50 Shades of Grey Effect

In modern day society it is frowned upon for women to freely explore their sexuality. On the other hand, men are often encouraged and even praised to have sex with as many women as possible. That double standard can also be notably seen in college. Instead of trying to help change that and uplift women, it tends to be other women that bring each other down. It is especially prevalent in college culture to slut shame other girls. Recently the movie Fifty Shades of Grey took the word by storm. It came with so much controversy over if it exploited women or empowered them. 

The movie Fifty Shades of Grey empowers women. “Ms. Grey responds that people want to escape from the imitations of reality through the fantasy that her book provides. This distinction between authenticity and fantasy, and the question of what viewers and readers want, becomes primary to how the film is organized and the narrative unfolds” (Stevens, 2014). It gives women a chance to explore new things and push the limitations of what society deems acceptable. The problem is that some people have seen this as a negative because of the social norms. Once someone challenges the limits they often become ostracized by others. For example, this is like when a girl in college gets slut shamed by others. Even if she has had sex with one or two people she is seen as a “slut” or “easy”. In a way the film encourages slut shaming because it challenges the way of thinking for most women that would never do or even think about BDSM. Therefore to those women anyone else that enjoys that is viewed as an outsider. Without even realizing it they are passing judgment and shaming other women, continuing the chain of shame.

It is also empowering because it lets women let go. This is more connected to reading the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy. Now a days we have a thousands things going with work, friends, school and others things. Getting lost in the thrilling pages is a way to escape and get swept away in Christian Greys universe. On the other hand, when reading the trilogy I often asked myself if Anastasia Steele agreed to being Christian Grey’s submissive because she really wanted it or if she was just doing it in the attempts to save this confused handsome man. Even in this sex filled novel the women in still in the damsel in distress that needs a man to save her from her dull boring life. She becomes the hopeless romantic that gets hurt, this time physically, by the man of her dreams who she so desperately loves. This agrees with society in that women are the weaker gender even when it comes to sex. We then are led to believe that it is okay to not stand up and say something because it would be wrong to go against the person we “love”. There is so much pressure in today’s society to find love in your twenties. It is find love, get married, have a family. Even though we are in the twenty-first century women are still expected to put their love life and getting a family together before a successful career. Anastasia Steele puts everything aside and agrees in writing to change her life for a man that she barely knows. Yes, she does eventually get a happy ending with a family and yes she also did change the man she loves to be perfect just like she wanted, but this is all misleading. Women should be able to find the person they love whomever that may be without having to change them. They should find some they love that helps them improve themselves not have to change. That is the problem too that we have set this standard for an ideal relationship with unrealistic goals. We look for the perfect man to give the perfect life and have the perfect ending but when looking for a boyfriend or girlfriend one flaw discourages us. Even though these books and movies have positive massages, we are subconsciously looking for what we see in films like Fifty Shades of Grey and try to apply them to real life.

Fifity Shades of Grey has also been criticized because it is said to promote promiscuity in women. Finally there is a movie that has a women lead exploring her sexuality and bam instantly this makes the rest of us promiscuous for liking it. So what if you like a movie about sex with whips and chains. We need to start accepting women for who they are and the things they do. No more shaming and more accepting and appreciating. You cannot judge a person based their personality and the way they choose to express themselves. It is idiotic to say that a movie with more than usual sex scenes causes its viewers to become more “slutty”. You are what you are. If you like to be promiscuous, then more power to you. Society loves to point the finger at whatever type of new movie or type or media that pushes the boundaries of what is right or wrong and women are usually the product of it. It is time for women to be appreciated and accepted for all the things they do that men also do but get praised for. Fifty Shades of Grey pushed the envelope into a dark world that not may people talk about but exposed to women a look into a new world. Although it did have the usual damsel in distress, it still empowered. It challenged the mind of the viewers and took the world by storm. As a woman I think that you should be free to do what you want without being judged for it. The faster we get to a society where both male and females are not shamed for being open with what they do and who they are the faster we get to an equal society.

Work Cited

Stevens, Sarah. "Rope Sluts, and Bottoms, and Subs, Oh My: 50 Shades of Grey and the Shifting Discourse on Female Submission in Feminist Kink Porn." The Communication Review 17.3 (2014): 256-268.