Aalborg University
English, 5. Semester, Bachelor
January 6th 2014
Schøn, Salomonsen
1
Abstract
When first reading Fifty Shades of Grey the reader is presented with a universe of love and lust.
This universe is fascinating, and therefore it would be interesting to look into the different elements
and ideologies of which books, such as Fifty Shades of Grey, are built upon. In this project the
ideologies presented in the trilogy Fifty Shades of Grey will be investigated and furthermore this
project will look into what message, the trilogy can be said to send. In order to investigate the
ideologies of the trilogy accurately, this project will look into different components of the novels,
such as, desire in literature, the importance of body and vision, gender and feminism.
This project will conclude that Fifty Shades of Grey presents ideologies in different aspects, and
furthermore this project will continue to discuss the message of the trilogy which can be understood
as either progression or regression.
Aalborg University
English, 5. Semester, Bachelor
January 6th 2014
Schøn, Salomonsen
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Table of contents
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 3
Methodology ....................................................................................................................................... 5
Desire and the importance of body and vision in Fifty Shades of Grey ......................................... 7
The Heroine .............................................................................................................................................. 9
The Hero ................................................................................................................................................. 13
General Desire and the Gender of Vision ............................................................................................... 18
Partial conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 22
Gender and Feminism in Fifty Shades of Grey .............................................................................. 24
Gender..................................................................................................................................................... 24
Feminism ................................................................................................................................................ 30
Partial conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 37
Conclusion......................................................................................................................................... 38
Areas for further research .............................................................................................................. 39
Bibliography ..................................................................................................................................... 40
Aalborg University
English, 5. Semester, Bachelor
January 6th 2014
Schøn, Salomonsen
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Introduction
What makes a book popular today is very individual, but still there can be said to be different genre
elements that continue to fascinate and enthral the readers time and time again. The trilogy Fifty
Shades of Grey belongs to a genre of books, which, no matter how poorly some might argue they
are written, continue to be popular for a certain amount of people.
When reading Fifty Shades of Grey one will not immediately think of the trilogy as being books to
investigate further, yet in this project there will be different sections and foci, in order to investigate
the elements that makes the books what they are and the sections of this project will also look into
what kind of message the books sends.
When looking at the trilogy the most prominent theme the reader is presented with is the theme of
love and lust. From this stand it will be interesting to look further into the genre depicting desire,
being romance novels. In relation to this it will also be relevant to look into how the body and the
element of vision is used to sustain the theme of love and lust. Furthermore, when working with the
theme of love and lust in romance novels, it is relevant to look further into the element of gender
and feminism, because of the specific relationship presented in the trilogy.
Additionally when looking at Fifty Shades of Grey the presence of ideologies is interesting to
investigate in relation to the different elements presented as desire, body and vision, gender and
feminism. The project will then, through the argument of ideologies, discuss whether the message
of the trilogy is one of progression or regression in the relationship between the characters.
Succeeding this reasoning the thesis statement of this project will be as following:
How is ideology presented in Fifty Shades of Grey when looking at the different elements in the
trilogy, and, through the ideologies, does the trilogy present a message of progression or regression?
This project will be divided into two sections, firstly to give a better overview of its content, and
secondly to be able to investigate the different foci regarding progression and regression through
ideologies.
The first section of the project will focus on the element of desire, and especially desire in Fifty
Shades of Grey. When focusing on desire the project wish to look into the description of both the
hero and the heroine and describe the traits the characters possess. These traits will then be
compared to the characters of Fifty Shades of Grey. Furthermore this section will investigate
general traits of romance novels and compare this to Fifty Shades of Grey in order to see whether
the novels fit this description.
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January 6th 2014
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Additionally this section will look into the theory of the body and the importance of vision. This
theory will be applied to the reading and analysis of Fifty Shades of Grey. These different elements
will combined argue that the message of Fifty Shades of Grey is one of progression.
The second section of this project will provide a counterargument to the first section, concerning
the message of the trilogy. The second section will discuss the elements of gender and feminism
presented in the trilogy. When looking at gender this section will investigate the element of
femininity and masculinity and the presentation of the ‘perfect man’, the ‘perfect woman’ through
gender roles and gender stereotypes, and then compare this to the presentations in Fifty Shades of
Grey. Furthermore this section will look into how Fifty Shades of Grey uses feminism, in different
ways, in order to emphasize its point. These different element combined will argue that the message
of Fifty Shades of Grey is one of regression.
Both sections of this project will end in partial conclusions, summing the different findings of the
specific analyses. The main conclusion will summarise the two partial conclusions and reflect on
whether this project achieved what it set out to do in the thesis statement.
Aalborg University
English, 5. Semester, Bachelor
January 6th 2014
Schøn, Salomonsen
5
Methodology
Regarding the context of this project, it would be prudent for the understanding of the structure, to
give a further explanation. This project will be structured in a manner that will make it more
accessible and understandable to the reader and thus attempt to avoid confusion, by creating a more
coherent movement in the text. When writing the analysis sections of this project, the text will be
combined theory and analysis. The structure will be so that the paragraphs each establish a certain
theory and then immediately will be followed by the findings in the books that will sustain the
claims made by the theory.
By constructing the analysis section in this manner, it is possible to connect the appropriate theory
to the right part of the analysis and thus creating a more coherent and understandable text.
Therefore there will not be an individual theory section followed by an individual analysis section
instead they will be combined. Also regarding the context of this project a more detailed
explanation will be provided of the theories used.
In the first section discussing desire and the importance of the body and vision, theories by
Catherine Belsey, Peter Brooks and Abrams & Harpham will be used.
The theory by Belsey presented in her book, Desire, Love Stories in Western Culture, provides a
detailed and extensive description and explanation of the notion of desire and love in literature. The
theory describes the various traits of the characters and a broader, more overall understanding of
desire in romance novels.
The theory by Brooks presented in his book, Body Work, Objects of Desire in Modern Narrative,
provides an overview and discussion of the notion of the body in modern narrative, and the element
of vision as being imperative to gain knowledge and understanding of a person.
Abrams & Harpham is used as an additional theory in order to support the above-mentioned
theories as Abrams & Harpham provides a theory concerning literary terms used in the analysis.
In the second section discussing gender and feminism in Fifty Shades of Grey, theories by Burke &
Stets, Edgar & Sedgwick, Todd W. Reeser and Barney Warf will be used.
Todd W. Reeser’s book, Masculinities In Theory: An introduction, will be used to present the basic
theory of masculinity. The concept of femininity will be presented by the theory of Barney Warf
from Encyclopaedia of human geography. An online paper Femininity/Masculinity by Burke &
Stets, from Encyclopaedia of Sociology, will also be used regarding gender, however, mostly to
support the theory of gender stereotypes mentioned above.
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January 6th 2014
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The theory by Barney Warf from Encyclopaedia of human geography will also be used regarding
the theory of feminism. Lastly the book Cultural Theory: The Key Concepts by Edgar & Sedgwick
will be used to explain and support several theories.
6
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January 6th 2014
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Desire and the importance of body and vision in Fifty Shades of Grey
Desire has always been fascinating to individuals whether it was the personal, physical response in
the human itself, or it was the topic for conversation. Romance novels depicting desire, lust and
love has been an object of fascination as well, while it has been considered to be of low status and
not to be regarded as having high academic value, because of the language commonly used, and
because of its content.
Even though romance novels such as Fifty Shades of Grey are regarded as books not of high
academic value, they still can be used for academic purposes, as will be shown in this project.
This section will argue that the elements of the genre romance can be conceived as an ideology, i.e.,
a system of ideas, through its use of vision and general romance traits. This section will
furthermore argue that Fifty Shades of Grey depicts a universe where vision is gendered and that, in
Fifty Shades of Grey, the message is one of progression in literate gender roles of the female
through her use of vision.
In order to substantiate these claims, this section will first look into the traditional traits of romance
novels, the appearances and personalities of the characters and how desire is depicted, then compare
this to Fifty Shades of Grey. At the same time this section will investigate how significant the body
and vision is, in order to express the importance of being able to see and describe. This section will
also briefly discuss the element of language in romance novels.
In order to analyse Fifty Shades of Grey thoroughly, this section will apply theories to support the
different claims. A theory by Catherine Belsey will be used when discussing romance novels and
the element of desire, while a theory by Peter Brooks will be used when discussing the body and the
importance of vision.
In conclusion, this section will show how Fifty Shades of Grey follows the traditional traits of
romance novels when depicting desire and the appearance of the characters. Furthermore this
section will use the findings to prove that the message of Fifty Shades of Grey is one of progression
when looking at the gender of vision and that the female protagonist has appropriated the role of the
male protagonist.
Stories depicting romance and desire are a very popular genre, where new books are published
every month, mostly by publishing houses such as Mills & Boon or Harlequin (Belsey, 1994, p.
21).
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As mentioned in the introduction, the language and content of romance novels are not considered of
academic value, however, since these books are generally not used in this context, the language of
the novels should be easy to understand and appealing.
In the trilogy, Fifty Shades of Grey, the language depicts this idea of being easily understood and
the language being appealing because it resembles the language used in daily life interaction when
people speak to each other.
