Fifty Shades of Grey

[PennLady]

Like PennLady, I don't have much interest in reading it.

From the little I've seen and heard it sounds like very 'safe', formula erotica.

Katie Roiphe in her Newsweek/Daily Beast review noted that the writing was not very good either. She specifically picked out "In spite of my poignant sadness, I laughed." and "My world is crumbling around me into a sterile pile of ashes, all my hopes and dreams cruelly dashed."

But they'd make great entries for the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest.

Well. Oh my. I had no idea ashes were sterile. And I have yet to hear of hopes and dreams being dashed in a nice way. *snort*

 

[Cruel2BKind]

Well. Oh my. I had no idea ashes were sterile. And I have yet to hear of hopes and dreams being dashed in a nice way. *snort*

The prose got quite florid in twilight as well. The diction is at risk if nothing is happening

 

[BONNIEBREA]

Well. Oh my. I had no idea ashes were sterile. And I have yet to hear of hopes and dreams being dashed in a nice way. *snort*

I was happy to be informed that a world could "crumble" into "ashes". Is that better than when a world might "burn" into "rubble"?

 

[lovecraft68]

The prose got quite florid in twilight as well. The diction is at risk if nothing is happening

I think that women, who lets face it are the target audience for this waste of ink, somehow still get into that overly descriptive and that "oh, whoa is me!" drama.

They're too old for it, and even reading it in the context it is here, know its stupid, but still get caught up in it. It's the same with guys who still get sucked into brainless action movies.

And of course it is written like Twilight, it is Twilight. It was also, if I am not mistaken even worked on by some of the same people who edited Twilight.

Fact is this fiasco was put up in the spot lights by Twilight, they drove attention to it and pushed it, because every comparison to it, gets Twilight and Meyer's name out there even more.

 

[Firebrain]

I think every time we talk about published fanfic (because all that's been changed in 50 Shades is the names, and a brief grammar edit) or even buy publish fanfic, we're crapping all over original authors.

Blah blah nothing is original blah blah. Out-and-out profiting from somebody else's work and masquerading as original fic is very poor behaviour, and has done little good for erotica. Go see what customers who buy 50 Shades also buy on Amazon--very little of it is erotica. It's other mainstream bestsellers.

People have the right to read what they like and to think 50 Shades is a good read, but the more published fanfic they buy, the more they push the original authors down the food chain. There are 12 or 13 Twilight fanfics doing very well on Amazon right now...it's fast becoming a trend.

I wrote an article here which deals with the issue in more depth. The whole thing depresses me, professionally speaking.

 

[Firebrain]

It was also, if I am not mistaken even worked on by some of the same people who edited Twilight.

Fact is this fiasco was put up in the spot lights by Twilight, they drove attention to it and pushed it, because every comparison to it, gets Twilight and Meyer's name out there even more.

A) No, it's not edited by Twilight's editor. It's edited at Vintage, which ironically is famous for its highbrow literary fiction.

B) I'm pretty sure Meyer doesn't want her young adult novels associated with erotica, which is one of the reasons she may have chosen not to pursue a case legally.

 

[Stella_Omega]

I think that women, who lets face it are the target audience for this waste of ink, somehow still get into that overly descriptive and that "oh, whoa is me!" drama.

They're too old for it, and even reading it in the context it is here, know its stupid, but still get caught up in it. It's the same with guys who still get sucked into brainless action movies.

And of course it is written like Twilight, it is Twilight. It was also, if I am not mistaken even worked on by some of the same people who edited Twilight.

Fact is this fiasco was put up in the spot lights by Twilight, they drove attention to it and pushed it, because every comparison to it, gets Twilight and Meyer's name out there even more.

Lemme tell you a little story.

I spent yesterday in the workshop crafting a gift for a friend. it's a cosmetics box, designed with her preferences in mind, calibrated to carry exactly what she uses, and it's made from found objects which is the way she likes it. It was pretty damn labor-intensive to make, but I had the time and desire to do it-- it felt good. It was playtime.

