of a publishing bandwagon, and the quality of many of the books on display is (to put it kindly) variable, some of those flying off the shelves are – like Sophie’s memoir – really good. And they most certainly wouldn’t have troubled the bestseller lists before Ms James’s trilogy caught readers’ (and hence publishers’) imagination. Compare and contrast sales other excellent publications in the genre in the past: specifically, I’m thinking of my erstwhile friend Niki Flynn’s ‘Dances with Werewolves’, still the one book I’d recommend above all others to those wanting to read a kinky memoir.
“50 Shades” has introduced some, I’m sure, to their kinky sides – giving them the confidence and inspiration to explore, or at least talk to their partners about, naughty fantasies. That’s great, too.
It’s also provided avenues for some kinky people to share their interests more openly with family or friends. “I’m into spanking” seems like a harsh truth. “You know that ’50 Shades’ book? Well I rather like that sort of thing” seems more palatable and socially-acceptable for those wanting or needing to ‘out’ themselves in some way. (Hey, I’m even doing a “50 Shades”-themed presentation at a business conference in Arizona next year: I’d never have dared do that in the past!)
It’s even been responsible for turning round the sales fortunes and profitability of some booksellers. In an era where the high-street bookshop is increasingly under threat from online vendors and electronic downloads, this has to be excellent news.
So, ladies and gentlemen: here’s to “50 Shades”. I think folks like us should be celebrating it – realising the good it’s done for kink and its place in the world. It’s too easy to focus on the negatives at times.
It’s interesting – people that I know seem to say that this book is a “good story” , or “a bit more interesting than usual chick lit” but in my circle of friends, no one has actually come out and said that they are/could be into bdsm. So I don’t either lol. I do suspect that a lot of them are though, if only in their minds! I do agree that on the whole, the publicationof the book is a good thing, for all the reasons that you mention.
Have you seen this:
http://www.facebook.com/fiftyshadestoys
its 50 shades the merchandising
My friend who analyses fandoms and stuff like this thinks it might be an interesting gateway to the real deal in a world where it takes a lot of nerve to find out more, but is also slightly weirded out by the fact there is 50 shades merchandising
J – thanks: interesting to hear that it *is* being discussed. If only a small percentage of readers go on to experiment, then that’s still a lot of people!
Lily – I’m not brave enough to click onto a FB link about Fifty Shades – I don’t trust the site there not to make some link between that page and my (vanilla) FB account!
“a “50 Shades”-themed presentation at a business conference”: that looks very strange! Could you enlarge a bit upon this?
I personally know of at least one new blogger who came out to her husband and is now enjoying a spanko lifestyle after reading 50 Shades. How very creative of you to develop a presentation based on that theme. I’m sure it will go over very well.
As for Facebook, I wouldn’t touch that link either. Off-topic, but did you know that if you are signed on to FB and Blogger at the same time, and click on a harmless-looking button encouraging you to “change your colours”, a bot jumps into your Blogger account and creates 80+ new blogs with random numbers and characters. Nice, huh?
Hugs,
Hermione
Ordalie – much more about that presentation to come in the next few months, I think…
Hermione – it’s lovely to know about that new blogger. And the Blogger thing is scary. (I do worry about my vanilla FB being somehow ‘contaminated’ inadvertently!)
I absolutely agree with you that the success of 50 Shades has helped shine the light on fetish. It’s certainly a first step…