It’s been all over your news feed for weeks. Magazine covers of Dakota Johnson trying to look sultry or featuring a smoldering Jamie Dornan have stared you down for months. It hit theaters last Friday, and several of your single — and probably female — friends likely made the trek out to West Lebanon to see it. “Fifty Shades of Grey” (2015) is everywhere. Love it or hate it, its ubiquity is a sign of something pretty great.
In only a few years, “Fifty Shades of Grey” has become a cultural phenomenon — it’s racy erotica written by a woman for women without apology. While it may present a problematic portrayal of BDSM relations — and is admittedly poorly written in many parts — its social importance is greater than its debatable quality.
By becoming so visible in mainstream media as something that’s not only culturally accepted but promoted, “Fifty Shades of Grey” allows women to openly express a new kind of sexuality. “Fifty Shades of Grey” isn’t some great work of literature or an epic romance — it’s erotica, and everyone knows it.
Yet, the racy content doesn’t stop women from reading and discussing the novel publicly and comfortably. In American culture, sex has typically been something that men are allowed to laugh and joke about, while women are expected to shy away from the topic. The women who discussed sex without shame were ridiculed for their openness — from Nicki Minaj, who was criticized for showing women’s bodies in an overtly sexual way in her music video, Anaconda, to Monica Lewinski, who was publicly villainized.
The most obvious example, though, is the ridicule adult actresses face. Last June, Miriam Weeks, a student at Duke University, published “‘Duke Porn Star’: I Lost My Financial Aid,” a Time article defending her job as an adult actress. Her story of performing in adult films to finance her tuition was met with serious blowback, and readers ridiculed her for expressing her sexuality and sexual appetite so openly. Had she been a man, it’s likely the story would be different — openly enjoying and discussing sex are things we often expect and even admire in men.
The attention and profit that the “Fifty Shades of Grey” film has attracted in only a few days is a hopeful sign. The fact that erotica by women for women has become a blockbuster — raking in a record-breaking $81.7 million in its first weekend — is telling of a new trend in which female sexuality is being ushered into the open.
“Fifty Shades of Grey” is different from traditional romance novels and films — it’s unapologetic about focusing on sex, not romance. “Fifty Shades of Grey” challenges the double standard in which men can enjoy sex for the pleasure of it, but women are often labeled derogatory terms like “slut” if they enjoy sex outside of love. The film doesn’t try to define female sexuality and desire in terms of love or emotion, but instead allows women to express their desires in a way that’s purely sexual. Women can read “Fifty Shades of Grey” for its erotic content, and it’s become accepted, even expected.
The majority of porn is created by and for men, often with the assumption that women aren’t sexual or their desires are secondary to those of men. Mainstream pornography often openly degrades women, reducing them to objects that exist simply for the pleasure of men. This type of pornography teaches women that sex is something they should do for men, that women are tools to give men pleasure rather than seeking pleasure for themselves. A woman’s own pleasure becomes not only subordinate, but also irrelevant.
Conversely, “Fifty Shades of Grey” focuses on female desire and satisfaction, something most mainstream porn fails to address. The novel’s entry into the mainstream demonstrates a move toward equality in sexual representation — as far as content goes, erotica that satisfies women is becoming just as recognized as erotica that satisfies men. It seems the public is beginning to acknowledge that women enjoy sex — and that sex is not just a man and a prop.
Whether you cringe when it’s mentioned or you drove out for a midnight showing, “Fifty Shades of Grey” is a cultural phenomenon that allows women to express their sexuality the way men do — in the open, in the mainstream and without strings attached.