My beloved old father wandered through, and when I showed it to him, he shook his head sadly. He could not conceive of why I would spend so much time and effort on something so trivial as a cosmetics case with little compartments, when you know- CARS! or TABLES! or whatever it is that HE would want to do with HIS playtime. In fact, he said; "That's heartbreaking, honey."

I flipped him a cheerful bird and kept on doing what I wanted to be doing.

If he wants to break his heart over my choices, hell-- I can't stop him. But you'd better believe, he's wasting his time judging my activities by his standards.

Do you see the parallel? Honey?

 

[PennLady]

I think that women, who lets face it are the target audience for this waste of ink, somehow still get into that overly descriptive and that "oh, whoa is me!" drama.

They're too old for it, and even reading it in the context it is here, know its stupid, but still get caught up in it. It's the same with guys who still get sucked into brainless action movies.

Way to generalize. And for the record, I like the occasional brainless action movie myself.

And of course it is written like Twilight, it is Twilight. It was also, if I am not mistaken even worked on by some of the same people who edited Twilight.

Fact is this fiasco was put up in the spot lights by Twilight, they drove attention to it and pushed it, because every comparison to it, gets Twilight and Meyer's name out there even more.

You're protesting and criticizing a lot about something you've never read and (I can only assume) don't intend to. This was not "put up in the spot lights" by Twilight. It was a fanfiction story and it got around on the internet, as these things do. As Firebrain notes, Stephanie Meyer has said nothing (or almost nothing, I guess) about it, and that would indicate to me she doesn't want to give it any play, or have it associated with her stuff. Now if you think this is all some kind of ploy or conspiracy by Meyer, well then fine, but I don't think it's always true that any publicity is good publicity. And I seriously don't think they need to "keep the name out there." It's out there plenty on its own.

I think every time we talk about published fanfic (because all that's been changed in 50 Shades is the names, and a brief grammar edit) or even buy publish fanfic, we're crapping all over original authors.

Would you say there's a difference then, between what EL James did and what George Lucas and others have done to license people to write stories outside of the movie/TV universe of their programs?

I guess there is, since they had to change names and such for 50 Shades, and I would imagine the Star Wars, Star Trek, etc., books have to get approved by someone further up the line.

 

[lovecraft68]

Lemme tell you a little story.

I spent yesterday in the workshop crafting a gift for a friend. it's a cosmetics box, designed with her preferences in mind, calibrated to carry exactly what she uses, and it's made from found objects which is the way she likes it. It was pretty damn labor-intensive to make, but I had the time and desire to do it-- it felt good. It was playtime.

My beloved old father wandered through, and when I showed it to him, he shook his head sadly. He could not conceive of why I would spend so much time and effort on something so trivial as a cosmetics case with little compartments, when you know- CARS! or TABLES! or whatever it is that HE would want to do with HIS playtime. In fact, he said; "That's heartbreaking, honey."

I flipped him a cheerful bird and kept on doing what I wanted to be doing.

If he wants to break his heart over my choices, hell-- I can't stop him. But you'd better believe, he's wasting his time judging my activities by his standards.

Do you see the parallel? Honey?

First of all I'm trying to get over anyone calling you honey

But I can see you flipping off your old man.

I'll try to see the parallel, but think you're making my point. You chose to make the project you wanted to make. Your old man wants you to make what everyone else would,

You're you, you stick to your guns. E.L. whatever the hell her name is made the cars and the table. She'll make a killing you'll make a friend happy.

Back to two simple facts, good for her for selling her soul to make a fortune and manipulate a lemming market.

second fact the basic frustration of people who smack their heads against the wall trying to come up with something different or at least "their" story and now watching this blatant rip off hit it big.

Can you see that point?

You can see it in the reviews I can tell you that much.

