50 Shades of Gray romanticizes the abuse of women. Is this true?
This trilogy caused a real resonance, but cannot leave anyone indifferent. For those who happen to be unfamiliar with the plot, here is a brief description. Successful handsome man Christian Gray and an ordinary virgin girl Anastasia Steele enter into a BDSM relationship.
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The book describes their perverted games in detail. Some fans of the book will have to agree that these people are not only in equal relationships that involve voluntary slavery, domination and submission. Their relationship may also be characterized by violence on the part of one of the partners.
Overwhelming success and its dark side
When millions of women read this work, they involuntarily wanted to take Anastasia’s place. For them, Christians act as a kind of heartthrobs and seducers. But researchers from Ohio University looked at this man”s behavior from a different angle. They tried to prove that his behavior was the same as that of a common rapist. He threatened, intimidated, isolated, stalked, humiliated and forced his men to have sex with him, and put mental and physical pressure on them. The book has already become a cult favorite and has tens of millions of fans around the world. In total, more than 70 million copies were sold. This stunning success changed the publishing industry and inspired many couples in their personal lives. The writers of Fifty Shades wanted to create a slightly twisted love story. However, researchers from the University of Bern argue that such seemingly harmless initiatives and the way they are implemented glorify and glorify sexual bullying and humiliation, and also contribute to the normalization of violence by one of the partners. Anastasia is not a fictional character. She is one of the 25% of women who have been sexually assaulted in a romantic relationship.
Characteristics of rapists
Why did the researchers decide that Christians were oppressing Anastasia? They identified distinctive characteristics that indicate his unhealthy desire to conquer and dominate.
- Threatening verbal and nonverbal behavior (orders, threats and punishments for disobedience).
- Restriction from the outside world and social contacts;
- Ignoring her requests to respect boundaries.
- Forces him to have sex, especially when angry.
- Tracks the location of its partner.
As you can see, all the signs of a rapist are clearly visible here. Given the fact that Christian appeared before the world with stunning looks, a job and a fortune of millions, no one understands that behind this ideal shell is a typical criminal,” says Edward Bonomi, assistant professor of psychology.
The heavy burden of victims of violence and forced conversion
This man controls Anastasia through sexual violence. She has to endure abuse, and, as is the case with all women who experience such coercion, she becomes suspiciously indifferent. She feels a constant threat and danger to her intimate integrity.
Read also: Why do girls love 50 Shades of Gray? What are the real reasons have our readers ever wondered why all women are delighted with the mega-bestseller “Fifty Shades of Grey”? After all, if you calm down and forget about it for a while.
She must remain silent in order to maintain her relationship with the world, and thereby lose her individuality. Bonomi adds: “Over time, Anastasia becomes helpless and trapped as her behavior becomes mechanized in response to Christian cruelty.” This once again proves that a little pink dust in the eyes can radically change a person”s opinion and prevent him from liking him in one day.
50 shades of gray
But what about crazy love stories? Bonomi and his team analyzed all three books. Experts say that love here is something in between that anchors the plot. Really, who is interested in reading about endless sex with whips and dirty ss? Draw parallels with pornography. If the video shows only sexual relationships without any meaningful meaning, then after 10-20 minutes it just gets boring. Love for a book is like an engine that makes you read more books. After all, no matter how sexually perverted a person is, it is important that he feels not only superficial satisfaction from physical pleasure, but also something noble, even in such a banal book.
Bonomi states that. “Really, what difference does it make whether there is love or not?” It is important that sexual violence exists. And it shouldn”t be advertised through fictitious characters with fictitious feelings and contentment with the status quo. Everything will be different in life. Unfortunately, in the modern world, violence against women is very common. Because we have places from which we can draw such drastic conclusions.”
Why is there such a positive reaction to the book among women?
Sociologist Pepper Schwartz, Ph. D., has been studying sex and relationships for decades. He teaches sociology in Seattle (Anastasia”s irony came from Seattle). He also inquired about the prevalence of abuse of women. In addition, he did not understand why women spoke so flatteringly about his work. Sociologists suggest that this was due to the fact that Christian quickly conveyed his appearance and success to the reader. If a certain Vasya from Khimmik did the same in a wrinkled shirt and Triko instead of a traveling suit, feminists would appear from everywhere and begin to demand lynching. But since the images of men in the books are presented in a standard form, no one bothers to look at the spot of sun that warms them.
Yes, gentlemen, in the world of double standards in which we live. If, instead of Christianity, you are a person of unimportant appearance and average income, your interest in books will soon disappear. Advice for the future: If you want to get a clear assessment of what is happening, take off the rose-colored glasses. The purpose of this article is not to devalue the success of this work, but also not to condemn the tastes of fans. It does not “eat up” what is given to you, but encourages you to look deeper, to consider the situation from different sides, and not just from the superficial.
