Since the international bestseller Fifty Shades of Grey was released in 2011 it has broken world
records selling 5.3 million copies, become more popular than the highway code and has been adapted
into a film which grossed at $81.7 million in the US on the opening weekend. However despite the
book’s undeniable success it has also attracted massive controversy.
It is clear that Fifty Shades of Grey has taken the public by storm for one main reason: sex. It is very much the Lady Chatterly’s Lover of today. It is indeed a refreshing sight to see
so many people opening up to sexuality and taking a less judgemental stance on “taboo”
subjects such as BDSM. However, it is also true that Fifty Shades has a much darker side
to it. The protagonist, Ana, is subjected to emotional and sexual abuse throughout by the “love-
interest” Christian Grey. In response to Ana expressing doubts, such as "I can't do this", Grey merely responds by saying things like "Oh Ana, don't overthink this". Also, phrases such as “I would find you. I can track your cell phone, remember?” are
commonplace throughout the trilogy. This is clearly the coercive behaviour of an abuser and by no
means a true depiction of a BDSM relationships where the use of safe words and consent are
essential.
In light of this threatening element of the book, should it be surprising that so many people have blindly jumped on the Fifty Shades
bandwagon? Astonishingly sex-education is still not mandatory in UK schools and the schools that
do teach it rarely cover vital topics such as gender, sexuality and, most importantly, consent. Putting
a condom on a banana is really about as in depth as it gets. Due to inadequate sex education, teenagers and young adults have no choice but to turn to other places to learn about sex. This means that when a book like Fifty Shades of Grey comes along it’s going to attract some hype. The fact that the series has captivated so many fans surely shows that people are curious and want to
know more about sex. This illustrates the danger of pushing sex education under the
carpet. People need to be educated properly by professionals about sex, not by sketchy internet
porn and authors who know no more about BDSM than the reader.
But has the success of the Fifty Shades of Grey really been a catastrophe for feminism, and sex in
general? Although it is true that the books undoubtedly send out harmful messages to the youth of
today, it has brought attention to the void of information that has been left by substandard sex
education and has highlighted issues surrounding consent and sex to the general public. The
success of Fifty Shades of Grey is something we can all learn from and use to further the discussion about the need for better communication about sex.
Written by Tash
Edited by Ellen
Picture Credit: Ellen
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/9459779/50-Shades-of-Grey-is-best-selling-book-of-all-time.html
http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2015/feb/16/record-breaking-opening-weekend-for-50-shades-of-grey
Everyone knows the feeling of regret after a night out, however I personally feel as though I am losing control over my decision to drink too much. That is to say, there is an increasing amount of pressure upon girls to get more and more drunk.
At a house party recently I found myself leaning over the toilet spewing up a disgusting mixture of cider, vodka and who knows what else; meanwhile, the teenage boys with whom I had chosen to spend the night were hatching a plan. As I reemerged from the toilet, awaiting me was a supermarket's budget version of Pimms, only sans the lemonade and cucumber garnish. In my inebriated state, I assumed the boy handing me this drink would join me, and also raise his glass to his lips. Yet this was not the case, he simply reunited his shot with the rest of the bottle. It felt as if this 17-year-old boy was trying to convince me to drink more.
But to what end? As mentioned in the Telegraph: "young men…appeared to follow behaviour patterns that included pressuring girls to have sex, often with the use of alcohol." However, in this particular case, the boy in question was in a happy relationship. This leads me to the question as to whether he was trying to prove his masculinity?
This is more than just one occasion, tomorrow evening's plan involves bets. The losing boys have to wax their legs, whilst the losing girls drink three shots. This seems wholly unfair. The boys merely have to experience the daily pressures faced by girls, whilst the girls are forced to drink more and more. Despite the fact that these boys in question are my friends, I find it unsettling that they enjoy getting girls drunk. This appears to be a commonplace issue, and it makes me wonder how many girls it affects.
Flipping it around, how many males feel obliged to drink due to pressure from their female friends? Very few of them, I imagine.
I believe there are many reasons for this, one being that the idea of female consent is rarely taught in schools. Consequently, our society fosters a lack of respect for women. The very fact that a fifth of women aged between 16 and 59 experience "some form of sexual violence" (Rape Crisis 2013) shows that we need to change this attitude. Girls should not be dolls for boys to play around with.
Written by Georgina
Edited by Lili
Picture credits to Ellen
The telegraph reference: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3384737/Teenage-boys-say-it-is-acceptable-to-pressure-girls-into-sex.html
The Rape Crisis 2013: http://www.rapecrisis.org.uk/Statistics2.php
In 1928 Britain at last had a truly
democratic system. Women, after years of campaigning, finally obtained the right to vote. In the 2010 general election however, there was a 64% turnout amongst female voters, compared with 66% of males. Furthermore, in a poll carried out by women's hour last week, it was found that a "third of women have yet to decide how to vote and that young women are serially uncertain (theguardian.com).
However, it is debatable as to whether the Labour Party has tackled this issue in the right way.
The launch of their campaign to appeal to women voters, which involves bussing female politicians around the country, has been subject to much criticism. This is largely due to the colour of said 'bus'.
The choice of bright, 'barbie' pink for this bus risks undermining the whole campaign. Many women find this colour patronising, and this is unsurprising, as it seems only to enforce the stereotypes which currently restrain women. Labour's Harriet Harman insisted that the bus was more "magenta than pink"(The Week), yet I fear that the damage has been done.
Clearly more needs to be done to engage women in politics, but Labour appear to have missed the point. Women voters aren't concerned with different issues to men, in fact the guardian found that men and women voters are most troubled by the same issues, namely the "future of health and education". This shows that labour need not target women voters by focusing on issues faced by women, instead, women need to feel represented. This is rather a different point, but with such a lacking in women politicians, it is unsurprising that many women feel uninspired to vote.
Moreover, this is not a problem by any means exclusive to women. In fact, the largest gap in voting turnout is between the social classes, and even more striking is the low turnout of racial minorities. "Barely half the ethnic minority population votes, against two-thirds of white Britons"(theguardian.com). This begs the question: where are the campaigns to encourage the poorest among us to vote?
Lili
The Guardian reference: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/feb/11/labour-patronising-barbie-bus-female-voters
The Week reference: Labour: all aboard the "Barbie bus", The Week, Newspaper, 21st February 2015
Image Credit: Ellen
Natasha Preskey, writer for the Independent has raised an important point, that a woman "earning minimum wage must work approximately 38 full working days to pay for her lifetime’s supply" of tampons. The fact that tampons are taxed as though they were a luxury product implies that they aren't essential. The very idea of being on your period and functioning without female sanitary products takes us back to the Dark Ages.
If we look at places like Durban where women living below the poverty line cannot afford sanitary pads or similar products, the implications are huge. Girls are often left with no other choice than to miss school for the duration of their menstruation and many must "use pieces of cloth (isidwedwe), toilet paper or newspaper due to poverty [Women24.com]" which can cause rashes.
The very fact that women are debilitated every month through lack of access to these products shows they are essential, rendering the concept of tampons luxury items ridiculous.
This highlights the underlying inequality between men and women. The fact that this issue only affects women demonstrates that this subtle discrimination passes unnoticed in our current society.
Ellen & Lili
Here is the original article for you to read:
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/theres-nothing-luxurious-about-my-periods-so-why-is-the-government-taxing-tampons-as-if-there-is-10045629.html
Women24.com reference: http://www.women24.com/Wellness/WomensHealth/Periods-and-poverty-20090623
Image Credit: Ellen
