EROTIC novel,The book, dubbed “mummy porn”, is part of a trilogy by British author EL James and is the fastest selling paperback of all time.
It describes in vivid detail how its billionaire lead character Christian Grey shares bondage sex with student Anastasia Steele.
Yesterday we told how Raymond Hodgson was fined £100 after he splattered his lover Emma McCormick with HP sauce when he saw her reading the book.
Leading clinical psychologist Pamela Stephenson believes the sex in the books paints an unfair portrait and could be dangerous for couples who follow what is contained in the pages.
Former comedian Pamela, who is married to funnyman Billy Connolly, carried out one of the biggest ever studies of bondage fans.
Here she explains what she thinks of the books.
THE best-selling Fifty Shades Of Grey trilogy by EL James has sold 20million copies worldwide.
Having read the three novels in one sitting, I very much doubt it is the sex that did it.
But, most annoyingly, the story demonises BDSM — the term for the erotic style comprising bondage, domination, and sado-masochism — and those who enjoy it.
The male protagonist, Christian Grey, is portrayed as a cold-hearted sexual predator with a dungeon (that word has been wisely swapped for “playroom”), full of scary sex toys.
Worst of all is the implication that his particular erotic style has developed because he is psychologically “sick”. Frankly, in BDSM terms, Grey is a lightweight.
Even novices, however, would know that his use of cable ties is a very bad idea (to avoid nerve-damage and scarring, soft, thick rope is the norm).
Grey’s lack of competency in his chosen erotic arena is most apparent, though, in the way he fails to assess his potential new submissive’s naivety.
Experienced BDSM practitioners would not dream of terrifying a novice by bringing up such advanced techniques as fire, electricity and gynaecological play.
Ten years ago, I carried out an extensive psychological study of people in the BDSM community — the largest empirical study ever done at the time — to examine their psychological attributes and determine if there was any justification for the notion, commonly held, even within my field, that they were all psychologically disturbed.
After giving each of the 132 participants four hours of psychological tests, as well as a face-to-face interview, I found the group was generally not mentally unhealthy, and the instances of early abuse that had long been associated with the adult practice of BDSM were present in just a few.
When I presented my findings in 2003, the jury was still out as to whether BDSM and psychopathology went hand in hand.
But since then it has been firmly established that BDSM, played in a safe and consensual manner, is not proof of mental or physical illness, essential badness or emotional damage from trauma or abusive parenting, and that people cannot — and should not — be treated to cure it.
All the work that has been done to establish that BDSM is not a pathological symptom, but one of a wide range of normative human erotic interests, is in danger of being undermined by the success of Fifty Shades.
Let’s hope we do not return to the days when people were discriminated against — losing children, property, jobs — for their interest in BDSM.
Remember, Fifty Shades is just another bodice-ripper.
With cable ties.
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