This can instantly be seen in the beginning of the trilogy when the reader is presented with the
thoughts of the heroine, Anastasia. Her choice of words are more like spoken language, as seen in
her internal monologue “Damn my hair (…) and damn Katherine Kavanagh for being ill (…)”
(James, 2011a, p. 3). The word ‘damn’ is an example of the spoken language presented in the text,
as ‘damn’ cannot be considered a word normally used in academic texts. As explained in the
dictionary “Damn and its derivatives generally were avoided in print from 18c” (Dictionary.com,
Damn, n.d.)
Many of the words used throughout Fifty Shades of Grey are also words of sexual nature. Romance
novels depicting desire and lust are fascinating to read, and the reason for this fascination is that it
gives the reader a sense of satisfaction and contentment (Belsey, 1994, p. 22). Even in the first
chapter of the book there are words laden with sexual tension. An example of these words is shown
when the heroine Anastasia interviews the hero Christian. She asks him a question and when he
answers she phrases her thoughts “(…) I’m sitting here squirming (…) under his penetrating gaze”
(James, 2011a, p. 12). The words ‘squirming’ and ‘penetrating’ refers to something of a sexual
nature rather than something from an interview between to people. Words like these does,
throughout the book, lead the mind of the reader to a sexual act rather than what is explained on the
pages. This play with words is generally common in romance novels, because the elements of sex
and romance are very important, and they are, partly, what makes romance novels so popular.
Another element that makes romance novels popular is the characters.
When reading romance novels one has to look into the characters and see how they are created,
what traits they have to make them special to these particular genres, but all the while making them
generic so that the readers can identify themselves with them.
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The Heroine
The heroine of romance novels is described as being “beautiful, sensuous and witty” (Belsey, 1994,
p. 21) and furthermore she is often described as having beautiful, captivating eyes, and her hair is
outstanding and special, though at times difficult to work with. Her eyes have a special colour, form
or a fascinating depth used to draw in the hero. She is outspoken, though also caring and she is
interested in having a career of her own (p. 21). These are the general traits possessed by the
heroine. Traits such as these are in a distinct way so that most women can relate to them. The
reason that the heroine’s traits have to be relatable, are because the readers need to identify with
something in order to enjoy the book and as one reader comments “Romances also revive my (…)
outlook” (p. 22). Both reasons, the heroine being identifiable and the book being able to take the
readers into its point of view, are essential when creating a romance novel.
When the main protagonists Christian and Anastasia meet each other in the book, they both spend a
lot of time explaining how the other looks; an element with great importance in modern narrative.
When presenting a person in modern narrative such as romance novels it always includes “viewing
the body” (Brooks, 1993, p. 88). Realism was the foremost tradition in the nineteenth century and
this tradition has inspired modern writing. The tradition of realism makes the visual the most
important part of interacting with the world, because the tradition of realism states, “(…) one cannot
understand human beings outside the context of the things that surround them” (p. 88).
This means that in order to be able to describe or understand another human being one has to see
what that human being has surrounded himself or herself with, and in order to know what they
surround themselves with, is to see the surroundings to describe or detail them. Everything thus
depends on vision, in order to interact with and understand another human being.
In order to understand this theory further, when looking at the importance of the body, one needs to
look into Belsey’s theory of the separation between body and mind. Belsey explains a medieval
notion that describes the belief that the human being was a mortal body opposed to an “(…) eternal
soul” (Belsey, 1994, p. 23). This notion was later, in the Enlightenment period, replaced by a more
worldly and humanist way of thinking. This new way of thinking described that in order to be
human one had to be a subject capable of thinking, speaking and feeling (p. 23). Even though this
new notion replaced the old, by changing the idea of the soul as something religious to something
more psychological with the idea of identity, there still was the separation between the body and the
mind.
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The bodily needs and pleasures were “(…) held to be transient, trivial or even dangerous, unless
they were brought firmly under conscious control” (p. 23). The body and mind is therefore still
separated and therefore one has to describe the body of a person in order to understand the mind
and personality of said person.
The body becomes part of the context surrounding a person and thus it has to be described. This is
what both Christian and Anastasia do in Fifty Shades of Grey. Anastasia is described, by Christian,
as having “Clear, bright-blue (…) eyes (…) They are the most extraordinary color – guileless,
powder-blue (…)” (James, 2011c, pp. 558). This description fits the theory of the physical attributes
of the heroine explained by Belsey, but it does also fit the idea of the person being viewed through
his or her body, in this case her body. The theory by Belsey explains that the heroine has
extraordinary eyes and the reason for her to have extraordinary eyes, is because she will use them to
draw in the hero.
His initial fascination with their colour or shape will move into him using her eyes as a mirror of
her emotions when he is talking to her. He will also be fascinated by them, as explained in the
theory by Brooks, because he wishes to gain knowledge and the eyes will automatically be
associated with knowledge. The reason for this is because in realism the notion of vision is that to
see is to know, and because modern narrative, such as romance novels, is inspired by realism, this is
relevant (Brooks, 1993, p. 88). Therefore the eyes are of utmost importance when describing a
person and getting to know said person.
Moreover, in the above mentioned description of the heroine, her hair is also of importance and
described as being extraordinary as well as her eyes. In Fifty Shades of Grey Anastasia’s hair is
defined, by Christian, as “(…) a mane of mahogany hair barely contained by a hair tie.” (p. 559).
The choice of words in this quote is very interesting, and it can be explained through a theory of
denotation and connotation.
The denotation of a word is the description and understanding of the word in its primary level or
reference, e.g., the word ‘dove’ refers to the bird and nothing more. The connotation of a word is
different. Connotation is the secondary meaning or reference to a word, and the use of connotation
is “(…) associated significations and feelings which it commonly suggests or implies.” (Abrams &
Harpham, 2012, p. 63). Taking the example from above in the case of connotation, ‘dove’ then can
be used as a reference to peace, especially if the symbol is of a white dove.
Then by this explanation it is clear that the word ‘mane’ is a connotation, which suggests alternate
meanings.
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Aside from referring to hair, the word ‘mane’ also implies that the hair is wild, animalistic, since
‘mane’ is normally associated with animals. In the context of romance novels, mane also refers to
sensuality and sexuality, being something wild and uncontrollable. All these traits attributed to the
connotation of the heroine’s hair are also related to the importance of vision, and the ability to
describe.
When describing Anastasia’s hair in this fashion, it is implied that not only does the hero explain
her hair, but he is also describing her personality. By looking at her and understanding her through
his vision, he gains knowledge of her.
Furthermore, sensuality can be seen in the way the hero, Christian, describes her. The words he uses
are very descriptive, and he uses a lot of adjectives, as if he is explaining more than just her looks,
and this way of defining her can be seen when he describes her eyes. He uses the word ‘guileless’,
which can be understood as personality traits such as naïve or straightforward. Both of these things
can be used to describe her personality and he uses her eyes to do so.
Another way of interpreting Anastasia’s eyes can also be seen in the exact words Christian uses,
because the derived meaning of these words are important. The words he chooses to describe her
with, are very powerful and they create a very potent image of what kind of person he believes
Anastasia is, based on her looks. The colour of her eyes has significance when describing her,
because Christian several times remind the reader of this. The reason for this element’s importance
is because of the connotation of ‘blue’, and in this situation the colour blue is associated with
Christianity. Blue is the colour associated with the Virgin Mary, and symbolises “(…) truth and
clarity, (…) the color of the sky, and therefore a symbol of heaven” (“Symbols in Christian Art”,
2013). By describing Anastasia’s eyes in this manner, Christian attributes certain traits to
Anastasia’s personality. Additionally, by using the word ‘guileless’, Christian further attributes, and
enforces, his interpretation of her eyes. Guile can be understood as deceit or dishonesty and thus
‘guileless’ can be understood as an honest, sincere or naïve person. Christian describes Anastasia’s
eyes as ‘guileless, powder-blue’ and thus he characterise Anastasia as honest and naïve and, most
important of all her traits, a virgin. Furthermore, as ‘blue’ is associated with the Christian heaven, it
also suggests salvation for Christian when he involves himself in a relationship with her.
Christian further observes Anastasia throughout their meeting, and creates a picture of how he sees
her and her personality “(…) meek, mild”, with “(…) an upturned nose, soft, full lips” (James,
2011c, pp. 559).
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These traits and her looks can be compared to the idea of the woman being submissive to her
husband, her being mild and gentle and her being soft and aesthetically pleasing to the eyes. In
Christian’s own words “ I would even go so far as to say she is beautiful” (pp. 566). These are basic
traits of a stereotypical idea of femininity, which will be further explained in the second section of
the project focussing on gender stereotypes.
When the heroine, Anastasia, describes herself, she shows that she does not think of herself in the
same way that the hero does, a trait often depicted in romance novels, meaning that the heroine does
not think she is pretty but rather generic until the hero swoops in and shows her differently. The
reason for her to be insecure of herself and her looks is a way to make her more relatable to the
reader as insecurities are something particularly relatable and easy to understand. Further discussion
of her insecurity and its importance will be present in the second section discussion gender and
feminism.
In the beginning of the trilogy the reader is immediately confronted with the way Anastasia thinks
of herself, and again her looks play a role, when she is defining herself as a “pale, brown-haired girl
with blue eyes too big for her face” (James, 2011a, p. 3).
