When thinking about sex in popular culture, the images of dusty old books and libraries don't exactly come to mind. More like the images of rap music videos, back up dancers, and half naked celebrities spreading their legs across the silver screen. However, recently, the literature world has been taken by storm by the novel 50 Shades of Grey by E.L. James. A love story about a young, innocent, virgin, Anastasia Steele, who meets the powerful and intimidating Christian Grey. They are instantly drawn to each other but there's a hitch (as always). Christian has a serious fetish for some BDSM; bondage, dominant , submissive, kinky sex. The novel is filled with scenes of detailed and graphic sex between the two main characters. Below, is a spoof of the novel done by Saturday Night Live.
It seems, despite the positive response to the novel, there are still a lot of humor surrounding the book. It brings up the question, are sex novels still too controversial/uncomfortable for some people? Or do we just really love a good sex joke?
Although this is the first novel to really get the media attention, there are so many novels concerning sex. There are entire sections of bookstores dedicated to romance and self help sex books. So why is it that 50 Shades of Grey is the first erotic novel to hit the spotlight? Is is just the sex? Or is it the characters that we find so appealing? To expand further, is this going to be the start of a literary movement? Does this make sex more acceptable?
Not only does Fifty Shades of Grey explore different sexual scenarios and bring up important questions, but it also is a reflection of the gender stereotypes and roles in our society. Christian Grey is the dominant, as most males are supposed to be in and out of the bedroom, looking for a submissive female, again as most women are supposed to be. Christian Grey has a need to control, whereas Anastasia Steele just has a need for his love and attention. The gender roles expressed in their relationship bring up the question of why is the male always the dominant? What would happen if the roles were reversed and Anastasia Steele was the dominant? The book does hint at Christian Grey's past lover, a Mrs. Robinson (Anastasia's nickname), who was his dominant and taught him everything he needed to know about being in a BDSM relationship, we don't meet this woman therefor we don't read of any interaction between the two. So, although there is a woman dominant in the novel, she no longer plays an active role.
In my section of the blog, I will do my best to answer all of these questions not only surrounding 50 Shades of Grey, but other novels as well. I am an avid reader, but, admittedly, 50 Shades of Grey is my first erotic novel (because of course I'm reading it). I know little of the world of erotic novels or novels containing the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transvestite) community. However, having read novels from this century and what would be considered classics, I am well aware of the different gender norms in the world of literature and how they change over time. I will take you on a journey through the literary world and hopefully we can make some sense of the increasingly sexual nature of novels.
-Liz Harrison
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