 

[lovecraft68]

Way to generalize. And for the record, I like the occasional brainless action movie myself.



You're protesting and criticizing a lot about something you've never read and (I can only assume) don't intend to. This was not "put up in the spot lights" by Twilight. It was a fanfiction story and it got around on the internet, as these things do. As Firebrain notes, Stephanie Meyer has said nothing (or almost nothing, I guess) about it, and that would indicate to me she doesn't want to give it any play, or have it associated with her stuff. Now if you think this is all some kind of ploy or conspiracy by Meyer, well then fine, but I don't think it's always true that any publicity is good publicity. And I seriously don't think they need to "keep the name out there." It's out there plenty on its own.



Would you say there's a difference then, between what EL James did and what George Lucas and others have done to license people to write stories outside of the movie/TV universe of their programs?

I guess there is, since they had to change names and such for 50 Shades, and I would imagine the Star Wars, Star Trek, etc., books have to get approved by someone further up the line.

I would highly doubt it was Meyer herself, she would want to be kept separate from erotica I would think. But Meyer is not alone and someone hyped this a lot more than it could have gotten on its own.

 

[Stella_Omega]

First of all I'm trying to get over anyone calling you honey eek:

But I can see you flipping off your old man.

I'll try to see the parallel, but think you're making my point. You chose to make the project you wanted to make. Your old man wants you to make what everyone else would,

Wrong, my old man wanted me to make what he would want to make. He judges the relative importance of things according to his standards-- even when he should be taking other people's preferences into account. In fact, you too seem to share my father's opinion-- than anyone in their right mind would want to make something more important than a cosmetics case, even though I bet hundreds of women, for instance, would rather have a cosmetics case.

You're you, you stick to your guns. E.L. whatever the hell her name is made the cars and the table. She'll make a killing you'll make a friend happy.

She'll make a killing because she wrote what she wanted to write, and thousands of women want to read.

It's not what YOU want to write, or read. But you have as much right to tell people that they are wrong in their tastes as my beloved old dad has to tell me I should govern my entertainment according to his preferences. Like him, you're not getting the essential message-- which is that you cannot be the arbiter for other people.

Back to two simple facts, good for her for selling her soul to make a fortune and manipulate a lemming market.

second fact the basic frustration of people who smack their heads against the wall trying to come up with something different or at least "their" story and now watching this blatant rip off hit it big.

Can you see that point?

You can see it in the reviews I can tell you that much.

Some of the reviews, yes. But if you want to write for that market you'd better read the reviews written by people who have read the material. Who have a better grasp on the readership, because they are part of that readership -- unlike yourself who stands so self-conciously and scornfully outside it.

Everytime you start in on the polemics against the poor foolish deluded mommies-- you shrink a little further in my eyes, you show your ignorance and your arrogance borne from cultural illiteracy.

You want to come up with something new for that market? You'd better understand what that market fundamentally wants. So far, you haven't said anything that makes me think you do.

And wow, if your proposed fanbase ever finds out what you think of them-- hell hath no fury like a woman reduced to a cultural stereotype, at a moment when she is free of her children and family and about to read for her own pleasure.
We've been talking about authors who shot their mouths off on the internet and destroyed their reputations and their fanbase. You don't even have a reputation yet-- don't ruin it before you even start.

 

[lovecraft68]

Wrong, my old man wanted me to make what he would want to make. He judges the relative importance of things according to his standards-- even when he should be taking other people's preferences into account. In fact, you too seem to share my father's opinion-- than anyone in their right mind would want to make something more important than a cosmetics case, even though I bet hundreds of women, for instance, would rather have a cosmetics case.
She'll make a killing because she wrote what she wanted to write, and thousands of women want to read.

