Sunday 22 July 2012

Fifty shades of crap?

Here's a review of Fifty Shades of Grey that I really enjoyed reading:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/340987215?auto_login_at
tempted=true
Here's how it ends:
"It's this kind of ignorant trash that sets feminism back decades. Women who defend this book are, however unwittingly, participating in some of the most blatant misogyny I've ever witnessed, giving the impression that some women enjoy being debased, abused, and controlled (outside of a consensual dom/sub relationship). This is not a book about BDSM, this is a book about one sick, abusive man and his obsession with a young, naive invertebrate. It's a book about a girl who has absolutely no sense of self, who sacrifices any pretense of individuality in order to hold onto a man who doesn't even show her the faintest glimmer of respect. It's about two attention-starved individuals with the emotional maturity of toilet paper convincing themselves that their relationship is 'like, the best thing ever, OMG'. It's trite, insulting, and dangerous. I fear for any impressionable young women who read this and think that this is how an ideal relationship should operate. If nothing else, it should be issued as a guidebook to mothers around the world to show their daughters the kind of man to avoid at all costs. This book does good men (and indeed, all of humanity) a disservice."

And here's another good crap-busting invention - Fifty Sheds of Grey:




14 comments:

Cap'n NikNak said...

Brilliant! Thanks for sharing. On the tube in London, sooooo many women are reading this crap. I shake my head in disapproval and either plug in my headphones or take out my battered copy of Vagina Monologues and re-read ;)

DPF:TLDR said...

Why is it not BDSM? It's an honest question, I've not read the book, but this is the first time I've seen it described as not BDSM (as opposed to just poorly written BDSM)

Jane said...

What is it about AnneE telling woman what movies or books they can or can't see or read.

I haven't read any of the 50 shades of... books. However some of my friends have; and they rave about them, apparently these books have spiced up their sex lives no end. I'd have thought this was a good thing.

Cat said...

Why is it not BDSM? It's an honest question, I've not read the book, but this is the first time I've seen it described as not BDSM (as opposed to just poorly written BDSM)

BDSM is, basically, submission and dominance play with very defined rules. One gets off on pleasing, the other gets off on being in charge. There are LOTS of rules around consent and safety, for obvious reasons. In 50 Shades, he gets off on pain and basically manipulates her into going along with it without any good safe words and she doesn't want to, and doesn't really understand but goes along with it 'to keep him'. It's not 'okay, we're going to dress up and spank each other' it's 'you made me mad, now I have to hurt you and you agreed to this so stop whining'.

There's a really, really good parody/read through here http://jenniferarmintrout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/05/50-shades-of-grey-chapter-13-recap-or.html

Cat said...

That link discusses the consent stuff, the final chapter includes this comment:

"Because that's what this is, readers. In the final chapter, we get to the crux of things. Christian isn't into BDSM. He's into causing pain, which, while sometimes falling under the umbrella of BDSM, is a pretty specific subgenre of BDSM fun times" http://jenniferarmintrout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/06/50-shades-of-grey-chapter-26-recap-or.html

It's actually a really interesting read, and starts out funny but ends up horrifying.

From what I've seen, the BDSM community is divided between 'yes, we're being talked about as a not-awful thing!' and 'ARGH THIS BOOK IS DANGEROUS AND AWFUL'

Ms p said...

Jane

Anne E is offering a place to critique this book, with some relevant links to kick the discussion off that suggest her own opinions. If you've a problem with cultural/literary critique, i'd say you're probably in the wrong place.

LudditeJourno said...

Ms P - hear, hear.

DPF:TLDR said...

@Cat: Thanks, although I feel like I should say that I wasn't looking for a 101 on BDSM is (I knew that already). Still, you did explain why it didn't fit, so I'll keep that in mind.

Jane said...

Ms p.... Thank you for putting me in my place. I'm just a silly little unsophicated white woman who dosen't know her own mind.

However I have a question to ask ...what is it about some women who feel the need to police other womans their sex lives?

ChundaMars said...

@Jane: I think you can open that one up to "people" i.e. what is it about people that makes them think they can police other people's sex lives?

Regarding 50 Grades of Crap - even though I have a penis, I managed to finish off the first book. That was as much as I was willing to take though - if I ever have to read the line "He gazed at me, his expression unfathomable" one more time, I may just gouge out my own eyes.

I can't honestly say whether the book was misogynist or a poor representation of BDSM because honestly, I just couldn't get past how poorly written it was. Ugh.

ChundaMars said...

Irony: criticising a book for poor writing while using the term "honestly" twice in one sentence.

St L. said...

So I take it you don't approve of The Story of O? That is recognised as a BDSM classic.

St L. said...

That is not to defend the book, however! It is, apparently, pure, unadulterated crap..

Having looked at the review, I can say that so is the review website. My brain is now hurting from the gif overload!

DPF:TLDR said...

"I shake my head in disapproval and either plug in my headphones or take out my battered copy of Vagina Monologues and re-read ;)"

@CapnNikNak: Does that copy have the "if it was rape, it was good rape?" line in it?