Domestic abuse charity says Fifty Shades of Grey normalises violence against women
Film-goers should boycott the film Fifty Shades of Grey and instead give the saved cash to women’s refuges and domestic abuse charities.
Isabelle Kerr, manager of Rape Crisis Glasgow, said the film – and the book on which it is based - is nothing more than “stalking, sexual violence and intimate partner violence romanticised and eroticised.”
In her blog on the Rape Crisis Glasgow website, Kerr offers a withering analysis of the best-selling book and author, calling it “dangerous.”
The film, released in the UK this weekend, follows the relationship between college graduate Anastasia Steele, played by Dakota Johnson and Christian Grey, played by Jamie Dornan.
Kerr says: "Anastasia and Christian's relationship is not romantic. Christian is an abuser.”
Her fear is that the book and film have gone some way to normalising violent sexual behaviour – and that women are being encouraged to see this as acceptable.
The film has been the subject of massive hype and is expected to be a huge box office hit.
Violence against women dressed up as erotica is dangerous
However, Kerr suggests film-goers follow the American 50 Dollars Not 50 Shades campaign where people are encouraged to donate the cash they’d spend on a night out at the movies to a domestic abuse charity instead.
"They're asking people (in America) to boycott the film and use the $50 you might have spent getting a babysitter, buying a ticket and getting snacks, and give it to a women's shelter,” she said.
"And I think that is really inspired. I would say maybe that's what we should be aiming for here, because the Women's Aid refuges, the Rape Crisis Centres, we're dealing with the other end of that - the physical and emotional fallout of something that is so glibly portrayed in the book and the film."
Responding to Kerr’s blog, Angie from Glasgow said: “Men have been breaking women and girls into compliance for too long and this garbage sets us back further and glorifies abusive attitudes towards us.
“I completely agree that violence against women dressed up as erotica is dangerous.”
And Ann from Lanarkshire adds: “It is really concerning when extreme violence and control are not recognised within this context.”
Campaign group Fifty Shades is Domestic Abuse is planning a protest at the film's London premiere tonight (12 February) and is also encouraging people to donate to charities for domestic abuse victims.
