I had been hearing women everywhere talking about this Fifty Shades book and how they were reading it at night, and discussing naughty things in their book clubs. The funny thing is that BSDM is not anything new in literature or movies. If you remember Maggie Gyllenhall crawled around with a carrot in her mouth and a saddle on her back before she was spanked repeatedly. This was a movie that people may not admit that they watched, but a whole lot of people did. Eyes Wide Shut was another movie that looked at a couple who explored the kinkier side of things. This type of story has always been appealing.
The same goes for literature more so than movies. The books about a more erotic Sleeping Beauty were released by Anne Rice under a pen name a decade ago. There have been several books over the years where the characters explored their darker desires, and now somehow it has gained steam again with this new generation of mommies into reading about kink. The society we live in now makes some of these things okay to have open discussions about. When Anne Rice’s books came out it was not really that type of society. Now that Fifty has come out and entertained millions Anne’s books are getting scooped up quickly.
I think the appeal of the book is that it allows these women to entertain thoughts of being kinky without judgment. They have always had the ability to do so in private if they wished, but the book somehow gives them the push they wanted. It normalizes this type of dominant submissive behavior and when the movie comes out there will be even more women introduced to kink who haven’t read the books.