It's not what YOU want to write, or read. But you have as much right to tell people that they are wrong in their tastes as my beloved old dad has to tell me I should govern my entertainment according to his preferences. Like him, you're not getting the essential message-- which is that you cannot be the arbiter for other people.
Some of the reviews, yes. But if you want to write for that market you'd better read the reviews written by people who have read the material. Who have a better grasp on the readership, because they are part of that readership -- unlike yourself who stands so self-conciously and scornfully outside it.

Everytime you start in on the polemics against the poor foolish deluded mommies-- you shrink a little further in my eyes, you show your ignorance and your arrogance borne from cultural illiteracy.

You want to come up with something new for that market? You'd better understand what that market fundamentally wants. So far, you haven't said anything that makes me think you do.

And wow, if your proposed fanbase ever finds out what you think of them-- hell hath no fury like a woman reduced to a cultural stereotype, at a moment when she is free of her children and family and about to read for her own pleasure.
We've been talking about authors who shot their mouths off on the internet and destroyed their reputations and their fanbase. You don't even have a reputation yet-- don't ruin it before you even start.

Read the reviews there are far more negative recently than positive and they are fairly well written reviews not troll 'this sucked'

And the fact they call it mommy porn degrades woman and their own audience more than I ever could. Remember this is a contrived product taking advantage of a specific demographic.

Hell my wife is their audience age wise at least, and she couldn't finish the damn thing and I did read two chapters. I won't say poorly written because I will never claim to be better, but there is far better on this site for damn sure. If I had to give you a one word review? Boring. We then gave it to my sister, who has since pawned it off on someone else.

Then again we're much more jaded than the crowd who thinks that this is edgy shit.

And I have no delusions, I will never appeal to that audience. Go read a couple of my sex scenes or Breaking of Allison and you will see why. I can try my hand at some romance, but I cannot go that vanilla.

Sadly I am fairly certain I will never be an internet sensation who will be brought down by lame internet rants. And for the record? There are those out there that don't mind non PC comments, fact is the average person is getting pretty damn sick of worrying about every word that comes out of their mouths.

 

[PennLady]

Read the reviews there are far more negative recently than positive and they are fairly well written reviews not troll 'this sucked'

But it depends a lot on who writes the review. I read the Katie Roiphe review that Bonnie mentioned earlier, as well as a couple of rebuttals. Here's one, and here's another.

If you have someone who understands and/or likes the genre, they may be in a better place to review it in terms of how well it fills the audience's expectations or desires. Roiphe is pretty dismissive, although at least she's read it (or claims to). And most of us here discussing it admit we haven't read it -- we're only going by what we've read or heard about it, which limits us. I mean, it's fine to use those guides to decide we don't want to read it, but it doesn't give us a ton of room to slam those who have read it.

Sadly I am fairly certain I will never be an internet sensation who will be brought down by lame internet rants. And for the record? There are those out there that don't mind non PC comments, fact is the average person is getting pretty damn sick of worrying about every word that comes out of their mouths.

This isn't a matter of being PC. We can all be plenty un-PC and I doubt most of us would have a problem. It's a matter of being condescending, which is different.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Haha okay LC. Those grapes were probably sour anyway, right?

And the fact they call it mommy porn degrades woman and their own audience more than I ever could. Remember this is a contrived product taking advantage of a specific demographic.

You sure do like that phrase "mommy Porn" you've used it regularly ever since you heard it.

And no, this is not a contrived product. If YOU wrote it, it would be contrived. But a member of the demographic wrote it, to her own tastes. It's no wonder it's done well. She knows the subtleties of her group. You don't-- and you mock them.

There are those out there that don't mind non PC comments, fact is the average person is getting pretty damn sick of worrying about every word that comes out of their mouths.

Yep. And at the very same time, the average person gets outraged when someone else doesn't watch their mouth.

In any case, this is something that you don't have to comment on at all. You have nothing to do with the women who read Fifty Shades, or Twilight, and they have nothing to do with you.

