“Anticipation runs bubbling like soda through my veins”

In the continuing aftermath of Fifty Shades of Grey's existence numerous writers and bloggers, similar to Bewildered Heart but with a much wider audience, used the opportunity to apply their education and thinking to a subject that people were interested in. This allowed for endless discussions on previously niche topics such as women and books. As noted on this very weblog, a striking opinion came from Newsweek reporter Katie Roiphe and the reaction to her essay was dismayed and largely critical, the natural response to a controversial viewpoint written to keep journalism alive for another week. Many found fault in the central argument, but if women don't enjoy submission fantasies such as the Fifty Shades trilogy because they yearn for momentary escape from economic participation and social equality then why would anyone subject themselves to EL James' prose, with the obvious exception of literary masochists and websites about romance fiction that desperately need attention?

In highlighting the fall-out let us begin with a Dana Goldstein article winningly entitled On Feminism and Sadomasochistic Sex, which appeared on The Nation mere days after Roiphe's publication. 'Taboo-breaking sex is culturally prevalent right now not because of macroeconomic trends like the decimation of the male manufacturing sector but because we live in an age in which all sorts of sexual practices are incredibly visible and talked about,' begins Goldstein, setting the scene in which Fifty Shades struck with brutal, yet erotic, gusto. Naturally, the novel concerned does not feature taboo-breaking sex, but Goldstein has larger issues on her mind. If history has taught us one thing it is that people have always been interested in sadomasochism. 'Why assume, as Roiphe seems to, that some authoritative brand of feminism was ever supposed to lead to human beings losing their curiosity about power play during sex?' Thus the tale of Christian Grey's penchant for whips is nothing new, and as Goldstein concludes, 'Sadomasochism is problematic if one partner is doing it just to please the other and feels hurt by it.' Yes, this certainly might cause trouble, but fortunately Dana is discussing Fifty Shades of Grey and so the thought passes without comment.

Goldstein and Laurie Penny take issue with Roiphe for citing two examples, the other being television show Girls, and claiming there to be a trend. Penny's main contention is that the media  fixates on this single female perversion at the expense of all others, but while this may contextualise Roiphe's critique, it does little to address the novel or its success. The examples of de Sade, Swinburne, Anais Nin, Anne Desclos and Anne Rice should have been ample warning of EL James' over-achievement, but it will do little to reassure Dr. Drew Pinksy, and a handful of historical anecdotes is hardly enough to counter Roiphe's assertion of a disturbing phenomenon. Several publishing houses, Mills & Boon included, have sought to cash-in, with plenty of authors seeing their work packaged and sold as the new Fifty Shades. Do the burgeoning careers of Indigo Bloom, Vina Jackson, Eve Berlin, Sadie Matthews, Marina Anderson, Sarah Fisher, L. Marie Adeline and Evie Blake, to name but nine, suggest cynical exploitation, a trend or a combination of the two?

Rebecca Newman, GQ's sex columnist and thus an authority on male dysfunction, takes the popular view that Feminism allows for all forms of sexual predilection. 'Done properly, BDSM is ying yang — you are surrendering certain freedoms on the understanding that you are turned on by it. Can a feminist be submissive? If it is consensual, safe, in a loving relationship, then of course.' Naturally, this offers a rather limited appreciation of feminism, insinuating that paraphilias can only be indulged within the confines of a committed partnership, but it also completely ignores Fifty Shades of Grey, as if the novel is merely a window into a related subject and not specifically worthy of discussion. Natasha Walter, author of Living Dolls: The Return of Sexism, shows a willingness to tackle the novel honestly, but her concerns lie not with the portrayal of sex, but with Grey's extreme wealth and James' inability to write. 'I tend to think that the submission isn’t wholly celebrated — it stems from abuse,' she says. This, at least, is a pertinent argument and one that Katie Roiphe glossed over. As much as Christian Grey is perfectly beautiful, generous, sensitive, funny, charming, intelligent, successful and adventurous, his desire to subjugate women is not listed as another of his virtues. His sadistic sexual practises, while deeply satisfying to Ana, are emblematic of his emotional and psychological traumas, and the one thing that stands in the way of his happiness.