She spends a lot of time in the first paragraphs criticizing her hair in several different ways: “Damn
my hair – it just won’t behave (…) I am trying to brush my hair into submission (…) I attempt once
more to bring it under control with the brush.” (p. 3). Her criticizing her hair through several
paragraphs shows, how her hair is important to define her as a person and it gives life to the earlier
mentioned trait of the heroine, that her hair is difficult to work with, but still special and the wild
hair “can be read as evidence of sensuality” (Belsey, 1994, p. 21).
Her hair is also used to define her through the element of vision. Her hair is perceived as being the
context of which to understand her as a person, as stated by Brooks, and thus by defining and
describing her hair, she describes a part of her identity.
The heroine in Fifty Shades of Grey follows the traditional ideas and norms of the genre romance
novels. The heroine, Anastasia, follows and enforces the ideology of romance when she gives body
to the traits described by the theory, specifically personality traits, such as witty and caring, and
having a specific appearance with special focus on her hair and her eyes. In the analysis it was
shown that her eyes suggests her virginity, through their colour, while also giving an idea of her
personality as being loyal and caring. Furthermore when looking at her hair it is shown that another
trait from the theory, being sensuality, is presented.
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The Hero
The hero of romance novels is described as being “hard, muscular and powerful” (Belsey, 1994, p.
21). He is remarkably handsome and has a great sense of style and taste. He is tall since “(…)
height signifies authority in Western culture” (p. 21). The hero also has a prestigious life, and his
career enables him to have a “slightly higher social status (…) than the heroine” (p. 21).
Furthermore, the hero often appears indifferent or cold, but he is regularly controlled by his
emotions or his passion, which he is not willing to acknowledge. He is also portrayed as “(…) an
exceptionally competent lover.” (p. 21).
When Anastasia meets the hero, Christian, for the first time, she describes him as being “So young
– and attractive, very attractive” (James, 2011a, p. 7). This immediately goes hand in hand with the
theory explained by Belsey. Anastasia’s statement does also show her shock, since she is expecting
a different kind of man, when thinking of his position as CEO of a large corporation. What she is
expecting is a man “(…) in his forties: fit, tanned, and fair-haired” (p. 6). Her expectations are
therefore put to shame, but they are understandable. In Western culture people are used to older
men holding a high position in corporations and in society. Young men are not thought of in that
fashion, because one can reason that it will take many years to get to a position like this.
Anastasia continues describing Christian further as being dressed pleasingly in a suit, but his hair is
described as disorderly; the word she uses is ‘unruly. The word ‘unruly’, when describing his hair,
leads one’s thoughts to not only his hair. The choice of word refers to the element of connotation,
which, as mentioned, gives the word used alternate meanings. In this situation it can also be said to
reflect upon Christian’s personality. Him being immaculate clad leads the thoughts to him being
older than his years, yet he manages to keep his youth through his hair. This shows some of his
personality, meaning he is older than his years in his behaviour but he still manages to act his age
some times. This is further shown in Anastasia’s interaction with him throughout their first meeting.
He is perfectly polite, yet still patronizing her, making her feel like “(…) an errant child” (p. 13).
Even though he makes her feel this way, he also banter with her, making light of her attempt to
create a professional atmosphere and thus showing his youthful side, but also his wish to dominate
the conversation and, more specifically, dominate her in this situation.
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Anastasia further describes Christian as being a tall man, which also corresponds with the theory
written by Belsey. His height signifies two forms of authority. As said earlier height signifies
authority in Western culture, and therefore Christian has to be tall, in order to give body to the idea
of him being in charge, and him having the status and job that he has. The second authority he has,
is over Anastasia. In Western culture it is thought that the man should be taller than the women, and
therefore Christian would have to be taller than Anastasia, to both give him authority over her, but
also in order for her to feel his presence and feel intimidated by him.
Anastasia also tries to gain some authority through height, shown in her behaviour “(…) I sit up and
square my shoulders in an attempt to look taller and more intimidating.” (p. 9). Again authority and
power is shown though height.
As Belsey explains in her text, the hero is also often extremely handsome and has great taste when
it comes to art and music. Anastasia feels intimidated by Christian, not only because of the position
he holds, but also because of his looks, as shown when she says, “Why does he have such an
unnerving effect on me? His overwhelming good looks maybe? (…) I stop breathing. He really is
beautiful. No one should be this good-looking. ” (p. 10-11). Christian’s looks continues to unnerve
her and make her flustered throughout their meeting, because of the attraction she feels toward him.
When looking at his taste in art and music, the reader is reminded of the importance of this several
times throughout the trilogy, starting when the characters first meet. One of the first things
Anastasia reflect over is Christian’s office and the decoration that he has chosen
“Everything (…) is white – ceiling, floors and walls, except for the wall by the door, where a
mosaic of small paintings hang, thirty-six of them arranged in a square. They are exquisite – a series
of mundane, forgotten objects painted in such precise detail they look like photographs. Displayed
together, they are breathtaking.”(p. 8)
For Anastasia to explain his art in such a long, detailed manner shows just how important this
element is in romance novels, and this is a recurring theme throughout the trilogy. The reason her
reflection is so important, is related to the theory of vision, as explained above. Anastasia sees
Christian in the context of his surroundings and thus she tries to understand his personality through
his surroundings.
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Christian’s love for the arts is also shown though music, especially when he plays it himself. On the
characters’ first night together, Anastasia is awakened by Christian playing “(…) at the piano,
completely lost in the melody he’s playing. His expression is sad and forlorn, like the music. His
playing is stunning” (pp. 122). Him being an accomplished musician further shows that he is a man
that is controlled by his passions; since, to be able to play well, one has to give up control and live
in the music, that is to say live in the passion.
Even though the hero is explained as being controlled by his passions, he is also good at appearing
cold, indifferent and arrogant to the people surrounding him. Anastasia comments on this in several
paragraphs, describing his “impassive expression.” (p. 8). She muses over his office, which is “(…)
cold, clean and clinical.” and further wonders “(…) if it reflects the personality of the Adonis who
sinks gracefully into one of the (…) chairs opposite me.” (p. 8). The reason for him appearing cold
or distances himself from the people around him is because he has been “hurt by life, and (…)
resort to attack (…) as the best means of defence” (Belsey, 1994, p. 21). Furthermore, Anastasia
directly explains the theory of vision as being imperative in the narrative. She describes the office
as she sees it and thus draws the conclusion that Christian’s surroundings define his personality.
This is precisely what Brooks describes in his theory.
The difference between how the two main characters are described is interesting in the context of
this project. The male protagonist Christian is mainly described through his surroundings, i.e., his
office, his music and his art in his home. The female protagonist Anastasia is mainly described
through her body. This is an interesting difference where the male is understood mainly through his
line of work, while the female is understood exclusively through her body, making her more sexual
than him.
As earlier stated the nineteenth century has had a great influence on modern literature, and by that
human sexuality has also been present. In the nineteenth century the woman was presented as
having little or no sexual drive (Baur & Crooks, 2011, p. 13), and sexual drive was perceived as
being a male trait and privilege only. This idea of female sexuality has been present in Western
culture up until the sexual revolution in the twentieth century. When looking at Fifty Shades of Grey
the gender stereotypes has been reversed through vision and perception. The element of the male as
being sexual while the female is not, can be seen through the theory of vision as described by
Brooks. He explains that vision and perception has traditionally been considered a male privilege
(Brooks, 1993, p. 88).
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This idea of sexuality is reversed in Fifty Shades of Grey, where Christian is presented as the female
in this aspect and Anastasia as the male. Especially the element of Christian’s art and his pride in
his home is traditionally considered female, and, as Baur & Crooks write, the duties of the woman
centred around “providing a comfortable home” (Baur & Crooks, 2011, p. 13). So by describing
and viewing Christian through his home and his art, he has become the female while Anastasia is
presented through her body thus giving her the male, free sexuality.
In the trilogy, Anastasia comments on Christian’s arrogance, several times, an arrogance that does
not make her feel intimidated by him, but angers her instead. His arrogance is what makes her
challenge his authority and thus making Christian interested in her. This goes accordingly to what
Belsey explains in her book. She writes that, according to the formula of romance novels, the two
protagonists’ relationship with each other “begins in antagonism.” (p. 21). Both Christian and
Anastasia sort to attack the other with words either meant to make the other flustered or
embarrassed in order to assert one’s authority over the other. This form for antagonism makes the
protagonists irritated with each other, but it also creates the first sparks of interest towards each
other. The antagonism between the characters is also presented through vision, since “There is
always a relation of desire between the watcher and the watched; here the desire suggests hostility,
a standoff” (Brooks, 1993, p. 90). Both theories show the antagonism between the characters and
their attempt to gain authority over each other.
The eyes of the hero also have an interest when reading romance novels, just as the eyes of the
heroine plays a part. In Fifty Shades of Grey Christian’s eyes are described by Anastasia as being
“(…) intense, bright gray eyes” (James, 2011a, p. 7). This comment shows that the hero’s eyes are
equally as extraordinary as the heroine’s and thus they are used for the same purposes, i.e., used for
deciphering emotions. Moreover, the description of his eyes relate to the idea of her being able to
describe his personality through his appearance. She shows this through the words she uses, being
‘intense’ and ‘bright’. Both words can be applied to a person’s character and this is what Anastasia
does by looking at him and describing him.
