Fifty Shades of Complexity

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to provide a conceptual argument for why leisure researchers, and feminist leisure scholars in particular, should examine how a technology enhanced form of leisure, namely reading sexually explicit material, can liberate or constrain women's sexuality (Sonnet, 1999). To achieve this goal, we examined the popular Fifty Shades of Grey series, which is largely consumed by women, utilizing various technologies. Situating our analysis within the broader literature on leisure and technology and feminism and sexuality, we argue that understanding women's consumption of erotic and pornographic materials during their leisure has complex and important implications for women's sexuality and subsequent well-being. In so doing, we point to a number of areas for future research that will help complicate this understudied area of leisure research (Freysinger et al., 2013).

Keywords:

• sexually explicit material
• mediated leisure
• feminism
• participatory cultures
• serious leisure