Have you heard of the book, “Fifty Shades of Grey?”
I first heard of it when a close circle of girlfriends got
together a few weeks ago. Now, not all of us in this circle are avid readers.
Some are and some just aren’t (and they’ll admit to this). I like to think of
myself as one of the avid readers. In fact, if I had a choice of going to the
movies or curling up with a good book, the book would win each and every time.
Now,
I don’t like to think of myself as a book snob, but I do like to think of
myself as having my finger on the pulse of the New York Times Best Seller Book List. So, when the topic of this book came up and I hadn’t even
heard of it yet, I felt totally out of the loop. This book came so highly recommended,
that two of the women in my group literally walked over to Barnes and Noble and
bought their copies after dinner.
They read it within days.
They commented about it on Facebook.
They’ve even debated who they would like to see play the lead
male role in the inevitable movie.
Apparently, everyone has read this book except me. And how
do I know this? I was doing errands this afternoon and while I was driving I
turned on a local news station here in Washington, and guess what they were
reporting on? The NYT Bestseller, “Fifty Shades of Gray” and debating whether it is
the new (and I quote) “Mommy
Porn.”
Oh—so that’s why this book is so popular...
Now, from my discussion with my girlfriends, I knew this
book was, well, I’ll call it “juicy.” But is it really, newsworthy? WTOP thought it was and featured a complete 3-minute segment debating on just how “juicy” it was
and why women are racing to buy their own copies.
Seriously? I almost rear-ended the car in front of me.
The producers really thought it was necessary to interview a
women’s sexual health "expert" to find out whether all the women buying this
book, are (for lack of a better term) perverted. I honestly didn’t know whether
I should laugh out loud or be offended--especially when we live in a society
where the porn industry creates more
revenue than Microsoft, Google, ebay and Netflix combined.
Now, I’m not justifying porn, not at all.
However, my point
is this: The only reason this book became a news story in the first place, is
because women are buying it in bulk—not men. And that’s a blatant double-standard if I ever saw one.
A double standard that every husband and boyfriend should be actively exploiting to the fullest…especially if they want to make their wives and girlfriends really, really happy.