 

[BuckyDuckman]

This may all be true about Shades, but I can't dismiss it outright because I haven't read it. I'm using what I've heard and read about it to make my decisions at the moment, but eventually I suppose I'll read it so I can see it for myself and make any decisions for myself.

Still, at the moment, I'm not interested.

I made that mistake with "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," reading it, I mean. I don't mean to repeat that mistake by reading "Shades." I will be interested if my wife reads it, though. Years ago, she discovered Anne Rice's "Sleeping Beauty" series and found it highly erotica fantasy. AS for me, after reading Rice's "Interview with a Vampire," I had little interest in reading more of her work. I tried to read "Sleeping Beauty," but couldn't do it. Aside from not liking Anne Rice's writing style - as a writer of erotica/porn, I found her descriptions to be lacking. Too often, what she was describing would be physically impossible without breaking the laws of physics.

In general, I get frustrated with how BDSM subject matter seems to gain media attention - going back at least to de Sade's time. At least de Sade was writing against the church as much as writing BDSM porn. There is so much beautiful erotica in the world, why does the stray BDSM get the attention? Because it carries the most shock value?

I'll admit, I'm jaded. I write explicit porn that often comes across as nothing more than "stroke porn." But there's still a story in there for most of it. I think that's what Anne Rice was trying to do, so kudo's to her!

Being a derivative of "Twilight" reduces its appeal for me. I'm way outside the target audience.

I have to disagree with LC and say I like the term "Mommy porn," though. I think it's a good reminder that a woman's libido doesn't shrivel up and die after having kids. I don't see it as demeaning. Instead, I see the term as descriptive and empowering.

"Shades" might be derivative fluff, but if it keeps people buying books, I'm happy.

 

[Kurokami]

Honestly, I think the problem with Fifty Shades isn't that it's derivative of Twilight- I've only read one of the two, so I'm in no position to judge- but that it says some things about BDSM that I find quite disconcerting, especially in a book that's gained this kind of mainstream cultural awareness. I've only read (according to the bookmark on my e-reader) about seventy percent of the book, and maybe there's some big redeeming thing at the end of it I haven't seen yet, but I find the fact that the resident Dom has some Freudian reason for being kinky to be kind of disconcerting. Ditto Ana's initial and repeated calling him a monster because of it. And that's saying nothing of the fact that for most of the book it seems almost like she's just gritting her teeth through all the kinky stuff in order to redeem her broken-bird love interest. There's just this constant, low level Bondage Is Bad implication that I find a tad offensive.

Is this terrible? No, not really. Especially not given the wider bad rap kinksters tend to get in some facets of the media. But the fact is, this book got popular. This message, whether overt or just some kink of the author's mind that made it onto the page (or even just an unfortunate, if unintended implication) is now a part of the cultural conversation. It's not hugely damaging or anything, but it's enough to irritate me and make me swear at the book as I'm reading it.

And honestly, I think I'm having more fun with this book by doing a kind of Mystery Science Theater thing with my girls than actually reading it. Yeah, the writing is repetitive and not at all good, yeah the sex scenes are workmanlike and rarely very kinky at all, and yeah the prose is often highly purple and florid... But put all those things together, ignore the dumb implications and narrate out loud, and you've got a good time brewing.

At the same time, I'm not about to begrudge the author her success, because it's not like this is the first piece of bad fiction ever to become profitable. I wish it wouldn't subtly try to make me feel bad for enjoying it, but at least I can have fun with it in other ways.

 

[Stella_Omega]

I find the fact that the resident Dom has some Freudian reason for being kinky to be kind of disconcerting. Ditto Ana's initial and repeated calling him a monster because of it. And that's saying nothing of the fact that for most of the book it seems almost like she's just gritting her teeth through all the kinky stuff in order to redeem her broken-bird love interest. There's just this constant, low level Bondage Is Bad implication that I find a tad offensive.

Kurokami, this is the first intelligent criticism regarding the kink content that I have heard ANYONE say about the books.

