Fifty Shades: ambivalence about birth control in an erotic bestseller and its cultural implications

Abstract

The Fifty Shades trilogy by E.L. James has taken the world by storm and become a cultural phenomenon. The lack of contraceptive use in the erotic fiction, first pointed out by bloggers, is analysed in this article and compared to medical information. James may be praised for sexualising condom use. However, her protagonist makes poor choices in terms of hormonal contraception and is negligent about its use, resulting in an unintended pregnancy and resolved in marital bliss and motherhood. What is of more interest here than a possible message about contraceptive use, is the outcome that the fiction’s negligence in birth control and responsibility affirms an ideology in which female sexuality and sexual experimentation can only be tolerated within the context of procreation and affirmation of motherhood. Subsequently, the cultural significance of the trilogy’s popularity and its tension between sexual exploration, birth control and fertility is explored. In a globally popular fantasy published more than five decades after the introduction of the pill, the protagonist’s lack of attention to reliable birth control leads to a telling dichotomy that combines adventurous exploration of female sexuality and affirmation of the nuclear family.

Résumé

La trilogie des Cinquante nuances de E.L James a fait rage partout dans le monde et est devenue un phénomène culturel. La non utilisation de contraceptifs dans cette fiction érotique, d’abord relevée par les blogueurs, est analysée dans cet article et comparée à l’information médicale. James peut être saluée pour avoir sexualisé l’usage du préservatif. En revanche, sa protagoniste fait de mauvais choix en matière de contraception hormonale et se montre négligente en ce qui concerne son utilisation. Il en résulte une grossesse non désirée qui se résout dans le bonheur conjugal et la maternité. Ce qui est ici plus intéressant que tout possible message concernant le recours à la contraception, c’est que la conséquence de cette négligence, relativement au contrôle des naissances et à la responsabilité, assoit l’idéologie selon laquelle la sexualité et l’expérimentation sexuelle féminines ne peuvent être tolérées que dans un contexte de procréation et d’affirmation de la maternité. Suite à cette analyse, le sens culturel de la popularité de la trilogie et la tension de cette dernière entre l’exploration sexuelle, le contrôle des naissances et la fertilité est examinée. Dans un fantasme populaire mondial publié plus de cinq décennies après l’introduction de la pilule, le peu d’attention prêtée par la protagoniste à des méthodes fiables de contrôle des naissances conduit à une dichotomie éloquente qui combine l’exploration aventureuse de la sexualité féminine et l’affirmation de la famille nucléaire.

Resumen

Debido a su popularidad, la trilogía Cincuenta sombras de E.L. James ha conquistado el mundo, volviéndose un fenómeno cultural. Los blogueros fueron los primeros en señalar el poco uso que se hace de los anticonceptivos en la ficción erótica, práctica que el presente artículo analiza y compara con la información médica existente al respecto. Aunque puede elogiarse a James por haber sexualizado el uso de condones, su protagonista realiza malas elecciones respecto al uso de anticonceptivos hormonales, descuidando el mismo. Ello da lugar a un embarazo no intencionado, que a la postre es resuelto con la felicidad conyugal y la maternidad. Más allá de un posible mensaje en cuanto al uso de anticonceptivos, el aspecto interesante en este sentido tiene que ver con el resultado, pues la negligencia en cuestiones de control de natalidad y responsabilidad mostrada en esta obra de ficción termina reafirmando aquella ideología en que la sexualidad femenina y la experimentación sexual solo pueden ser toleradas en el contexto de la procreación y la confirmación de la maternidad. Asimismo, el artículo examina la significación cultural que implica la popularidad de esta trilogía, así como la tensión existente entre la exploración sexual, el control de natalidad y la fertilidad. En esta fantasía de popularidad mundial, publicada a más de cinco décadas de la introducción de la píldora, el desparpajo de la protagonista respecto a los anticonceptivos confiables genera una dicotomía reveladora que combina la exploración aventurera de la sexualidad femenina con la reafirmación de la familia nuclear.

Keywords:

• Fifty Shades
• culture
• condoms
• contraception
• media analysis
• female sexuality

Acknowledgements

We thank Steve Choe from the San Francisco State University for his constructive comments on an earlier version of this paper.

Notes

1. For detailed discussion of Twilight, reader needs and creativity in fanfiction, and the venues to the commercial book market, see Baelo-Allue (2014).

2. Christian does not discuss her comments sent by email, conceding that the contract is not legally enforceable; he further remarks that she does not need to sign, and even if she did sign, she could always get out (James 2012c, 216).

3. The trilogy does not adequately portray BDSM either, but that is a topic beyond the scope of this paper. Its success has even contributed to several publications on BDSM, including several which allude to the Fifty Shades success in their title, such as Taormino’s 50 Shades of Kink (2012); BDSM in fiction is nothing new and has even been explored in literary scholarship: Lewis Call (2012) claims that there has been a ‘decades-long love affair’ between BDSM and science fiction and fantasy and explores its representation in these subgenres.

4. By Christian providing her clothes, her trainer, her computer, car, gifts, large amounts of moneyand so on, and repeatedly emphasising that he does not do ‘romance’, ‘love’ or ‘girlfriend,’ Ana does in the first volume in fact become a glamorised prostitute, even if it is under the pretense of her exploring her sexuality. Such a portrayal of prostitution leading to a happy and lasting relationship has a long tradition in cultural representations, above all the film Pretty Woman (directed by Garry Marshall [1990] 2005) in which the young Julia Roberts plays a call girl finding true love and happiness with a customer.

5. The article by Jenna Goudreau (2012) predicted more similar erotic novels to be published. For a critical evaluation of the novel in the context of conservative feminism, see Domet (2013).

6. Critics have applied a reading as fairytale more to the film adaptation than the novel, in particular New York Times critic Sarah Lyall (2015), followed for example by Marshall (2015), Wirt (2015) or psychotherapist Nelson (2015).

7. The failure rate for the first year of typical use of oral contraception is only 8%, 0.3 % for perfect use (Hatcher et al. 2004, 792). According to the latest numbers (for 2012) published by the Guttmacher Institute, in the USA alone 9.7 million, or 16% of women aged 15–44, or 25.9 % of contraceptive users, were on the pill in that year (Guttmacher Institute 2015).

8. Remarkably, several fanfiction postings have played with the idea of Christian Grey getting a vasectomy, for example by ‘Desktop dragon’ (2013), ‘Lillian121’ (2013) or ‘Mother of Pearl Fetish’ (2014).

9. The Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) is a gene complex within every human’s genome, which codes for glycoproteins specific to each individual. Several studies in the last 20 years have found evidence to suggest that MHC-related odour preferences influence mate choice in humans, avoiding incompatible immune systems in future offspring (infertility). A 2008 study found that women participants taking oral contraceptives preferred the odour of MHC-similar men, unlike the preferences of their non-hormonal contraceptive users (Roberts et al. 2008). Results have also been spread in the media with titles such as ‘The Pill Makes Women Pick Bad Mates’ (Bryner 2008).

10. These cycle facts are also pointed out by the writer Melissa Ford (2012) in her blog entry under the name Mel, ‘Ana’s Pregnancy Scare.’.