Belsey also mentions the hero’s physical appearance in the theory, where she explains that the hero
is “hard, muscular and powerful” (Belsey, 1994, p. 21). Anastasia comments on Christian’s
physique when the protagonists first engage in sex. Christian embraces her and when she takes hold
on “(…) his upper arms, I feel his biceps. He’s surprisingly strong … muscular” (James, 2011a, pp.
113).
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This comment shows how Christian is a well-built and well-trained man, a trait romance novel
heroes all have in common, since a well-trained man appeals extremely well to the female readers.
The theory describes the hero as being a very competent lover, as well. The heroine, Anastasia,
explains how Christian affects her during one of their sexual encounters “I’m panting loudly. All I
can concentrate on is his voice and his touch. Nothing else is real. Nothing else matters, nothing
else registers on my radar. (…) I groan loudly as my body bucks beneath his expert fingers. (…)
I’m helpless, lost in erotic torment” (James, 2011a, pp. 195). In this quote the reader is presented
with Anastasia’s reaction to Christian and his abilities to make her sexually aroused. It is clear in
the quote that Anastasia believes Christian to be a very talented and competent lover that satisfies
her bodily needs. Furthermore, this quote is very interesting in relation to vision. In this quote
vision is not present, and as the genre, romance novels, depend on vision to describe and understand
the characters surroundings and personality, this is noteworthy.
The non-existing vision is understood as sex liberates the characters from the confinements of
vision. Through sex vision becomes non-existent and therefore the characters are free to understand
themselves, and the other, without the restriction and judgement of vision.
The hero in Fifty Shades of Grey follows the traditional ideas of romance novels, as well as the
heroine, though there are differences. Physically and mentally Christian follows the traits given to
the hero in romance novels. He is a tall man, arrogant and a competent lover. He is also
extraordinarily handsome and has special eyes and hair, as the heroine. The main trait where
Christian differs from the hero of romance novels is through his role in the element of vision. In the
analysis it is shown how Christian has reversed traditional gender roles through vision with
Anastasia, and how he now is perceived as the female and she the male. Furthermore Christian’s
hair and eyes are used in the same manner as Anastasia’s, i.e., to describe his personality traits and
emotions.
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General Desire and the Gender of Vision
When reading romance novels the characters play a significant part, but the general traits of
romance also play a part that is very important, in order to create a storyline that is interesting.
Romance novels all follow a specific pattern or outline in their stories. The developments of the
characters or the different situations they encounter are very similar in most romance novels, the
happiness and fulfilment of true love and the reassurance that obstacles can be overcome, and this
makes the reader know what to expect when buying a romance novel. In the book Desire, Love
Stories in Western Culture, Belsey describes this aspect of the novels.
A study has been made of romance readers and one woman explained, “Romances are not
depressing and very seldom leave you feeling sad inside. When I read for enjoyment I want to be
entertained and feel lifted out of my daily routine” (Belsey, 1994, p. 22). This shows how romance
novels capture their readers with this optimistic storyline, and the quote also shows that the readers
know what to expect when reading a romance novel. Individual romance novels may differ from the
main formula, and extent into several books depicting the same story with different obstacles
throughout. This is the case as well with Fifty Shades of Grey, as the main story does not change
throughout the three books, but the obstacles the characters face change from book to book, and
some of the obstacles are used as cliffhangers to create anxiety in the reader until the next book is
published.
As previously stated, romance novels follow the same storyline of the development between
characters, their experiences with each other and obstacles. The relationship between the characters
originates in antagonism (p. 21). The characters does not realise that they desire each other and that
this desire deepens over time, even though the reader is aware of this long before the characters. By
this development in the characters’ desire for each other the reader is shown the “(…) transforming
and revitalizing effect of love” (p. 22), and this revitalising effect of love awakens warmth, trust and
maturity in the characters, traits they did not possess in any distinctive way before meeting each
other. In Fifty Shades of Grey Anastasia learns how to trust a man in a romantic sense, while
maturing and getting more self confident through Christian’s show of affection. Christian matures
as well, as he is forced to see situations in several different ways, and learn how to comprise. He
also learns how to trust the people around him as Anastasia helps him face his demons of his past.
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The protagonists have to overcome obstacles, as previously stated, in order to feel this revitalising
effect of love. These obstacles are way of creating excitement in the story, as the obstacles threaten
to destroy the utopian idea of true love. But when the characters overcome these obstacles they
know “(…) beyond any further shadow of doubt that this really is true love.” (p. 22). True love,
decisively heterosexual, which will result in marriage. The obstacles in Fifty Shades of Grey are
presented through, first, Anastasia herself. She struggles with her own duality, mind and body, in
the first book. This struggle is presented through her use of her inner goddess and her
subconsciousness.
Her inner goddess represents her body, her desires, her emotions, and her sensuality, while her
subconsciousness represent her rational mind. This struggle with her duality leads her to distance
herself from Christian, and this is the first obstacle in the trilogy. The second obstacle the characters
meet has three elements. The first element is the older women, Elena Lincoln. Elena was the first
woman to whom Christian had a relationship, and she has unresolved feelings for him where she
attempts to come between the protagonists. Her, as an obstacle continues throughout the trilogy.
The second element is another former sexual partner of Christians called Leila Williams. When she
appears in the second book as an obstacle, she is mentally ill and threatens Anastasia with a
weapon. Both Elena Lincoln and Leila Williams serve as obstacles that threaten Anastasia. Leila is
present as an obstacle only in the second book. She does frequent in both the first and third books,
but not as an obstacle. The third element, and most dangerous obstacle, is the former colleague of
Anastasias called Jack Hyde. Jack Hyde is also mentally unstable, but in another manner than the
woman Leila Williams. He threatens both Christian and Anastasia and he tries to liquidate both of
the protagonists at different occasions in the third book. Jack Hyde is used as a cliffhanger in the
end of the second book, where the reader is presented with his point of view. Each obstacle
presented serves to make the characters realise how much they love each other, and by that they
confirm the element of true love throughout the trilogy.
By creating several obstacles the novels create a very specific universe, where they portray a world
that seems rather harsh and unforgiving, but underneath it is shown that the universe is kind and
nonthreatening, that is to say only if one finds love. It is promised that true love gives “(…)
personal and private happiness of complete reciprocity.” (p. 23) thus making the universe of the
trilogy seem trivial and immaterial.
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Earlier in this section it was explained that the body and mind is separated therefore creating a
duality of the characters. Romance novels promises “(…) to unite two subjectivities not only with
each other but within themselves” (p. 23). Achieved through the effect of true love, the readers are
promised that romance novels will disperse the division of the person and replace this duality with
utopian and perfect wholeness.
An essential part of romance novels are a representation of natural order, as the novels defines it.
True love is one such nature that is very important in the novels. Yet romance novels also depict a
different kind of nature, a nature that is presented as equally important as the element of true love.
This other nature is the “(…) arbitrary, irrational turbulence of sensuality” (p. 24).
The characters have to struggle against their basic desires, and especially the heroine struggles to
determinedly control her disloyal and treacherous body that threatens to “(…) subject her to a
pleasure which is mere sensation” (p. 24). This statement shows how the trilogy attempts to
combine physical pleasure with the conscious and rational mind. The heroine’s fight against mere
sensation is shown during a fight between the protagonists where Anastasia states, “I can barely
breathe. If he touches me, I will succumb. I know the power he wields over me and my traitorous
body” (James, 2011c, pp. 436).
As previously stated romance novels attempt to unify the dualities of the character, while also unify
the two individuals, this is a further attempt to unify two different natures as love and romance is
considered to be of the mind while sensuality or sexuality is purely physical. Through the element
of love the trilogy promises to unite these two elements, thus creating an even more whole character
that no longer has to struggle.
Another component worthy of discussion when reading Fifty Shades of Grey is the element of the
gender of vision. This element is described by Brooks who states “(…) vision is typically a male
prerogative (…) in a cultural model so persuasive that many women novelists don’t reverse its
vectors” (p. 88). In the theory of vision, gender is of high importance, because of the influence of
realism. As mentioned earlier, realism in the nineteenth century has been one of the most important
sources of inspiration in modern narrative. The reason for the theory of vision and the narrative to
be experienced as gendered is that in the nineteenth century “(…) gender is assumed to be part of
the essential definition of persons and bodies” (p. 88). Narration in romance novels is highly
influenced by this theory that it is the males’ privilege to describe the object of their fascination,
being the female body. In literature “That which is to be looked at, denuded, unveiled, has been
repeatedly personified as female” (p. 96)
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In Fifty Shades of Grey this narrative is reversed. Anastasia is first described by Christian in the end
of the trilogy, in the very last pages, whereas Anastasia describes Christian in the first chapter of the
trilogy. The story is told from the heroine’s point of view, but she does not wonder what the hero
thinks of her, instead she spends her time objectifying him, in a manner usually reserved for the
male characters. This shows that the heroine’s way of viewing the hero becomes what is
traditionally considered male, thus making the heroine, and her vision, male. The way Anastasia
objectify Christian is when she is looking at his work, his art and music, and the times where she
describes his body. She is judging him and making assumptions about him through his
surroundings.
This can be seen in the beginning of the trilogy during the interview where they first meet each
other. Anastasia spend a lot of time judging the appearance of the office and making comments
about how this reflect on Christians personality, as seen in the following quote, used earlier in this
section as well, “His office is way too big for just one man (…) cold, clean, an clinical. I wonder if
it reflects the personality of the Adonis (…) opposite me” (James, 2011a, p. 8). In this quote
Anastasia is judging Christian and by doing that she is objectifying him, since she is regarding him
as an object for observation rather than a person.
