A new study revealed that E.L James' erotic novel "Fifty Shades of Grey" propagates violence against women though it claims to be a romance.
E.L James' erotic novel "Fifty Shades of Grey" has been the subject of many controversial debates. While the novel took the publishing industry by storm and became one of the most popular books of 2012, the author also received a lot of criticism about the content of the book.
A new study conducted by Amy Bonomi, an assistant professor at Ohio State University, and colleagues found that the book actually perpetuates violence against women. The book is filled with content describing emotional and sexual abuse with the female protagonist being subjected to continuous exploitation.
"This book is perpetuating dangerous abuse standards and yet it's being cast as this romantic, erotic book for women," said Bonomi, lead author of the study in a press statement. "The erotic content could have been accomplished without the theme of abuse."
Anastasia Steele, the female protagonist in the book, is portrayed as a woman who feels a constant threat and loss of self-identity. In the story, she changes her personality to ensure her relationship continues to work and ends up becoming disempowered and entrapped in the relationship as her behavior becomes mechanized in response to Christian's abusive patterns.
