Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

In 2011, Fifty Shades of Grey, an erotic novel by British author E.L. James, took the publishing world by storm. This article examines the lack of a feminist backlash to the book by comparing it to The Story of O (1954) and the backlash that that book engendered. In addition to parsing the terms of the existentialism that underlies The Story of O, this article unpacks the neoliberal logic of Fifty Shades of Grey.

Keywords

BDSM feminism neoliberalism

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Barthes

Roland

(1997) Sade, Fourier, Loyola. Trans. Richard Miller, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Beauvoir

Simone de

(1966) ‘Must We Burn Sade?’. Trans. Annette Michelson. In: The Marquis de Sade: The 120 Days of Sodom and Other Writings, New York: Grove Press, pp. 3–64. .

Benjamin

Jessica

(1988) The Bonds of Love: Psychoanalysis, Feminism and the Problem of Domination, New York: Pantheon.

Bosman, Julie (2012) ‘Discreetly Digital, Erotic Novel Sets American Women Abuzz’. New York Times, 9 March. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/10/business/media/an-erotic-novel-50-shades-of-grey-goes-viral-with-women.html?pagewanted=all (accessed 5 March 2013).

Califia, Pat (1980) ‘Among Us, Against Us – The New Puritans’. The Advocate, 17 April, pp. 14–18.

Coalition for a Feminist Sexuality and Against Sadomasochism (1983) ‘Notes and Letters’. Feminist Studies 9(1): 180.

Cossman

Brenda

(2007) Sexual Citizens: The Legal and Cultural Regulation of Sex and Belonging, Stanford: Stanford University Press.

Deller

Ruth A.

Sarah

Harman

Bethan

Jones

(2013) ‘Introduction: Reading the Fifty Shades “Phenomenon”’. Sexualities 16(8): 859–863.

Doll, Jen (2012) ‘The Dirty Book That's Changing the Lives of Upper East Side Moms’. The Atlantic Wire, 28 February. Available at: http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2012/02/dirty-book-s-changing-lives-upper-east-side-moms/49239 (accessed 5 March 2013).

10.

Downing

Lisa

(2013) ‘Safewording! Kinkphobia and Gender Normativity in Fifty Shades of Grey’. Psychology and Sexuality 4(1): 92–102.

11.

Dworkin

Andrea

(1974) Woman Hating: A Radical Look at Sexuality, New York: Dutton Press.

12.

Dymock

Alex

(2013) ‘Flogging Sexual Transgression: Interrogating the Costs of the “Fifty Shades Effect”’. Sexualities 16(8): 880–895.

13.

Eng

David

(2010) The Feeling of Kinship: Queer Liberalism and the Racialization of Intimacy, Durham: Duke University Press.

14.

Flood, Alison (2012) ‘Fifty Shades of Grey Condemned as “Manual for Sexual Torture”’. The Guardian. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/aug/24/fifty-shades-grey-domestic-violence-campaigners (accessed 6 March 2013).

15.

Flox, AV (2012) ‘The Troubling Message in Fifty Shades of Grey’. BlogHer, 23 April. Available at: http://www.blogher.com/troubling-message-fifty-shades-grey (accessed 6 March 2013).

16.

Foucault, Michel (1988) Technologies of the Self: A Seminar with Michel Foucault. Ed. Luther Martin. Boston: University of Massachusetts Press.

17.

Griffin, Susan (1982) ‘Sadomasochism and the Erosion of Self: A Critical Reading of The Story of O’. In: Robin Ruth Linden, Darlene R. Pagano, Diana E.H. Russell and Susan Leigh Starr (eds) Against Sadomasochism: A Radical Feminist Analysis. East Palo Alto: Frog in the Well, pp. 183–201.

18.

Haber, Matt (2013) ‘A Hush-Hush Topic No More’. New York Times, 27 February. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/28/fashion/bondage-domination-and-kink-sex-communities-step-into-view.html?_r=0 (accessed 27 April 2015).

19.

Harrison

Katherine

Marie-Louise

Holm

(2013) ‘Exploring Grey Zones and Blind Spots in the Binaries and Boundaries of E.L. James’ Fifty Shades Trilogy’. Feminist Media Studies 13(3): 558–562.

20.

James

E.L.

(2011) Fifty Shades of Grey, New York: Random House.

21.

Klossowski

Pierre

(1991) Sade, My Neighbor. Trans. Alphonso Lingis, Chicago: Northwestern University Press.

22.

Luscombe

Belinda

(2012) ‘James’ Bondage’. Time Magazine 9 April, 179(14): pp. 52–54. .

23.

Martin

Amber

(2013) ‘Fifty Shades of Sex Shop: Sexual Fantasy for Sale’. Sexualities 16(8): 980–984.

24.

Paulhan

Jean

(1965) ‘Happiness in Slavery’. In: Pauline Réage. The Story of O, New York: Grove Press, pp. xxi–xxxv.

25.

Réage

Pauline

(1965) The Story of O, New York: Grove Press.

26.

Rubin

Gayle

(1981) Coming to Power: Writings and Graphics on Lesbian S/M, Boston: Alyson.

27.

St. Jorre, John de (1994) ‘The Unmasking of O’. The New Yorker, 1 August, pp. 42–50.

28.

SB Sarah (2012) ‘50 Shades of Grey: Why Is It So Increasingly Popular?’ Smart Bitches Trashy Books, 2 March. Available at: http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/blog/50-shades-of-grey-why-is-it-so-increasingly-popular (accessed 5 March 2013).

29.

Schuster, Dana (2012) ‘Mamma Mia! A New Book about Sex Games and a Bondage-loving Billionaire has NYC Moms Reading like Never Before’. New York Post, 27 February. Available at: http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/mamma_mia_TFCh9ZeqKU7QpYDnH2npoL (accessed 5 March 2013).

30.

Steintrager

James A.

(2005) ‘Liberating Sade’. The Yale Journal of Criticism 18(2): 351–379.

31.

Tsaros

Angelika

(2013) ‘Consensual Non-Consent: Comparing EL James's Fifty Shades of Grey and Pauline Réage's Story of O’. Sexualities 16(8): 864–879.

BDSM and the boundaries of criticism: Feminism and neoliberalism in Fifty Shades of Grey and The Story of O

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References