Anastasia is first described in the end of the third book, when the reader is presented with two short
chapters from Christian’s point of view. In the chapter where Christian meets Anastasia, during the
interview, he describes her solely through her body and not any other of her surroundings. This
shows how Christian sees Anastasia as a sensual and sexual creature. He does objectify her as well,
but not in the same manner as Anastasia objectifies him. Since he is only objectifying her through
her body she becomes an object of fascination of his sexuality, while as Anastasia objectifies him
through his office and art, he becomes less than a sexual creature, which can be said to be the most
prominent definition of human beings, because the sexual drive and identity is one of the most basic
of human instincts. Anastasia makes him an asexual creature, i.e., a mere object. Therefore
Anastasia is perceived as a human being through Christian’s description and perception of her, and
that makes her the dominant one in their interactions through vision. In the same manner it is said
that vision is gendered, and has traditionally been considered male, but this is changed in Fifty
Shades of Grey. Anastasia, as the female, overpowers the male vision and makes it female, thus
making the female vision more powerful than the males while using the same methods, i.e.,
objectification. The female vision is consequently doing the same as the male vision, though it is
made more powerful.
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Partial conclusion
In the introduction to this section there was made two claims. The first claim was that the genre
romance could be perceived as an ideology, shown through the trilogy Fifty Shades of Grey. The
second claim was that Fifty Shades of Grey presents a universe where vision is gendered and that
the message of the trilogy was one of progression. Furthermore this section wanted to look into the
importance of body and vision in narrative and investigate whether vision was gendered.
Through the analysis and study of theories this section has found that the genre romance can be
perceived as an ideology.
The genre states different norms and obstacles for the characters to follow and overcome and the
genre has a specific way of portraying the looks and behaviour of the characters. Even though the
plots of the novels differ they all still follow a specific pattern. This shows how the genre romance
is an ideology, because an ideology states specific norms or behavioural patterns to follow and
enforces them time and time again. This is the case with romance novels, because they all portray
alike plots and continue to enforce the message of a ‘real’ life where one has to find love in order to
be a whole human being.
Further though the analysis it was made clear that Fifty Shades of Grey states a message of
progression. The message of progression is shown through vision throughout the trilogy and it
shows how women have become more powerful than men in terms of interaction. Both characters
use vision, in order to understand and describe each other, and through their use of vision the
female is perceived as more human where the male is perceived more as an object, thus making the
female dominant. The analysis found that vision is gendered and traditionally is has been perceived
as male. The male and his use of vision have been dominant over the female. When the female in
Fifty Shades of Grey becomes dominant, it is shown how she becomes male, in order to be
dominant. So therefore it can be said that vision is still male while it is the characters that change
their behaviour. The female is given new traits that make her behaviour more masculine and
therefore more powerful. It is also shown though vision that the relationship between the characters
cannot be equal. One or the other has to be dominant, and in Fifty Shades of Grey this is the female.
While the hero and the heroine of the trilogy goes against the traditional gendered understanding of
vision, they also enforce the ideology of romance novels in other areas. When looking at the
heroine, it is shown how she enforces the norms of the ideology of romance novels in terms of her
appearance and her personality. Also through vision, when not looking at gender of vision, but the
more general use, she follows the norms dictated by the theory. She uses vision in order to
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understand the people around her through their surroundings. The heroine enforces the theory of
vision and shows how to understand another human being one has to use vision. When looking at
the hero it is shown how he, as well as the heroine, enforces the norms of the ideology of romance
novels in terms of his appearance and his personality. When looking at the hero’s use of vision, he
shows as well that one has to use vision in order to understand one’s surroundings and other human
beings.
Romance novels has an ideology where specific norms are enforces time and time again through all
the books published in this genre. When first looking at Fifty Shades of Grey it was clear that this
trilogy followed the norms of the genre romance, yet the trilogy further develops the ideology.
Through gendered vision, Fifty Shades of Grey changes the romance genre and thus the trilogy
develops a new ideology. An ideology with traits from the old, in terms of appearance and
personality traits, but the roles of the characters has changed. The female has become the dominant
part in interactions where the male traditionally has been considered the dominant. By this
reasoning it can be said that Fifty Shades of Grey sends a message of progression in terms of gender
roles through vision in narrative.
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Gender and Feminism in Fifty Shades of Grey
Ideology is by definition external ideas, concepts, beliefs, rules or norms that become guidelines
and unwritten rules of how one should act, behave or look. They are the unspoken rules that help to
construct society as it is today and rules that change over time and over different cultures. Fifty
Shades of Grey challenge the basic ideologies of today’s society, which can be referred to as the
status quo.
In this section it will be analysed how Fifty Shades of Grey challenges the basic ideologies
regarding gender, e.g. the gender roles and gender stereotypes. The trilogy also portrays and
opposes feminism in many different and somewhat unusual ways that diverse from the norm.
Gender
In order to analyse these claims, it is important to first understand that the concept of ‘gender’ has
several different meanings and associations; most often when someone mention gender it refers to
the concept of ‘sex’; whether someone is male or female, but is can also refer to the more culturally
based concept of being feminine or masculine, as explained by Edgar & Sedgwick, in Cultural
Theory: The Key Concepts; “While our sex (female/male) is a matter of biology, our gender
(feminine/masculine) is a matter of culture” (pp. 139).
Gender can therefore refer to something determined by biology, meaning something that is
universal, that will never change, or something determined by the society, meaning something that
will differ from culture to culture and change over time.
There are different types of concepts related to the term gender. Terms such as gender stereotypes,
gender roles and gender identity, all of them denoting to something different.
Being feminine or masculine is related to the concepts of gender stereotypes, which is the society’s
opinion on how one’s personality or looks should be, according to one’s sex.
“A stereotype is an oversimplified usually value-laden view of the attitudes, behaviour and
expectations of a group or individual” (Edgar, Sedgwick, 2008, pp. 139).
One cannot truly determine where the concepts of masculinity and femininity originated from, who
or what created them, because they infuse everything and simply because they are concepts to wide
for any one to create (Reeser, 2009, p. 17). However, it is something that has been created through
time, concepts people interpret through both what they see or hear in movies, music, commercials,
books and other media but also what they learn in school, at home or simply in society.
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The concepts of masculinity and femininity are something that is also created through one of the
most common aspects of life, namely language. Many words have ideological meanings, and
through them gender stereotypes are represented, constructed and questioned.
When hearing the word masculinity, most people would relate it to certain words of characterisation
such as; handsome, powerful, strong, in control, brave, tough, etc. These are certain words people
have heard and learned to associate with masculinity through different media. As explained by
Todd Reeser; ”We can easily ascribe a series of characteristics to masculinity: “muscular,”
“strong,” “hard,” “brave,” and “in control” are words that come to mind. (…) We can also make a
list of adjectives that do not describe masculinity, such as “weak,” “soft,” and “emotional””
(Reeser, 2009, p. 1).
Gender stereotypes can be considered an ideology, and this aspect of ideology is something that is
most often interpreted through different media in society. “One way to understand the concept of
masculinity as not created by any one person or by any single group is to consider masculinity as an
ideology, a series of beliefs that a group of people buy into and that influences how they go about
their lives”(p. 20).
Fifty shades of Grey show characters of the stereotypical type of masculinity in both the male
protagonist, and also in the minor characters.
Christian Grey’s bodyguard, Jason Taylor, is an example of the stereotypical masculine character,
he is “kind, reliable and loyal” (James, 2011b, pp. 224) taciturn, strong, a gentleman, he is
protective and in charge, being the head of security. The first impression given by Anastasia is “a
man in his mid-thirties, all buzz cut and stubble in a sharp dark suit and tie” (James, 2011a, p. 36).
Anastasia’s step-dad, Ray Steele, is another typical example of a classic masculine character and he
is very similar to Taylor; he is taciturn and protective, and as Anastasia explains “Ray is not a
talker. (…) He’s still watching soccer on TV (and going bowling or fly-fishing, or making furniture,
when he’s not). Ray is a skilled carpenter” (p. 22-23) and he is has been in the military (p. 46).
The fact that the author made Anastasias step-dad and Taylor men who have both served the
military is also a clear illustration of their masculinity. The military man is a very stereotypical
example of masculinity, he is strong, brave, and protective, and being a soldier is often a way for a
man to show his masculinity.
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Christian Grey is in many ways the perfect characterization of stereotypical masculinity; as
mentioned earlier in this paper, he is often described through objects and surroundings, and it
becomes very clear that his look is very stereotypical; “He’s tall, broad shouldered, and slim”
(James, 2011a, p. 42) “He has a beautiful profile. Straight nose, square jawed” (p. 89) and as
concluded by Anastasia herself “He’s not merely good-looking – He’s the epitome of male beauty,
breathtaking” (p. 25). His looks are not the only stereotypical features about him, his behaviour and
attitude is as well, as he is a “(…) rich, powerful, awesomely off-the-charts attractive control freak”
(p. 30). He is a very composed man, does not show his emotions very often, and he is a man that
rarely shows his weak side, personality traits also explained previous in the section of desire and
vision. He is powerful, wealthy, decisive and in control. Christian Grey is the male protagonist of
this story, as referred to earlier as the hero, and he have clearly been portrayed as such.
