Monday, July 16, 2012

Fifty Shades of Magic Mike


If you haven’t been living under a rock for the past six months, you have certainly had a conversation or heard a conversation or seen a facebook post concerning the Magic Mike/Fifty Shades of Grey fanaticism. What you may not have seen or heard is a post or conversation that is not ignoring the reality of this phenomenon.  Though I am positive I am going to take a lot of heat for this blog, I…. well, I will take one for the team. I am not sure which team this is as we have so far been a small and silent group. So here goes.



AM I THE ONLY ONE IGNORING THE FACT THAT FIFTY SHADES OF GREY IS GIRL PORN? I won’t apologize for yelling. That deserved some caps. I haven’t been able to go a day lately without hearing or seeing reference about Christian Grey, but in none of that have I seen a realistic comment about the nature of this literature. I am not talking about this from a minister’s perspective necessarily, (Though I am shocked at the number of Christian women on this bandwagon) but from the lense of someone who is in a happy and committed relationship.



I will be the first to admit that when I was single, I referred to Channing Tatum as Channing “Imsofreakinghott” Tatum and as a show of God’s good works. ( I was young and hilarious and single and let’s face it, he is attractive). While this may be a good point, how would you ladies react if you husband or boyfriend got tickets in advance, went on and on about, and planned to go see on opening night a movie about strippers? Maybe you’re cool with that. To each her own. I however would feel a little angry but more hurt emotionally and in my confidence.



If your husband or boyfriend came home with a book the equivalent of Fifty Shades of Grey, read it, commented about it on facebook, talked about it, would you be ok with that? I would be again hurt and disgusted. There would be a lot of emotional issues going on in relationships if the coin was flipped.



So I ask you, if you are someone who has read or thought about reading this book, is it worth it? Is your significant other being truthful about how they feel about it? Have you thought about how it might make them feel even if they would never tell you? (I am shocked about how many parents are unknowingly letting their teens read this “Best Selling novel” and how many teenagers I know personally who are currently reading this series).



I surveyed a few men in committed relationships for this blog, and each one commented that they would feel like junk and a few who do feel inadequate because their girlfriend or wife has joined this craze. But the catch is few have talked to their significant other about it because they don’t want to seem “like a girl” or childish about caring.



I wrote a blog a few months back about the problem with porn in marriages. It seems that Fifty Shades has crept in, a pornographic work, disguised as a novel, and for that it is socially acceptable. For me, in my opinion, there is a lot of damage that this could do to relationships in the same way that internet porn has ruined many lives.



My challenge and point? Think twice before doing what everyone else is doing just because society says it is ok to take part. Think about your man or your future man. Everything is permissible but not all things are beneficial.


5 comments:

  1. I've gotta say, the most shocking thing with this whole Fifty Shades of Grey/Magic Mike thing is that it's being viewed as "normal" reading/viewing material; as if it's just another novel/movie. Yes, it is a book and a movie, but the material is what sets them apart.

    It's always interesting to flip the gender roles in issues to imagine how it would change the situation. As you've stated, if reversed, I'd imagine that people would be much more disapproving of men reading/viewing this, as if it would then be degrading. While I think the culture of objectifying women has been (and is) terrible, men can be (and are, especially now-a-days) objectified just as much. My one caveat to your rant is that they're both "porn", not just "girl porn" since porn can be for both men and women. The need to think critically about how our decisions impact our relationships goes for all parties involved.

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  2. My thoughts exactly Lita!
    I know married Christian women who have read this book and it is angering to me. I can't believe teens are reading this book and I know my brother's gf said her roomie was reading it and she read an excerpt and you could tell it was written geared towards teens. The writing was awful both literary and morally.
    Great post Lita and way to tell it like it is!

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  3. I'm right there with you! Thank you for saying something so publicly!

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