Still not having read them, I can't say, but that's the sort of thing a lot of amateur writers consider "conflict" in a plot. And I gotta say, it totally misses the point of Twilight, which was Edward saying "you don't want to be with a monster like me" and Bella saying; "You better believe I want to be with a monster EXACTLY like you!"

If what you say is true, isn't it remarkable that so many women talk about how hot the sex scenes are-- anyway?

 

[Cruel2BKind]

Kurokami, this is the first intelligent criticism regarding the kink content that I have heard ANYONE say about the books.

Still not having read them, I can't say, but that's the sort of thing a lot of amateur writers consider "conflict" in a plot. And I gotta say, it totally misses the point of Twilight, which was Edward saying "you don't want to be with a monster like me" and Bella saying; "You better believe I want to be with a monster EXACTLY like you!"

If what you say is true, isn't it remarkable that so many women talk about how hot the sex scenes are-- anyway?

It might just be because it's new to them. Baby's first BDSM erotica...

I remember when I was a wee Cruel, and I didn't know how to look up porn on the internet yet. I stumbled across a youtube video of two guys kissing, and it was the hottest goddamn thing I had ever seen up to that point. They didn't take off their clothes, they weren't very good actors (it was obviously the intro to a porno) and I didn't even find either of them particularly attractive.

But because it was new, those guys became wee Cruel's masturbation material for months!

 

[Kurokami]

Kurokami, this is the first intelligent criticism regarding the kink content that I have heard ANYONE say about the books.

Still not having read them, I can't say, but that's the sort of thing a lot of amateur writers consider "conflict" in a plot. And I gotta say, it totally misses the point of Twilight, which was Edward saying "you don't want to be with a monster like me" and Bella saying; "You better believe I want to be with a monster EXACTLY like you!"

If what you say is true, isn't it remarkable that so many women talk about how hot the sex scenes are-- anyway?

Well, thank you. To me, that little implication is the most interesting thing about the book; as you say, it's in there to be conflict, but it's handled in such a bizarre way. For the most part we just have to sort of take the character at his word that he's been traumatized somehow, though the actual trauma still hasn't been brought up, more than halfway through the book. Really, we get the Bondage Bad message without anything substantial to back it up; bdsm means one can't form lasting emotional relationships, bdsm means you can't do love, bdsm means flitting from one sub to another and I'm led to believe there's a few other disturbing little developments I haven't yet reached. What I still haven't been given is a why any of this is true for Grey. I feel like I'm being berated for liking certain things, in a way

As for Ana's "Love will fix everything!" attitude... it's simpering to the point of being unlikable, and drastically at odds with the standard Safe, Sane and Consensual mode of regular kinksters; she knows literally nothing about bdsm, makes no effort to really learn the mechanics aside from some brief internet research of terminology, and puts herself in the hands of a smug asshole whom she only met a few weeks ago. She seems to me to be the avatar for all the first time subs rushing to online Domly Doms that we occasionally see around here, and it's a bad look. Honestly, I want to slap both characters most of the time, especially when that vapid girl mentions her inner goddess...

And the sex scenes? No doubt most of the target audience found it hot; most of the sex scenes are entirely vanilla, if flat and drab even for that. The kinkiest thing I've come across is cable ties and a riding crop, once. It's very safe kink, though I'd assume it's quite alluring to someone who isn't really into this stuff. So it's wonderful; we get none of the kinky stuff that might be interesting or hot to us, while simultaneously bathing in a soup of mediocre prose and nested guilt at even hoping for some whips and chains.

 

[BuckyDuckman]

Kurokami I referenced one of your comments from this thread in the BDSM forum. I hope that wasn't in bad form. Regardless of my manners, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Here's a link to the thread I started over yonder: http://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?p=40845621#post40845621 I didn't want to hijack this OP's thread.