Femininity is considered as the antonym to masculinity. It is a concept most often related to that of
being feminine and female. The word femininity can be related to certain characteristics just as
masculinity can, and most often those are the opposite words. When masculinity is, as mentioned
earlier, considered as being strong, hard, in control, femininity is considered as being gentle,
passive, soft, beautiful, emotional, nurturing etc.
As explained by Barney Warf “The term femininity in particular evokes the normative assumption
that women should embody and reflect feminine qualities such as being private, domestic, gentle,
graceful, delicate, ladylike, passive, sensual, and emotional” (pp. 154).
The term femininity is, just like masculinity, also considered an ideology, and perhaps one with
more clear rules and expectations. When looking at the difference between the characteristics of
femininity and masculinity, it seems clear that most of the words that characterize femininity are
passive, weak and submissive where the characteristics for masculinity are strong, aggressive, and
superior.
In Fifty Shades of Grey there are classic examples of the stereotypical woman, however,
interestingly enough, it is not the female protagonist. The trilogy is written in first person, based on
the female protagonist Anastasia Steele’s thoughts, and she does not see herself as a stereotypical
woman. Almost every woman in the book, except for herself, portrays the stereotypical woman; the
waitresses, Christian’s secretaries, and his housekeeper Mrs Gail Jones, who acts like a mother,
cooking, cleaning, shopping etc., her role is very nurturing.
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Anastasia’s best friend Katherine Kavanagh who is “(…) almost blond – well, strawberry blond
(…) and she’s beautiful” (p. 44) is described as a typical beauty, and a woman every man desires.
Katherine Kavanagh’s personality is very opposite of Anastasia’s, and it is not as stereotypical. She
is on different occasions mentioned to be persistent, outgoing, strong-willed, confident, and
vivacious.
Anastasia herself is not portrayed as a stereotypical woman, she is not very graceful; “all gawky and
uncoordinated, barely able to get from A to B without falling flat on my face” (p. 42) or lady-like as
she thinks to herself, “There’s no disguising your lack of ladylike behaviour” (p. 61). Her looks is
described by herself as “(…) too pale, too skinny, too scruffy, uncoordinated, my long list of faults
goes on” (p. 51). She is not the stereotypical idea of a beautiful woman.
Although from Christian’s point of view she does seem like a stereotypical beauty, he believes she
has “(…) the most beautiful skin, pale and flawless” (pp. 113), and interestingly, at the end of the
third book, the beginning of the first book is written from Christian’s point of view, which gives the
reader the perception of Anastasia where she does portray more of the stereotypical idea of beauty
“(…) she is attractive, seriously attractive. (…) She’s all long legs, small waist, and perfect tits”
(James, 2011c, pp. 572) and femininity “She really is the whole package: sweet, polite, and
beautiful with all the physical attributes (…)” (pp. 573). Several men in the trilogy, her friend José,
her boss’ brother, etc. also desire Anastasia, yet she does not see it herself. She is a very desirable
woman, making her fit almost perfectly into the stereotypical woman; beautiful, emotional, humble
and passive.
Being feminine or masculine does not necessarily have anything to do with one’s sex, and even
though they are considered opposites, it does not make them either or. By looking at today’s society
it appears that it has become a norm to go against the old ideologies, people seek to oppose the old
norms and rise above the typical gender stereotypes. It is not uncommon for a woman to possess
masculine traits or vice versa, although it is more common for a woman to be in touch with her
masculine side, than for a man to be in touch with his feminine side.
Fifty Shades of Grey is illustrating that the perfect man and woman possesses respectively the
stereotypical characteristics of masculinity and femininity. The trilogy thus supports the traditional
ideology, while opposing the norm of challenging the old-fashioned stereotypes.
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When looking at femininity and masculinity the term gender roles is important. Gender stereotypes
and gender roles are often close related, and often they affect each other.
In many cases gender stereotypes have created different aspects of gender roles, “Various
institutions clearly have a self-interest in masculinity: the government needs soldiers to defend
itself, so it promotes a military version of masculinity; the business world needs a capitalistic
masculinity to make money, so it makes its version of gender appear ideal” (Reese, 2009, p. 20).
Gender roles are an important concept when it comes to the discussion of gender. It is society’s
expectations and rules of the attributes, behavioural norms or roles that are considered appropriate
for a person of the individual sex, rules that changes according to the culture and the period one
lives in.
Gender roles have, as well as gender stereotypes, changed up through time and it is different from
culture to culture. The most commonly known role for women is the domestic one, and for men it is
the working one (Stets, Burke, 2000 p. 1).
These original gender roles emerged because of the physical assets of the sexes, such as women’s
ability to nurse and bear children, and men’s ability to hunt due to their greater size, speed and
strength. Most people are also familiar with the old-fashioned expression of how women should be
“barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen” referring to the old belief of the female gender role that a
woman should not work outside the home and she should bear many children.
These roles are based on the belief that it suits the person of the individual sex’s stereotypical
characterisation, because men are strong, aggressive and in control they often have the high
positions within companies and the physically demanding jobs such as soldiers, firemen etc.
Women being more nurturing and passive often have jobs as secretaries, nurses and such.
Fifty Shades of Grey shows typical examples of how gender roles are represented and affected
through the gender stereotypes. As mentioned previous both Taylor and Anastasia’s step-dad Ray
have both served the military, they both fit the military type being strong and protective.
Christian being the male protagonist and the ‘perfect man’ of the story; handsome, in control, and
aggressive naturally has been given the role within the business world, and not merely any role, he
has his own company where he earns millions of dollars, and it is mentioned on several occasions
that he has bought and invested in other companies as well.
Christian’s housekeeper, Mrs Jones, is also a good example of the stereotypical female gender role,
she is kind and nurturing making her fit perfectly to the role of a housekeeper and as she cooks,
cleans and shops for Christian, she illustrates the perfect stay at home mom.
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The trilogy shows through the two lead protagonists, both the old-fashioned idea of gender roles
and the more modern ones. Christian being the boss of a huge company, and the strong working
man represents the old-fashioned male gender role. He has a very powerful position, clearly a man
in charge and he earns more than enough money to support a family on his own.
Christian also prefers the old-fashioned gender roles where the woman does not work, and he, on
several occasions, insists that Anastasia stops working (pp. 234). He makes enough money to
support her and does not want her to work. Instead he would prefer she was “Barefoot and in the
kitchen” (James, 2011c, pp. 130). He also buys the company where Anastasia works and attempts to
give it to her, in order to get her into a position that requires her to work less (pp. 148).
Anastasia is an independent and very bright woman. She knows what she wants to do with her life,
especially regarding her career, and is determined to do so, as can be seen in the theory by Belsey,
discussing the traits of the heroine, explained in the previous section. She refuses to stop working
because Christian wants her to, and she refuses to let him help her, she want to earn her own living
and for her working is not just about earning money, it is her passion, as she tells Christian “I’ve
always worked, and I enjoy this. This is my dream job; it’s all I’ve ever wanted” (James, 2011c, pp.
146). Later in the trilogy, however, Anastasia starts to feel the need to take on a more stereotypical
gender role for a woman, desiring to cook and clean, and being more of a housewife for Christian.
Gender identity is influenced by gender roles and gender stereotypes, however, they are not the
same. Gender identity is the way a person sees him or herself, it is the person’s own internal and
personal sense of being a man or a woman and masculine or feminine, and it is not determined by
biology. “From a sociological perspective, gender identity involves all the meanings that are applied
to oneself on the basis of one's gender identification. In turn, these self-meanings are a source of
motivation for gender-related behaviour” (Stets, Burke, 2000, p. 2).
As seen in the section above on gender stereotypes Anastasia does not see herself as a very
feminine woman. She is insecure of herself; “A lifetime of insecurity – I’m too pale, too skinny (…)
my long list of faults goes on” (James, 2011a, p. 51), she has had a lifetime of never being good
enough or feeling like a woman.
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As mentioned in the section about desire and vision, this abruptly changes the moment she becomes
involved with Christian, she suddenly feels like a woman and a beautiful one – one that can arouse
a man in such a way “I had no idea I could affect him so” (pp. 133) and she becomes aroused by
that “It’s such a turn-on knowing that it’s my body making him feel this way” (pp. 135). She
becomes more sure of her gender identity as feminine and as a woman, after she meets Christian.
Christian is very insecure of himself, as well, though not in the same way. He is very secure in his
appearance and his masculine looks, however, he is insecure of his inner man and his capabilities of
being human and normal, he tells Anastasia that she cannot love him as he is but “(…) a husk of a
man. I don’t have a heart” (James, 2011b, pp. 195). In the last book the readers also get a glimpse of
Christian’s thoughts, he is aware that he is beautiful, but only on the outside. “Yeah, yeah, baby, it’s
just a face, and the beauty is only skin deep” (James, 2011c, pp. 558).
