Fifty Shades of Blushing...

Upon reading the first few salacious scenes in the first Fifty Shades novel, I couldn't help but recall those embarrassing yet exciting moments as a pre-teen (that's what we were called in the Judy Blume days; I believe the Bieber generation prefers the term "tween") when I managed to sneak a peek -or a read, as it were- of treasures in my mom's Danielle Steele collection.  Coincidentally, it was my mother who sent me the Fifty Shades book.  And, so it seems, puberty and personal growth experiences aside, reading these things as an adult still makes me blush... I will spare everyone the book report- but part of what made me blush was certainly the terrible writing.  I mean, THAT was embarrassing.  All of that aside (literature, smitature), I couldn't help but feel I had to hide the cover when I was in public.  EVERYONE seems to know that if you're opening that otherwise benign-looking gray-colored paperback, you are basically reading porn.  Or, worse, what an unsuspecting neighbor on the plane glances over your shoulder and catches the phrase, "I want your ass to be mine, Anastasia."????  Eeeeek. It appears that my shame may distinguish me as a prude.  Middle-aged women with totally wholesome, innocuous appearances all around me seem to have no problem sharing with the world that they are part of this strange sort of sexual revolution.  Two women in their forties - strangers to one another, from what I could tell- struck up a conversation on my flight a few days ago about their enthusiasm for Mr. Grey.  No qualms at all!   I feel I may be the only one (besides those who are a part of the rather unsurprising evangelical backlash) who wants to hide every single copy displayed proudly at the front of the bookstore (seeeeriously, what if a kid gets their hands on it???- they may continue reading, driven by curiosity like a young girl I once knew, who grew up to be embarrassed by all of this... oh....).  I have heard of book clubs, godforbid, that are reading the trilogy.  The thought of sitting around in a group of women and discussing this... oh gaaaaawd. Aside from the deep sense of oogly-googlyness I feel when I think about a gaggle of older women obsessing over this pervy nonsense, I did find myself considering why this trilogy is such a sensation (so poorly written and not entirely uniquely conceived, after all).  All hail to the goddess Ms. Steele, and never forgetting the images of a shirtless Fabio that many of us grew up catching covert peeks of, it isn't like this is the first explicitly sexual novel disguised as literature for women... Not even close. I definitely think part of it is the sex.  Although this is not a new genre, I think the phenomenon certainly lent some legitimacy to the whole concept for many women.  It's like hoards of women are liberated by the thought that it is now "okay" to read this stuff.  The truth is, it has always been ok (so far as I'm concerned), and I think this whole obsession will be short-lived.  Im sure married women will go back to their regular "headaches" soon enough...But, if this is what it takes to inspire a bunch of repressed women to get some, then, well, thats not so bad... But I also kept coming back to the story (which, obviously, is interesting and what really keeps people reading once the novelty of the BDSM stuff wears off...).  They call this genre "romance" which is interesting, since Ana isn't exactly swept off her feet by the man who showers her with gifts to control her and wants to violently punish her when she defies him due to his extreme intimacy issues... You know what IS romantic about that though?  That whole, fixer-upper thing...  You know, when a guy is soooo f-ed up (like, 50 shades of f-ed up, so the inspiration for the book goes...) that he is attractive, in this very I-want-to-nurture-you-and-love-you-and-then-fix-you-and-then-you-will-be-all-mine-and-you-will-always-love-me-because-you-need-me way.  It is vital to the plot that Grey has a sordid past, full of abuse and neglect and things that make him sympathetic- so we will all cheer for Ana to change him successfully. Uh, there is a good REASON he cant emotionally fulfill her soooo... It is sexy because it is wrong, but it is romantic because she is "different" than all the other girls he's been with (all of the "firsts" he has with her) and isn't that what we all want in some way? To be the girl who can change the bad guy - while still enjoying the exotic nature of his bad side, of course... Well, heres what: I am not ruining much by telling the 2 people who haven't read this that the first installment doesn't end well for the "couple".  Then again, it is a blatantly intentional cliff-hanger and I assume they rekindle something soon to fuel two more books...  And I am going to read them.  And if that story ends with those two together - if it dares to teach women that these mysterious, brooding, messed-up guys can really sustain healthy long-term relationships... Well, I'll be pissed.   There are people who believe these books are bad for society, or for women, because of the sex.  No offense, but that's dumb.  Our culture is already saturated by sex and I don't see this as anything new, shocking, or upsetting.  However, as a reformed fixer-upper of men, the lesson that these kinds of relationships - although I hesitate to call them that, as they are generally one-sided quests more than anything else - community service projects, as I used to say - are viable... THAT is the dangerous lesson. Anyway, it was killing me while I was on vacation to be too isolated from all to discuss this book while I was reading it.  Share your thoughts, please. And if you haven't read it (and are female), read it and get back to me.  You might as well at this point...