More on the books...
Let's take a virginal, naive young girl(because let's face it, she never matures throughout these novels), thrust a contract in her face that she doesn't understand and proceed to bully and manipulate her into a lifestyle that she doesn't want. All the while making any activity involving BDSM into an unloving, abusive farce with a man who is obviously a sociopathic slime bag. I would think these books would send curious vanilla couples running for the hills instead of exploring what BDSM really is.
These behaviors are NOT sexy. If you recognize any of these signs in your partner, please get out of the relationship and seek help from the National Domestic Violence Helpline or your local SPARK organization.
I know I speak out strongly against these books and to be fair, against the Twilight novels for the same reason(yes, I know 50 shades is a fanfic of Twilight). I also know E.L. James is laughing all the way to the bank. I just cannot sit back and watch others consider the relationship in these books to be cute, sexy and healthy when they are not. Re-read them if you have to. Search between the lines. Try and get past all of the "Holy cows!" and immature writing and really see these for what they are. Please don't ever think that this is the way any relationship should be. You should never manipulate your partner. You should never fear your partner.
If you want fun smut that better depicts the learning of a D/s lifestyle I would suggest the Brie Learns series of short stories by Red Phoenix. Educate yourselves and always stay safe, sane and consensual!
Until next time...xoxo Bliss
I read the books before I started researching BDSM and some parts were intriguing to me. But the unhealthy parts, I was literally swearing at the characters for their actions. ( I tend to get sucked into a book when I'm reading it.) While the books don't depict BDSM correctly, it did bring me to read up on BDSM and unlock the part of me that was hidden.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you were able to pick out the good parts of these novels. Sadly, most will not and will be under the impression that this is a healthy BDSM relationship. There are several wonderful fantasy novels that are much more accurate, but they aren't as widely known. While I'm glad that more unique desires and relationship styles are being realised, it irritates me no end when these things are exploited instead of properly explained. I get sucked into books as well*chuckles* and tend to have very strong opinions on everything I read. I am happy for you that these books opened up a part of you, though and that you are smart to do your research before going into things in an unsafe manner. Cheers to you!
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