By most standards, E.L. James has had a pretty successful year. Her erotic novel “Fifty Shades of Grey” has been on bestseller lists for months, received ample press coverage (including in The Huffington Post), been spoofed on Saturday Night Live and narrated by Ellen Degeneres, and it's being turned into a major motion picture. In case James wasn’t sure whether she'd really made it, now she can rest easy -- “Fifty Shades of Grey” sex workshops officially exist.
New York City-based sex shop Babeland hosted a “Fifty Shades of Grey”-inspired workshop on Friday, reported the Daily Mail. The event, aptly titled "Fifty Shades of Sex," was inspired by the novel's titillating S&M sex scenes between billionaire Christian Grey and college student Anastasia Steele. The event offered participants tips on how to bring their “Fifty Shades” daydreams to life:
Fallen under the spell of Fifty Shades of Grey? If you’re curious about how to try out some of the scenes from the book, we’ll discuss ways to make your fantasies into reality. At this cocktail party, bring your girlfriends or your lover and get inspired to try new things in the bedroom. Arrive early; the first twenty five guests will receive gift bags filled with toys that are Mr. Grey Approved.
“Fifty Shades” explores an S&M sexual relationship between the two main characters -- the kind of scenario that many women (the series’ target audience) apparently find arousing. “The most common female fantasy is a domination fantasy or a submission fantasy,” sex therapist Dr. Laura Berman said on the TODAY Show in March. “What are we longing for? A little bodice-ripping.” If this is true, the fact that readers are starting to act out these fantasies into their own bedrooms isn’t all that surprising.
While “Fifty Shades” has inspired sex workshops and goodie bags in New York City, the trilogy has been causing controversy elsewhere. Just last week one Florida county removed the books from its 17 public libraries after they deemed it pornography. Libraries in both Wisconsin and Georgia have done the same.