Why I won't be reading Fifty Shades of Grey

I've tried to avoid writing about this for a while now and I can resist no longer. Fifty Shades of Grey (and the other titles in the series) has been hailed as a catalyst for improving attitudes and openness toward sex. Having read only a few excerpts from the series, I can't really comment on its aphrodisiac qualities but I sincerely doubt that a few hundred pages of housewife style BDSM fantasy can really improve anything other than the author's bank balance.


A recent BBC article (and many others) called it 'mummy porn' and I think that really is hammer, nail and head. The only person I can imagine reading this and enjoying it would be a bored housewife killing time in-between doing loads of washing and picking the kids up from school. Everything about these books puts me off, from the ridiculously 80's Mills & Boon style names (Anastasia Steele? Really?!) to the fact the author, EL James, admitted in an interview she has never even been to Seattle where the series is set. I can only imagine the atmosphere she has conveyed through her writing having experienced the locations solely through Google street view.

I don't even know where to begin on the whole feminist issue the series raises (something which makes me really angry about the Twilight series too). A young woman signing a contract which allows her to be fully dominated - aren't we supposed to be promoting and celebrating being in control of our own lives? Haven't women for centuries been fighting to oppose male domination? Don't get me wrong, if you're into a bit of submission/domination that's just fantastic for you, but I'm not sure we should be celebrating total life control. Of course I've probably missed the point by not reading the book and in reality it is in no way similar to enforced prostitution and sex slavery...

So, I won't be reading the Fifty Shades series. I'm off to my local independent book shop to buy Lady Chatterley's Lover.

Have you read any of the series? What are your thoughts? Please, leave a comment, I'd love to hear your views!