Therefore, the sex becomes intrinsic to the developing power play of Christian and Ana's courtship, eventually culminating in the heroine's decision to abandon the relationship. This displays the struggle the hero has, as the reader witnesses him losing his ultimate objective, as we are supposed to believe that Ana is desirable. While EL James agrees with Walter it is apparent she either didn't understand her novel or was unable to demonstrate her intentions through narrative. 'Ana comes across as fairly submissive but she isn’t. She is actually the stronger of the two of them by far.' This would depend on a subjective definition of strength, but perhaps James views her heroine's selfless infatuation and constant sobbing as a form of empowerment. Nevertheless, over the course of the sequels Ana is rewarded with marriage and a pregnancy, thus achieving the aspiration of all females. Perhaps when James analysed her book as part of a conversation about sadomasochism of Woman's Hour she concluded that Ana was the stronger because she had no inner conflict of her own to resolve. Typical of romance fiction it is the hero with the personality defect to fix before a happy ending can be forged. Whereas the archetypal alpha males must learn to stop being arrogant, conceited, misogynistic, haunted by a ghost or ashamed of their supreme wealth, the heroine must be hamstrung by frizzy hair on sunny days just to keep from being annoyingly wonderful.

Despite judgements based on flimsy evidence, protestations spun from philosophical differences and a refusal to review the novel directly no one seems able to prove if Fifty Shades is anti-feminist or pro-feminist and if its popularity is a rejection of feminism or a celebration? Has the reaction to the popularity been confused by all this confusion? Dr. Drew Pinksy has been joined by others in finding the novel offensive and this appears to be a straightforward opinion to take, but surely this extends to the romance genre as a whole. Tales of solicititilation such as The Millionaire's Indecent Proposal are decidedly more sexist than Fifty Shades of Grey, which makes great efforts to show Ana refusing Christian's money, career assistance and expensive gifts. For whatever reason Roiphe's article was rejected, and it was rejected on many grounds, she should be credited for attempting to comprehend the reasons for the book sales and word-of-mouth that surrounds Fifty Shades, as it blossoms into a franchise involving movie adaptations and alarming merchandise. The counter-arguments offer little, preferring to instead close with a flippant dismissal of EL James' embarrassing lack of talent, perhaps choosing to assume that the best way to explain away the phenomenon of Fifty Shades of Grey is by assuming that millions of women are stupid.

“Freud would have probably died trying to deal with Fifty Shades”

Now that Bewildered Heart has completed reading Fifty Shades of Grey, after what might have been countless days of gormless gawping, in what ways should we expect the EL James abomination to affect us? Will our perception of the outside world be considerably altered? Will present and future relationships become stale and peaceful when held in comparison to Ana and Christian's or will fleeting fancies with weblogs such as Romance Novels for Feminists find previously unknown erotic depths and become dangerously sexual? Most worrying of all, perhaps, how can Bewildered Heart continue to find the same degree of satisfaction from reading Mills & Boons as we did through all those delightful years? Will Special Moments offer the perverse thrills to which we have recently grown accustomed? For those hiding under bed covers or attempting to wrap a silk tie around their own wrists, tremble no longer, because a swath of psychologists and opinionated laypeople have not been shy in volunteering their expertise on the damage that awaits us.

As witnessed numerous times before, there remains confusion as to whether reading romance fiction is harmful or beneficial to your psychological health, with viewpoints depending on religious background and book promotion. Fifty Shades has not only highlighted this argument, but amplified the potential risks or advantages. Idealising relationships, baby-making and alpha males is one thing, but glorifying sadomasochism, abuse and female subjugation is something entirely separate, and not necessarily accurate unless an expert bases their findings on haphazard estimations conjured from nothing. Speaking of which, Dr. Drew Pinksy is clearly uncomfortable with women using the Fifty Shades trilogy as a substitute for intimacy, or as a template for their own couplings. 'Maybe I have no business commenting on how women massage their fantasy life. Indeed I don't,' he begins perceptively, before continuing. 'But as I look at this as a clinician, the idea that women look at this relationship as anything other than absolute, categorical, profound pathology is more than I can imagine.' The limitations of Pinksy's imagination notwithstanding, there appears to be no evidence that women are seeing the novel's romance as anything other than fiction, but what sort of clinician would Dr. Drew be if he let that stop him?

