I like sex as much as the next person. If you have a couple of kids bopping around, you’ve obviously also enjoyed some time in the sack as well — except my parents. They’ve had four children via immaculate conception. Amazed no news outlets have tracked them down for a story ...
Never have I felt more of a prude then when I read “Fifty Shades of Grey.” (Note to self: Do not read/listen to soft-core porn books while running a half-marathon or camping with neighbors.) Yes, the book has been out for more than a year, but I’m disturbed that it still sits atop the New York Times best-seller list week after week despite its anti-feminist themes.
“Fifty Shades” erases strides made in feminism; yet it’s a favorite among women. Which begs the question: Do women want to be dominated?
Many of my friends defend the main character, Anastasia, who shows a lack of fortitude. She allows a rich, good-looking man to talk her into becoming his submissive, even addressing him as “Sir.” You read that right; this is a book about love, S&M and sexual escapades I couldn’t dream up if high on Ecstasy — all at the whim of a man. With domestic violence taking center stage as a form of eroticism, the book set off my alarms.
My disgust over the book brought an interesting conversation with my mother about how younger women don’t seem to appreciate what early feminists went through. So many of those reading “Fifty Shades of Grey” are around my age — an age where the battles over women’s rights seem far in the past, battles we didn’t have to fight.
Everything seems to come easier for the ladies of my generation, so our history seems to be fading.
Congressman John Lewis, one of the young men beaten during a civil rights march through Alabama, reminds us why we should remember our history: “We must know our history as a nation and a people. We must study it and visit its birthplace — in essence, we must live history in order to understand and appreciate it. Our past is what brought us here.”
More women are attending school, the glass ceiling has chipped away, and while women are paid less than a man, the Paycheck Fairness Act is still debated in a Congress where men hold the majority. You would think the realization that we are being paid less for the same job would have us lady-folk storming the steps.
It’s a defining issue of our time, showing our daughters that they hold equal worth. Yet, I see no debate, outrage or push to get it passed. Either women of my generation don’t know, or they don’t care.
We seem to think we were born with equal rights, so we’re more apt to forget the fight, and live with an entitlement attitude.
The lack of response has me wondering if feminism is alive and well in Baby Boomers, but dying a slow death among Generation Y.
Opportunities are around every corner this election for women to get up and make noise. We have all-male panels debating contraception rights, funding for Planned Parenthood, and whether or not a stay-at-home mother is actually doing “work” — all women’s issues.
A fire has yet to be lit under those of my age who don’t seem to recognize there are still issues to be fought, issues that have both the president and Republican nominee scrambling to placate our gender.
In five months, we could decide the outcome of this pivotal election with both Democrats and Republicans courting the mommy vote. In a time when women have more power, education and money, still we see more men at the helm and a book about degrading sex as a best-seller.
Politico found that this is the first election since 1920 in which women could sway the election. That is power, baby.
I’m sure you never thought a column that started about an S&M book would flow to the 2012 election, but I believe politics and violence go hand-in-hand. It bothers me that “Fifty Shades of Grey” is being read by millions of women who salivate over the idea of a man dominating them, while they allow it to happen in real life.
It’s been a political season that has women clawing at one another’s throats while we debate the merits of issues set forth by men — issues that don’t even merit debate when our country continues to head downslope. Thousands are out of work, but let’s fight over birth control, calling for panels and investigations.
The fact that both Obama and Romney are working overtime to get our vote should show us that we can dictate the terms, that they will be our submissive while we dominate the election.
Put down the book, back away slowly and start fighting the good fight — equal pay for equal work.