The two lead characters are both insecure of themselves and their abilities to be masculine and
feminine, or a ‘real’ man and woman. However, for the readers they are both described as the
perfect man and woman, flaws and all. With Christian every woman in the trilogy wants him and
even his flaws make him more desirable, especially to Anastasia. As described in the previous
paragraphs Christian is an illustration of a stereotypical masculinity and fulfils the typical gender
role of being a successful businessman that can support his family. He also feels insecure, making
him more relatable and appealing to many women, he is conclusively ‘the perfect man’. Anastasia
does not portray the stereotypical characteristics of femininity and based on old-fashioned ideas,
she does not portray the perfect gender role either. However, as the trilogy progress and she get’s
affected by her relationship with Christian, and having been described through Christian’s eyes,
Anastasia starts to embody a stereotypical woman and therefore ‘the perfect woman’.
The relationship between Christian and Anastasia also mimics a ‘perfect relationship’, with passion,
desire, love, and the fact that they make each other the perfect man and woman.
Feminism
Today people still have old-fashioned values and traditions from before the female liberation,
nevertheless it has become the norm to go against some of thee old-fashioned values and
perceptions regarding the gender stereotypes and gender roles. Many different political movements
have provoked this rebellion against the old stereotypical ideas, and feminism, specifically, has
been a significant one.
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Feminism is a movement that has fought against the stereotypical perceptions and treatment of
women, as mentioned in Encyclopaedia of Human Geography, “Feminisms refer to political and
academic movements that confront misogyny, sexism, and their compounded and unique effects on
different women and girls” (Warf, 2006, pp. 154).
Female, femininity and feminism are three words that are often intermixed, as mentioned earlier
female is a matter of biology and femininity is a matter of culture. Feminism does have something
to do with the other two, naturally, but it is a whole other term by itself. Feminism is a system of
beliefs of the social, political and the economic equality of the sexes. The core of feminism is the
belief that women are subordinate to men, and feminists’ fight to oppose this belief, in other words,
it is this objective that started feminism, it is the beginning and still a cause for conflict today.
Feminists seek to liberate women from this subordination and they seek to eliminate patriarchy and
reconstruct society thereof (Edgar, Sedgwick, 2008 pp. 124).
Patriarchy refers to a system where the men (or fathers) are the head of the society (or families) and
they have the authority over women. Patriarchy denotes how “(…) material and symbolic resources
(…) are unequally distributed between men and women through such social institutions as the
family, sexuality, the state, the economy, culture and language” (pp. 238).
There have been many different kinds of feminist theories which all had different ideas of what the
reconstructed society should look like, and what strategies they should use to achieve such, but they
all had the ultimate same objective of female liberation.
The liberation of women did not happen immediately, it is something women and feminists have
fought to achieve for years and something they are still fighting for. There are three waves of
feminism, periods where feminists accomplished something significant or tried to.
The first wave of feminism wanted the inclusion of women in the everyday world of men. They
worked to accomplish more than just the right to vote.
They wanted the right to work and to earn the money they worked for, the right to divorce, the right
to their children and themselves and the right to their own bodies. “They demanded equal
opportunity in politics, law, work and the economy, and public space” (Barney 2006, pp. 115). The
first wave of feminism is often referred to as the liberal feminism, because they drew on
liberalism’s ideal of individual freedom and fairness (pp. 115).
Later in the 1960s second-wave feminists suggested that they needed to base their claims on future
rights, based on their own and women’s desires of freedom, rather than those based on the
liberalism’s which was more general.
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Second wave feminists argued that “in order to fully emancipate themselves from patriarchy,
women must look to their own experience to create their own values and their own identities”
(Edgar, Sedgwick, 2008, pp. 125).
As feminism developed, many different theories changed focus on what the cause(s) to the
oppression was. Marxist feminism claimed it to be a product of social and economic structures,
while radical feminism believed it to be the male manipulation of women’s sexuality. Some
theorists also argued that the oppression was established in the structures of our cultural norms. The
most recent feminism is the western feminism that has come to the realisation that it is a product of
cultural traditions.
The third wave feminists attempted to resolve the difficulties regarding the question of what or who
exactly “women” are and who is it they are representing. Third wave feminism thus abandoned the
concept of a single collective identity and, instead, it offered the idea that equivocal and difference
is the means to understand unique issues and interest of each woman. However, this idea is a
controversial issue, because many believe that the notion of identity is fundamental to the analysis
of oppression, and it is believed that it challenges the possibility of change and resistance (125 –
126).
A lot have been accomplished since before the first wave of feminism, in many cultures women
have gained the rights they set out to achieve in the first wave. However, there are still feminists
who continue the fight, believing that they have not yet become fully liberated.
There are also still many cultures where men are superior to women and as well as there are people
who believe that to be the right way.
In different ways Fifty Shades of Grey illustrates the time before the three waves, the time before
female liberation. The author created the lead protagonist Christian Grey as old-fashioned in some
ways and more modern in others.
Before female liberation women had to act a certain way, and the gender stereotypes were more or
less rules of society. Women were to be quiet, passive, and submissive to men and they were
objects of desire. When Christian first proposes a relationship with Anastasia he gives her a list of
rules, terms of conditions that she must follow. The first rule is about obedience, “The Submissive
will obey any instructions given by the Dominant immediately without hesitation or reservation and
in an expeditious manner” (James, 2012a, pp. 105). There are similar rules about sleep, how much
and what she can eat, her clothes, exercise, personal hygiene/beauty, personal safety and personal
qualities.
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Most of these rules used to be the norm and unspoken rules before female liberation, it used to be
the norm that a woman only wore what was appropriate, which at that time, meant what the men
and society deemed fit. Christian’s rules states that “The Submissive will wear clothing only
approved by the Dominant” (pp. 105), she can only wear what he deems appropriate. Furthermore,
if Anastasia does not follow the rules she will be punished, “Failure to comply with any of the
above will result in immediate punishment, the nature of which shall be determined by the
Dominant” (pp. 106).
What these rules and Christian proposes is no ordinary contemporary relationship; it is an oldfashioned controlled relationship with a male dominant and a female submissive, and one where the
man is allowed to punish the woman for any disobedience.
What is so interesting about the trilogy is not only that Christian is so old-fashioned and that he
proposes this to Anastasia, it is the fact that she accepts it and even more so she ends up enjoying it.
At first she is so blinded by her desire for Christian that she accepts her role as a submissive, only to
shortly after walk away realising it was too much for her. “What was I thinking? Why did I let him
do that to me?” (pp. 507). She was not ready to let go of herself and submit to him.
Before she met Christian, Anastasia was a virgin in more ways than one, as mentioned before, her
looks, i.e., specifically her eyes, presented her as virgin, and even her thoughts were more
controlled and less sexual; “His finger slips through the fine lace and slowly circles around me –
there” (pp. 116) and after he takes her physical virginity he also takes her psychological one, only a
few lines further down she thinks; “He palms my clitoris, (…)” up until that point she was
uncomfortable with referring to that part of her body as anything else but ‘down there’.
She becomes more aware of herself and her femininity after she becomes involved with Christian,
and she becomes aware of the effect she has on him as well.
She is intrigued by what he proposes, because it makes her feel confident, like a woman, and more
free. She experiences the feeling of emancipation; “I have never felt as alive as I do now” (James,
2011a, pp. 177). She becomes aware of this liberation and therefore stays with Christian to explore
it further.
However, she becomes frightened of why she likes what he offers, him spanking her and everything
else he offers, “(…) during the whole alarming process, I felt demeaned, debased, and abused. And
much to my mortification, you’re right, I was aroused, and that was unexpected” (pp. 292), it is
shown to confuse her. Afterwards she learns how much physical pain Christian could truly put her
through and she becomes too afraid and walks away.
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She had not yet become secure enough with herself and her own femininity to handle that confusion
and what he was offering, “I wanted the dark, to explore how bad it could be – but it’s too dark for
me. I cannot do this” (pp. 507).
Anastasia ends up realising that the pain of losing Christian and the liberation and confidence he
gives her is worse, than the physical pain he can put her through and she goes back to him. “(…)
after I left, it dawned on me that the physical pain you inflicted was not as bad as the pain of losing
you” (James, 2011b, p. 36). She realises that what he does for her; giving her confidence, freedom,
making her feel like a woman, etc. is worth the physical pain and she embraces it; “Standing here
before him, I am naked and unashamed, (…) I no longer have to hide” (pp. 217).
Christian presents to Anastasia the notion of S&M or Sadomasochism, a relationship that builds on
one part inflicting pain and another receiving it, or as defined by The Free Dictionary “The
combination of sadism and masochism, in particular the deriving of pleasure, especially sexual
gratification, from inflicting or submitting to physical or emotional abuse” (Freedictionary.com,
Sadomasochistic, n.d.). In other word a relationship involving S&M is where one part, the sadist,
enjoys inflicting pain and the other, the masochist, enjoys being inflicted with pain.
In most situations the masochist enjoys being controlled, because he or she is used to have control
in every other aspect of his or her life, and for someone else to take the control is liberating.
Anastasia comes from a family with a mother who was helpless on her own, one who had been
married four times and has “”(…) the attention span of a goldfish. (…) She worries me. I hope she
hasn’t mortgaged the house to finance the latest scheme” (p. 22). Anastasia possibly had to take
care of things at home, and her mother, and make decisions her mother could not thus forcing her to
be the one in control from a very early age.
