slaves, tell me about 50 Shades of Grey

I know! I think his fear and hatred of it is the one thing that I see as a positive about the 50 shades books.

exactly

I think part of the fantasy appeal of this book is that the guy holds her to working out a set number of hours per week.

i live in the backend of nowhere, and suddenly in the last couple of weeks this book has gone crazy round these parts.
every woman in my facecrook list is currently reading/talking about them.
then today i am browsing the vinyl racks in local charity shop today and yup, it was the topic of discussion by the folks in the shop.

I made this comment before but all of these people would die of shock if they read Kushiel's Dart

oh man I remember seeing the Kushiel books in my science fiction book club catalogs when I was like 11 and wondering what the fuck they were

Oh my god, sex positivity! Noooo! We should be ashamed and prudish like we were in the 50's!

In related news, Lemony Snicket read what has been described by librarians as "hardcore erotica" at an ALA forum.

Tuesdays with...More, Please

The sales numbers of these are insane. Top three paperbacks according to the Guardian Review, the bottom of which sold around 110,000 copies. The next book in the list was somewhere around 22,000.

xposts: Yeah, this article is complete bullshit. However, I thought the main deal about 50 Shades was that it actually isn't very sex positive, seeing as she completely dissociates herself from her own sexuality, either by childish "hoo-ha" innuendo or projection of sex drive as a different character?

The 50 Shades You Meet in Heaven

oh, someone already made that joke, durr

The 50 Slaves You Beat in Heaven?

It's more sex-positive than Mitch Albom would like is the thing.

well yes, because there's sex in it

This might be unfair of me, but I got kind of a sad, low-self-esteem vibe from the author in the interview I saw with her. She didn't come off as a sex-positive feminist so much as a lonely former shut-in who had suddenly been thrust into the spotlight.

I guess her bio doesn't really back me up on that though. Hadn't read it before.

I think what women really love about this piece of garbage is the fantasy of a rich, handsome billionaire being a controlling d-bag. Do I think these chicks really like the idea of being caned and flogged? Probably not. But they love the fantasy of being "taken care of"

I mean most of this book isn't sexy. It's about a guy who writes a lot of stern e-mails and buys Audi's for his wittle kitten and asks her constantly if she's had a meal in the last 24 hours.

ooh, hawtt

and also tells her to quit biting her lip

Yeah I've also theorized that the main fantasy element in the book is probably the rich daddy aspect and not the bondage, which I think is more of a "how far will she go" thing. My impression is that if the guy were a plumber or pool cleaner or something instead of a billionaire, then he'd probably be the sexy, sensitive lover who gives her what her rich husband can't instead of a dominator.

erotic propaganda for a new patriarchy

that sounds like a Consolidated album title

maybe I'll write something about a spoiled pampered house wife who falls in love with her gardener

because HE IS SENSITIVE and LOVING and shit

I am sure it's been done many many times, though

in a shocking twist, the gardener... is a wereparrot

homo II - there's a lifetime movie with that plot: susan lucci is the pampered woman, she falls for david charvet, who is married to tracey gold

isn't that the plot of lady chatterley's lover? he's a gardener iirc

still, stone cold classic plot.

It also happens on Desperate Housewives, which I uh, just happen to be watching on netflix right now entirely because of my wife.

and asks her constantly if she's had a meal in the last 24 hours.

I think the food issues are fascinating, here. Like, he makes her work out so she'll stay thin and attractive, but he's always plying her with food, and she's always forgetting/refusing to eat...the implication is "like a good woman should." Because love of food and tastes is a sensuous enjoyment that she's not supposed to desire, because she's a blank slate who has never felt anything sensual until this guy came along and made her orgasm continuously, as if by magic. The rejection of the body is total...but only HER body. He's allowed to be in touch with his body.

in a shocking twist, the gardener... is a hunger game!

hahahaha

omg lol

Do I think these chicks really like the idea of being caned and flogged? Probably not. But they love the fantasy of being "taken care of"

being caned and flogged : being "taken care of" :: forcible rape : romance-novel "ravishment"

I refuse to read these books, but I gather they're slightly more explicit Harlequin/Mills & Boon, fueled by the advent of e-readers (no need to go to a bookstore or be seen holding a book with a compromising cover).

isn't that the plot of lady chatterley's lover? he's a gardener iirc

still, stone cold classic plot.

He was a gamekeeper in LCL, but yes, classic since at least Joseph and Potiphar's wife.

See I see the eating/exercising thing is more like you'd treat your dog... make sure it's healthy by ensuring it eats and gets walked.

also pay for its vaccinations

Does he ever ask her about her bowel movements/make sure she's regular?

spay/neuter obv key too

What does he do when she chews up his underwear?

shock collar iirc

what makes me wonder is... are these fantasies (and I can't act like I don't have any that aren't really similar once in a while--err--TMI?) inherent in women, or are they all propagated by romance novels/films/books, etc? Which came first?

He does ask her about her menstrual cycle at one point, if I recall. And yanks out her tampon so he can fuck her. And makes her a doctor appointment so she can get on the pill.

Pretty much she's his big girl kitty cat.

No wonder almost 80% (from what I've seen) of the women on Fetlife have usernames that involve "Kitty" or "Kitten"

There are a couple of rabbits

And a couple of 'pig sluts'

I should change my username on FL to "Daddy's Sloth" or something. Some animal that isn't fluffy and cute.

power dynamic shit is as old as time iirc
(but i don't believe anything in particular is inherent in women or men, though, at least not wholeheartedly)

you should read this book i'm reading -- http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13353151-the-origins-of-sex
i think you would enjoy

xp Pangolin.

Daddy's Rock Hyrax

Someone right now is writing a novel that features Abraham Lincoln and Jane Austen in a BDSM relationship, with zombies. Or vampires.

"Daddy's Naked Mole Rat" is probably a little too close to home

As cute as they get, and they get a lot uglier:

http://www.zooborns.com/.a/6a010535647bf3970b0115721b7956970b-800wi

mini review from one of the mums on my facecrook network :

It's mills and boon with porn in
Utter shite
But I'm on book two !

which, despite having not read a word, sounds about right ..

this is a short description of the book linked upthread if you don't want to click on it for some weird reason

n The Origins of Sex, Faramerz Dabhoiwala provides a landmark history, one that will revolutionize our understanding of the origins of sexuality in modern Western culture. For millennia, sex had been strictly regulated by the Church, the state, and society, who vigorously and brutally attempted to punish any sex outside of marriage. But by 1800, everything had changed. Drawing on vast research--from canon law to court cases, from novels to pornography, not to mention the diaries and letters of people great and ordinary--Dabhoiwala shows how this dramatic change came about, tracing the interplay of intellectual trends, religious and cultural shifts, and politics and demographics. The Enlightenment led to the presumption that sex was a private matter; that morality could not be imposed; that men, not women, were the more lustful gender. Moreover, the rise of cities eroded community-based moral policing, and religious divisions undermined both church authority and fear of divine punishment. Sex became a central topic in poetry, drama, and fiction; diarists such as Samuel Pepys obsessed over it. In the 1700s, it became possible for a Church of Scotland leader to commend complete sexual liberty for both men and women. Arguing that the sexual revolution that really counted occurred long before the cultural movement of the 1960s, Dabhoiwala offers readers an engaging and wholly original look at the Western world's relationship to sex.