 

[Kurokami]

Kurokami I referenced one of your comments from this thread in the BDSM forum. I hope that wasn't in bad form. Regardless of my manners, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Here's a link to the thread I started over yonder: http://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?p=40845621#post40845621 I didn't want to hijack this OP's thread.

Already gone and checked it out, yeah. Cool thread, and thanks for referencing me

 

[Stella_Omega]

And the sex scenes? No doubt most of the target audience found it hot; most of the sex scenes are entirely vanilla, if flat and drab even for that. The kinkiest thing I've come across is cable ties and a riding crop, once. It's very safe kink, though I'd assume it's quite alluring to someone who isn't really into this stuff. So it's wonderful; we get none of the kinky stuff that might be interesting or hot to us, while simultaneously bathing in a soup of mediocre prose and nested guilt at even hoping for some whips and chains.

I have a very strong feeling-- not having read the books myself-- that the dynamic which is so enticing to all those readers is being missed by knowledgeable BDSM readers-- possibly because it really doesn't have much to do with BDSM at all.

The plot might fantasize away certain insecurities that many women have that they can't always acknowledge, for instance. For some women the charm might be the unlimited money.

As a side note it's always difficult to assess whether "flat and drab" is a meaningful criticism in women's writing, when dudes say it... I have one story, "Her woods Her Pleasure" which gets huge responses from many women and disappoints many men. And in fact, it was hard for me to write it, back in the day. It's all pretty subjective stuff.

 

[PennLady]

I have a very strong feeling-- not having read the books myself-- that the dynamic which is so enticing to all those readers is being missed by knowledgeable BDSM readers-- possibly because it really doesn't have much to do with BDSM at all.

The plot might fantasize away certain insecurities that many women have that they can't always acknowledge, for instance. For some women the charm might be the unlimited money.

One of the review/rebuttal pieces that I linked to above said, and I believe Kurokami touched on this, is that the relationship is not BDSM so much as it is the main character, Ana, basically agreeing to whatever Grey asks of her because she's in love with him. So if you like stories of a woman trying to change the guy, and what she'll endure for it, then this might be for you.

It's just a safe way of fantasizing about being desired -- ravished, perhaps? -- and giving up control.

 

[Stella_Omega]

One of the review/rebuttal pieces that I linked to above said, and I believe Kurokami touched on this, is that the relationship is not BDSM so much as it is the main character, Ana, basically agreeing to whatever Grey asks of her because she's in love with him. So if you like stories of a woman trying to change the guy, and what she'll endure for it, then this might be for you.

It's just a safe way of fantasizing about being desired -- ravished, perhaps? -- and giving up control.

Yup.. But something in there translates to "really hot sex scenes, and OMIGOD I want a Master too!"

 

[BONNIEBREA]

One of the review/rebuttal pieces that I linked to above said, and I believe Kurokami touched on this, is that the relationship is not BDSM so much as it is the main character, Ana, basically agreeing to whatever Grey asks of her because she's in love with him. So if you like stories of a woman trying to change the guy, and what she'll endure for it, then this might be for you.

It's just a safe way of fantasizing about being desired -- ravished, perhaps? -- and giving up control.

This is an issue I've seen addressed before (although not here). It was not so many years ago that a woman liking sex was something that was not considered appropriate for polite discussion (or fiction). Thankfully, those days are past.

But in the realm of conventionally-published (read 'formula') erotica there is still much coin in the idea that 'good' women don't pursue, express, or desire kinky sex, or anything outside the ordinary. The idea seems to be that for a female character in this type of fiction to be acceptably involved in out-of-the-ordinary sexual encounters it has to always be because the male in the relationship demands it, or because she has so much love for the male relationship partner that she'll go along and put up with his disagreeable shit because she's love-addled. But in this kind of fiction, the female protagonist actively desiring unordinary sex seems to be, by and large, a taboo. I understand this is not invariably the case, but seems a discernable trend (and one which, based on my reading of Katie Roiphe's review and article) seems to be the case in this book.