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STATE OF THE TROUT: “Drowning in work” edition

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Hey everybody! I’m drowning in work, so updates this week will probably be this, and Merlin Club on Friday. I’m on the downhill slope of a manuscript and I’m editing another one, so I’m swamped. But I wanted to stop by and tell you:

  • I’m Jaclyn Friedman’s guest on Fucking While Feminist this week. You can listen here. We talked about 50 Shades of Grey, natch.
  • The Boss series is coming to audio! Tantor Media has acquired the rights to The Boss, The Girlfriend, and The Bride for audio publication. More news on that to come.
  • My latest 50 Shades of Grey blog is in The Huffington Post. It was already posted here, but over there it says The Huffington Post in big letters. Here.
  • And here is an article on 50 Shades of Grey written by someone who has apparently never read the books and who consulted experts who haven’t read it (or any other book) either: I was going to write a response to this, but I’ve got a lot to do and oh lord, the green mile seems so long.

 

I’ll be back when all my stuff gets done. I’ll still update the DV/Rape links post, but if you want to leave links in the comments, that’s okay, too. Catch you on the flipside.

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Here for the first time because you’re in quarantine and someone on Reddit recommended my Fifty Shades of Grey recaps? Welcome! Consider checking out my own take on the Billionaire BDSM genre, The Boss. Find it on AmazonB&NSmashwords, iBooks, and Radish!

6 Comments

  1. SpaceCaptainJ
    SpaceCaptainJ

    Awww, sad you’re not doing a rebuttal to that article. It had one of the dumbest sentences I’ve ever read right at the top –

    “Could a former Calvin Klein model embody the dark sexual fantasies of millions of women?”

    Could a male model turn women on…really. Gee, I don’t know.

    February 11, 2015
    |Reply
    • “But why male models?”

      February 12, 2015
      |Reply
  2. Tracy
    Tracy

    What were you going to say about the article? Tell us in a nutshell!

    February 11, 2015
    |Reply
  3. Em
    Em

    A part of me hoped that article was tongue-in-cheek. How else can you explain such stunning moments of cognitive dissonance…

    Despite its antecedents in […] Beauty and the Beast, Fifty Shades can even be read as a story of women’s empowerment: The princess ends up saving the prince. “She heals him,” Barash says. “This story has not been told before.”

    Excuse me while I fall over laughing.

    There’s a whole section of the article that goes into the horrible things the author has experienced and heard about from other women. Things like catcalling, abuse, rape. A a real discussion about female sexuality tries to worm its way out of that mire, but then we get right back to ‘if Fifty Shades can teach us anything it’s that women are becoming empowered now. Maybe. We’re not entirely sure.’

    … Which isn’t quite the ringing endorsement the article really starts with. The mental gymnastics it proposes to explain why it’s good and fine that this trilogy is being held up as a symbol of sexual liberation seem to fall a little flat when the best conclusion the author could find was:

    “In a culture of gender equality, sex would be way more creative and more interesting,” says Dines. “You would be the author of your own sexuality.” Such autonomy would be infinitely more transgressive than any blindfold or ball gag.

    So Fifty Shades: not that transgressive after all, huh?

    February 12, 2015
    |Reply
    • I see that article quotes Gail Dines as a worthy source. This tells me everything I need to know about it.

      February 12, 2015
      |Reply

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