Yes. I am reading 50 Shades of Grey. Part 1. | AMNAR

Yesterday, I finally caved in. I decided to read 50 Shades of Grey.

?WHY?? I hear all the sane readers with taste demanding.

Well? because I?m really curious about it. This isn?t just an ?everybody?s reading it? thing, either. It?s become The Feminist Issue In Literature, and I?ve seen a lot of opinions on it. I?ve seen a lot of toing and froing about the book, and I?ve even heard about it being burned because it?s apparently responsible for brainwashing women somehow.

I?d like to have an opinion on the book. This is partly because I?m a woman, partly because I?m a feminist, and partly because I?m a human being. I have to admit, I am massively curious about what could outsell Harry Potter on such an epic scale. If you?d asked me what could do that so easily, I?d have answered ?porn?. But nobody asked.

Now, I don?t usually read porn. Or watch porn. Or take much of interest in porn. I?m sure I?d have more readers if I did. I have put sex scenes in my own books, but for the last while I?ve had anhedonia, which is gives you the sex drive of the average rock. Stonehenge has more interest in it right now.

I don?t know if that gives me more or less insight, but I suppose I could consider it a challenge. Mostly, I think if something is being discussed that much, especially explicitly saying it has an impact on women and their lives (which is often what you read in reference to 50 Shades), then I should probably pay attention.

I?ve also decided I?ll give it a bit of a review when I?m done. It means that when somebody launches into an opinion starting with the line ?I haven?t read it, but?? I?ll be able to reply with slightly more insight than a rock. Because really, you can?t start out with a detailed opinion on something if your opening line is ?I haven?t read it, but??

You?d think that was in the Basic Book of Rules, but uninformed opinion is often the bedrock of humanity?s discussion of everything these days. I think I?d rather sit on the side of the fence with the people who investigated and thought about something a bit before leaping to a conclusion.

Now, before I talk about the book at all, I have to say this. One of the major criticisms from feminists, and women generally, is that 50 Shades paints a portrait of a dysfunctional, abusive relationship without clearly qualifying that such relationships are A Bad Thing for women. Unfortunately, they also add that this is a woman?s fantasy. Now, I?ve read Robin Ince?s Bad Book Club and as a result I know there is a book of women talking about their fantasies that included a woman who fantasised about being raped by a donkey. No, I?m not kidding you. Yes, I will wait while you go and find out more about that.

So let?s start by saying at least this massively popular book is not about a woman who wants to be raped by a donkey. Not that this is necessarily wrong. Fantasies, sexual or otherwise, are exactly that: they?re fantasies. I get the impression that both 50 Shades and Twilight, the book that inspired the series, are essentially fantasies created by the authors who wrote them. Would that I had such popular fantasies. Mine are all sadly non-sexual and largely dragon-based.

This is where I wade into difficult territory because a lot of angry women will shout at me saying I?m approving of rape, abusive relationships and domestic violence. I?ve not got that far along in the book, but apparently the relationship described is a violent one and goes beyond the bounds of what real life BDSM relationships are like. I?ve seen it claimed that this will somehow make domestic violence more acceptable, or that all women who?ve read 50 Shades will conclude that in real life, they want a Christian Grey who treats them the way he treats Anastasia.

I?m afraid I?d need evidence to prove that. I grew up on an odd combination of epic fantasy (Lord of the Rings etc) and horsey books. Based on my reading of fantasy, you?d think I?d have grown up thinking that there are only four women in the whole entire world, that one of them is a hobbit, and two of them are elves. I have no idea what I might have concluded from the horsey books, but it probably might end up worryingly close to the whole donkey thing.

I dislike this idea that women are such a blank canvas that we can?t make conclusions of our own about what we read. Amazingly enough, I can read books that don?t clearly state in capitals that what?s contained within might be Bad For Me, and not think that I must live my life in that way. I have a brain. As I understand it, we base most of our conclusions on what relationships are about from our parents and the people around us when we?re children.

In search of something that might give me an idea of what readers think, I had a look at the Amazon page for 50 Shades. At the moment of writing, there 4588 reviews on the site. 1477 are 1-star reviews, and 1954 are 5-star reviews. A glance at the 5-star reviews produced a lot of joke reviews, including a drinking game based on the repetitive nature of the language. I wouldn?t recommend it, because even at my current place in the book you?d need a new liver.

There are people who genuinely liked it. They were totally hooked, apparently. I?m not sure I can conclude from that they intend to go out and allow themselves to be abused by men. Many of the genuine reviews appear to be quite clear that they understand that this is a fantasy, and not an instruction manual. The word ?escapism? appears a lot.

I?m going to get a fuck-ton of stick (if anybody reads this) for not clearly being angry about domestic violence in all its forms. I am against domestic violence. I honestly think what we?re facing here is not a tide of idiot women fooled by a book into thinking rape is great but society maybe having to face the fact that we 1. have sexual fantasies; 2. those fantasies are weird and seem unhealthy in the cold light of day and 3. are able to distinguish between those fantasies and reality. I suspect a lot of the hoopla is down to the fact that women and what women think about often don?t chime with what critics and opinion-makers wish they were and thought about.

So now I?ve written over 1000 words trying to come up with a position on the book when I?ve only reached chapter four. I?ll have to start reviewing in the next post. Damn.

Source: http://joelyblack.com/2012/09/27/yes-i-am-reading-50-shades-of-grey-part-1/

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