In the beginning of her relationship with Christina, Anastasia does have troubles letting go of this
control and she cannot let it go anywhere else than in the bedroom. She does not want a set of rules
to follow, but she does not mind Christian spanking and controlling her during sex either (James,
2011b, p. 35). She is used to her own rules creating control and peace in her everyday life, where
with sex she has no rules, because she has never experienced it before. Christian offers to take the
control for her and promises her that a part of her life can be without worries “The ‘is this the right
thing to do? Should this happen here? Can it happen now? You wouldn’t have to worry about any
of that detail. That’s what I’d do as your Dom” (pp. 224). It gets easier for her to let go, and having
Christian spanking her becomes her way to release control, freedom rather than pain through
submission, “I don’t know why (…) after a day like today (…) I want this” (pp. 152).
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Before female liberation women were considered more as objects of affection, a possession for
men. In Fifty Shades of Grey Anastasia, in the beginning, also feels as if she is merely an object of
Christian’s affection, something he wants to own. Christian makes it very clear on many occasions
that Anastasia is only his, “I want to possess every inch of you. You’re mine” (James, 2011b, pp.
392) and he wants to “claim” different parts of her body. Christian is a public figure and with
Anastasia being his, everything she does reflects back on him.
This is a more modern reflection of the time when living in a society where men were dominant
also meant that people expected the men to have control, everything became their responsibility and
everything would reflect on them.
It meant that men, at this time, were under more pressure and scrutiny from society and it could
thus be argued that female liberation did not only mean liberation for women, but also for men. It
meant less control and responsibility for the men, and having to live up to the rules of the
stereotypical male and female was too demanding rules for both parts; it took away peoples
individual freedom.
Anastasia feels this liberation herself when she is with Christian, and part of her desire to be with
him is her desire to make him feel liberated as well. “I had hoped to drag my Fifty Shades into the
light, but it’s proved a task beyond my meager1 abilities” (James, 2011a, pp. 513). She, on several
occasions, ask about his past and what it is that holds him back, but until she herself truly let go and
embraces her own emancipation she could not help him; “He wants the light, but can I ask him to
do this for me? And don’t I like the dark? Some dark, sometimes” (James, 2011b, p. 36).
Fifty Shades of Grey reflects a controversial point; it agrees that male liberation happens with
female liberation, however, it argues that this can happen with men being in control. The trilogy
implies that male control is liberation; it means more structure and thus freedom for both parts.
As mentioned above, feminism was also about reconstructing the society and there are many
different perceptions of how this reconstruction should be, for that reason there will most likely
always be feminists fighting for a different society. In the Western society today women have come
a long way since before the three waves of feminism, they have gained the right to vote, the right to
their own body, the right to divorce, and the right to earn the money they worked for, and much
more.
1
‘Meagre’, the word is misspelled in the book.
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The debate on whether women are treated as equal to men, however, is still on going. Even though
women have many of the same opportunities as men and the same rights, it does not necessarily
mean they are treated as equals. Being equal would mean never taking a persons sex into account at
any time, and that is in many situations not the case. In many situations women or feminists believe
that in order to be treated as equals, women need special treatments. Mostly these situations occur
within the working environments. For instance, within the business world or politics some believe it
should be mandatory to have a certain percentage of women in high positions to create fairness, and
within the military women are not biologically as strong as men, thus they often require easier
tasks. By asking for special treatments women are asking not to be considered as equals, men and
women are biologically and psychologically different, and there will always be certain aspects that
sets them apart, therefore one could argue that they can never truly be equals; they are to different
by nature.
Fifty Shades of Grey in different ways accentuates this point on several occasions. Several times in
the trilogy, it has been implied that women are unable to succeed within the business world without
special advantages.
Christian’s former lover and old friend Elena Lincoln owns her own businesses; a chain of beauty
saloons, however, she is not doing it on her own, Christian has invested in them and is a silent
partner. Elena could not have gotten to where she is if Christian had not helped her, and on several
occasions when she has a problem she comes to him for help.
The female protagonist Anastasia also only exceeded within the business world with help from
others, or because of rare circumstances and not because of her qualifications. She worked hard in
school and got her first job at a publishing firm SIP, however, she was hired because her superior
Jack Hyde desired her, “I had to fight to get you. Elizabeth wanted someone better qualified, but I –
I saw something in you. So, we need to work out a deal. A deal where you keep me happy” (James,
2011b, pp. 368), shortly after when he was fired, Anastasia got his job because the management
“(…) didn’t want the expense of hiring a senior executive when the company was mid-sale. (…)
they did not want an expensive redundancy” (James, 2011c, pp.147).
Fifty Shades of Grey simply emphasises the argument that men and women are different, and
implies that women can only succeed within the business world under rare circumstances or with
help and special treatment, most often from men.
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Partial conclusion
In the introduction to this section it was claimed that Fifty Shades of Grey illustrated regression by
challenging the basic ideologies of today, regarding gender roles, stereotypes, and identity. It was
also claimed that the trilogy portrays and opposes feminism.
After the analysis and discussion, it has become clear that the message of Fifty Shades of Grey is
one of regression as the trilogy presents stereotypical characteristics, values and old-fashioned
relationships to be the ideal. The trilogy goes against the contemporary ideologies by portraying the
old-fashioned stereotypical man who is strong, handsome, and successful as the perfect man, and
the woman who is beautiful, gentle, and submissive as the perfect woman. The patriarchal
relationship where the man is the dominant, the woman is the submissive, and the man will punish
the woman if she disobeys.
Following the ideas of Fifty Shades of Grey would mean that the rules Christian Grey presents to
Anastasia would be the common rules for any contemporary common relationship. Men would have
to be in control all the time, and everything their woman did would reflect on them; which would
most likely create too much pressure for both men and women in today’s society.
Based on the analysis and discussion, it appears that Fifty Shades of Grey portrays the notion that it
is the basic nature for women to want to be controlled by men, to have a relationship where the man
is dominant and a society where the men supports the women. By portraying these ideas Fifty
Shades of Grey has opposed feminism and by that supported the old-fashioned ideologies.
Nevertheless, the trilogy has also used the concept of female liberation to portray these notions as
ideal.
The idea is that a woman becomes free under submission; she becomes liberated and secure of her
femininity. If a woman can give in to a man’s domination it means that she is aware of her
femininity and secure enough with it to submit.
The book is going towards female liberation, however, it is insinuated that this female liberation
will be found by moving backwards towards male dominance and female submission.
Concluding all of the above it becomes clear that by going back to the old-fashioned gender roles,
stereotypes, and ideologies Fifty Shades of Grey sends a message of regression.
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Conclusion
In the introduction to this project the thesis statement questioned how Fifty Shades of Grey
presented ideologies throughout its different elements and what kind of message the trilogy
presents; either a message of progression or a message of regression.
The two sections of the project each try to prove how Fifty Shades of Grey sends one message over
the other. The first section claims how Fifty Shades of Grey sends a message of progression through
the use of vision, and by that reforms the existing ideology, while the second section claims how
Fifty Shades of Grey sends a message of regression through the use of gender and feminism.
First, when looking at the ideology of the trilogy, the section discussing desire and vision claims
that the genre romance can be perceived as an ideology. The reason for this is that romance novels
depicting desire all have general traits that is used to enforce the norms of how a person should look
and act. The section discussing gender and feminism claims that the use of gender in novels can be
perceived as an ideology, because of the roles, appearances and behaviour of the characters is
repeated and enforced.
In conclusion, the two sections respectively presents a message of progression and regression
through the different elements discussed in the said sections. The first section argues that the
message is one of progression when looking at the element of vision. When looking at desire the
section shows how Fifty Shades of Grey follows the traditional ideology of the genre romance
though the trilogy is shown to stray from the traditional ideology in terms of the gendered vision.
Traditionally vision is perceived as being male and in Fifty Shades of Grey this is also the case,
however, the unusual development in the trilogy is that the female becomes the male through
vision, i.e., she becomes masculine in her use of vision while the male becomes the object of
fascination, a role traditionally given to the female. By doing this, the first section argues that Fifty
Shades of Grey creates a new ideology with some of the traditional traits, but with a further
development of the gender of vision where the female becomes the powerful. The second section
argues that the message is one regression when looking at gender and feminism. When looking at
the element of gender, Fifty Shades of Grey is shown to deviate from the contemporary ideology by
advocating the old-fashioned gender stereotypes and gender roles. Fifty Shades of Grey uses
feminism in a special manner when discussing the message of regression. The trilogy is shown to
support the core objective of feminism, being liberation for women. However, this liberation is
shown through female submission to male domination, which is redundant to the main objective of
feminism, being equality.
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In conclusion, it can therefore be said that Fifty Shades of Grey present several ideologies while the
message of the trilogy can be discussed. Despite the dispute over the message of the trilogy both
sections can agree that one of the sexes has to be dominating.
Areas for further research
In supplementary work with this project, it would be interesting to investigate further on areas,
which had to be left out due to limited amount of time and space. As further research areas it would
be interesting to include the following:
Considering the use of vision it would be interesting to elaborate further by looking at the theory by
Freud defined as Scopophilia, i.e., the erotic pleasure in looking, and also his definition of the drive
for looking and the drive for knowledge (Schautrieb and Wisstrieb). Furthermore it would be
interesting to look into the Actaeon complex also concerning the human desire to unravel the
unknown through vision.
Also when working with Freud it could be interesting to look into the duality of the main
characters, as both of them is shown to have several personalities. Therefore would Freud be
relevant in terms of his theory of Id, Ego and Superego.
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