Sex Abuse: 50 Shades Of Grey

Well, we all know that the mass media is the spotlight to what our actions and beliefs are. The media is our guide through social and gender scripts in order to live in the society. Today I am going to discuss the topic of sex. Let's be honest, we have learned sex through the media. Although sex is a natural thing for all living things, the media has taught us all in society how sex is supposed to look and feel. Pornography is another word for sex media. The problem with pornography is what is being shown the most. The most highly watched sex films are the ones that show violence.

Ana and Chrsitian

Let's take the movie, 50 Shades of Grey, for instance. The novels and movies have been a huge concern since it was made. So, I am just going to discuss the first film. If anyone has not seen the film or read the novel, it is about a woman named Anastasia who volunteers to interview a successful businessman, Christian Grey, in her sick friend's place for their college news article. Christian becomes interested in Ana and she (of course) falls for his charms. Little does she know that Christian has a dark side when it comes to sex and pleasure but for her being inexperienced, she's willing try anything to have him. Basically, the sex is more violent than pleasurable for Ana.

I'd hate to spoil some of the details but I have to talk about how wrong this movie portrays sex. The film definitely glamorizes most of the sex scenes to make it look desirable and pleasurable, which is why so many WOMEN are begging to have it. If you think realistically, many women are sexually abused, even raped every day. Which is why violent sex scenes in movies is such a huge concern, no matter how “nice” it is portrayed. Even though the scenes are sugarcoated, it still presents sex violence. For example, when Anastasia disobeys Christian by rolling her eyes, he whips her. At first, it is not a big deal because Anastasia ends up enjoying it. But later on, Anastasia does something to make Christian upset and he whips her, but this time he whips her hard which makes Anastasia cry in pain physically and mentally. What’s even worse is that this may look bad in the film, but just think of how this punishment is in real life for women in abusive relationships.

Extreme masculinity is also present in the film. Christian makes it clear to Ana that he does sex differently. "I don't do romance, I f*ck." So he creates a emotionless barrier in order to protect himself from getting hurt. Another example is that he tells Ana that if she wants him, she has to become his submissive and he is the dominant. He is basically telling her if she wants to be with him, she needs to basically be his sex slave. One more example that concerns me is this "consent contract" that Christian gives Anastasia. To sum up this contract, basically Christian is asking for Ana's consent to control her completely and be able to use "sex toys" on her in his "play room". This is actually terrifying to me because these sex toys look like weapons and tools for torture. Not to mention the play room looks like a serial killer's basement where he kills his victims. If I saw that room, I don't care how attractive Christian is, I would run for my life. 

The point is that when we as viewers see films like 50 Shades of Grey or other sex-based media, what we see is what we consume. When violent media is glamorized, we are placed in the delusion that aggressive sex is accepted and desired. We need to be more aware of how sex is shown on the media and change this norm that violent sex towards women is accepted in society.