Erotic romance novel trilogy 50 Shades of Grey by British author EL James has broken records and won many awards including "Popular Fiction" and "Book of the Year" categories in the UK National Book Award. It sold more than 100 million copies and was translated into at least 50 languages. With a film featuring Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson on the lead role, it looks like it will shatter movie tickets, too.
There's nothing wrong going crazy on this novel. If Twilight became a sensation, well then, all books have the rights to be read by the people. However, according to a study by an American university, reading the 50 Shades of Grey comes with a dangerous effect among women. According to a study conducted by the Michigan State University and published through the Journal of Women's Health, young women who have read the book have higher tendency to get (or allow getting) abused, binge drink, use diet aids, or have multiple sexual partners.
In its report, it wrote:
Problematic depictions of violence against women in popular culture-such as in film, novels, music, or pornography-create a broader social narrative that normalizes these risks and behaviors in women's lives. Our study showed strong correlations between health risks in women's lives-including violence victimization-and consumption of Fifty Shades, a fiction series that portrays violence against women.
The study was conducted through the help of 650 women aged 18-24. It found out that Fifty Shades of Grey women readers were 25% more likely to have a partner who yelled or swore at them, 34% are more likely to have partners who can be stalkers, and 75% have fasted for 24 hours.
"If women experienced adverse health behaviors such as disordered eating first, reading 'Fifty Shades' might reaffirm those experiences and potentially aggravate related trauma," researcher and professor Amy Bonomi said. "Likewise, if they read 'Fifty Shades' before experiencing the health behaviors seen in our study, it's possible the books influenced the onset of these behaviors."
