Women reading ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ are more likely to have abusive partners and other issues, according to a recent study.
With 100 million copies sold and translated into over 52 languages, a movie in development, there have been very few books that have been this popular.
In a new study from the Journal of Women’s Health says young women who have read the book, are more likely to have abusive partners, use diet aids, binge drink and have multiple sexual partners. The study found that women who read the book were 25 percent more likely to have been in an abusive relationship, 34 percent more likely to have someone who was a stalker, and 75 percent more likely to exhibit body image issues.
More shocking is that if a women read all three books, they were 65 percent more likely to binge drink and 63 percent more likely to have slept with at least five people during their lifetime.
“If women experienced adverse health behaviors such as disordered eating first, reading ‘Fifty Shades’ might reaffirm those experiences and potentially aggravate related trauma,” researcher Amy Bonomi, a professor at the Michigan State University, commented on the study. “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.”
Before you start a petition to ban all ‘Fifty Shades of Grey‘ books, there was a major flaw in the study. The study did not look to see if the reported abuse happened before or after the book was released.
The argues that book’s protaganist, Anastasia shows “reactions typical of abused women” that include: “constant perceived threat”; “altered identity”; “yearning for health and normalcy in the relationship”; and “disempowerment and entrapment.”
“The book is a glaring glamorization of violence against women,” Bonomi argued in an interview with U.S. News & World Report. The protagonist “begins to manage her behavior to keep peace in the relationship, which is something we see in abused women. Over time, she loses her identity.”
With a new movie ‘Fifty Shades of Grey‘ movie in the works and possible sequels would this hurt more people than it would entertain? What do you think? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
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