'(Ana) is a woman who is naïve to (sadomasochism), and is manipulated and exploited by a man who has a severe personality disorder and a sex addiction who is violent with her, it is just too much to be understood.' The limitations of Pinksy's comprehension notwithstanding, his description of the book sounds a great deal more compelling than anything EL James was able to dream up. Still, in criticising the central concept of Fifty Shades Pinksy leaves out important plot points, such as Christian's handsomeness and wealth. An argument could also be made against the accusations of violence, as the first novel in the series contains no such instances, choosing instead to water down the hero's darker impulses until only rhythmic thrusts remain. In response to the standard defence that 'Swept-Away' fantasies are an innocuous hobby that allows women some escapism from daily drudgery, Pinksy appears to disagree. 'I would say that is a Stockholm Syndrome effect. The fantasy that you are in control when you are being manipulated and overpowered by someone, that you actually adopt their point of view and believe you are participating and controlling them is a complete fulfillment of a pathological fantasy.'

Dr. Drew might well be correct that a fantasy is a fantasy, but his conclusions lose their impact when considered against evidence. While Christian takes the view that the submissive is the one in control at no point is Ana genuinely empowered, instead a slave to her infatuation with a beautiful man. A much more controversial argument came from a Newsweek article by Katie Roiphe, which provoked a series of angry rebukes from feminists with internet connections. Despite this, Roiphe begins wisely enough, rejecting Grey as a proper sadist because he is, 'Solicitous and apologetic, always asking the heroine about every minute gradation of her feelings, and bringing her all kinds of creams and lotions to soothe her after spanking her.' The novel's appeal therefore is obvious, as it offers, 'Semi-pornographic glamour and the dangerous frisson of boundary crossing, while delivering reassuringly safe, old-fashioned romantic roles.' Yet, Roiphe contends, fantasies of female powerlessness are gaining in popularity during a time of women's sexual freedom and ascendency in the workplace. Is there a correlation between the decline of man in the real world and the rise of dominating rich men in romance fiction, and are there any statistics available that would disturb Dr. Drew even further?

'An analysis of 20 studies published in Psychology Today estimates that between 31 percent and 57 percent of women entertain fantasies where they are forced to have sex.' Theorists speculated on the reasons for this and concluded that women harboured such dreams because they were guilty and ashamed of claiming ownership for their own inclinations, but Roiphe finds this difficult to rationalise in the present day. Furthermore, Fifty Shades of Grey does not compare to the rape fantasies of the 1970s, but is Ana's form of passivity a rejection of feminism? 'The more theatrical fantasies of sexual surrender offer a release, a vacation, an escape from the dreariness and hard work of equality,' writes Roiphe. What marks this modern twist on sexual submission different from the likes of The Story of O is the inclusion of love as a motivation rather than an actual yearning to be bound and beaten. This allows Ana to, 'Indulge in the out-there fantasy of whipping and humiliation without actually taking responsibility for any off-kilter desires.' James uses this to appeal to our, 'Puritan past and our post-ironic present,' thus freeing Ana of judgement, while absolving her of the moral dilemmas necessary to reveal character. The story is simply too weakly told to offer political insight that would warrant closer scrutiny.

Writing in the New Yorker Daphne Merkin has suggested that, 'Equality between men and women takes a lot of work and may not be the surest route to sexual excitement.' Therefore feminism has no place in pornography, as male perverts have been saying for decades. The inherent troubles with Fifty Shades of Grey are glossed over by writers keen to focus their attention on other points as they use a famous title to lure in a larger readership. Those criticising Roiphe have pushed the notion that sex-positive feminism caters to all tastes, but this ignores Ana Steele's decision-making. As Dr. Drew noticed, without even reading the book, Ana is manipulated, bought and abused, as her innocence and obedience are fetishised. Her walking out at the novel's conclusion is undermined by her marrying Christian in Fifty Shades Darker, yet if the trilogy is the tale of Ana's maturity then meek subservience is a suitable starting point. Unfortunately for critics, their conclusions must be reached in spite of the source material, but analysing the possible reasoning of the readership does not offer understanding of the book. As a spiritual cousin of the equally atrocious Twilight, Fifty Shades suggests that women like classical romances with unashamedly idealised heroes, and obstacles such as vampirism and dominance need not be overcome, but instead happily shared.