Fifty shades of influence in a relationship
Know how a simple book can destroy your marriage
by Filipe Vuaden
Books have always influenced the way we think and behave. Throughout our history, many books have been published and used as one of the first tools for people to share their personal ideas and conceptions with the world. Books can deal with different subjects in different cultures, what helped them to become universally popular. The influence of a book may vary from country to country.
For example, “The Sorrows of Young Werther”, published in 1774 by German author Johann Wolfgang Goethe, led many people to commit suicide due to the sad story it was about. “Madame Bovary”, published in 1856 by French writer Gustave Flaubert, was considered as something against the moral order of the period and originated a new literary movement. The Harry Potter series also made a big impact during the first years of the 00’s, selling over 450 million books around the world. The Harry Potter series made people of all ages take a time for themselves and spend it reading and stimulating imagination.
Nowadays we have access to many kinds of media, such as TV, internet and music. They connect different peoples easily. Books are still read, but they are not the greatest tool for sharing information anymore. However, as information travels fast today, when a book becomes famous in a country, it usually becomes famous all around the world and then it will probably become a best seller and may sometimes be the object of funny facts as we can see with today’s best seller.
The “Fifty Shades” trilogy is certainly the major best seller nowadays. Written by British author E. L. James, the book series has become famous due to its explicit erotic scenes between Anastasia Steele, the main character, and her partner Christian Grey. The books entered the top of weekly best sellers list, having sold more than 60 million copies around the world and been translated into 37 languages. However, its influence has also led people to react strangely to its impact.
In Brazil, according to “Folha UOL”, it has been confirmed that sex shops are increasing their sales after the boom and popularity of the Fifty Shades trilogy in our country. And, guess what, the strangest point is that the increase of sex shop sales is making many men buy items in these kinds of stores. Usually considered shy consumers, today there are many men going into sex shops to buy items to use in their relations with their partners. Some sex shops have registered an increase of 20% of men who look for items in their stores. Sellers agree that this increase is due to the influence of the Fifty Shades series books.
In the United Kingdom, however, a more serious problem has been found due to the influence of the books. According to a report on “Daily Mail” on November 11st 2012, a woman bought the trilogy hoping that it would make her relationship with her husband spicy. But his reaction to this idea was not very favorable. He denied his wife she requests to perform the sexual fantasies described in the book. The forty-one year woman became so furious that decided their relationship should be over. And, more than that, she contacted Amanda McAlister, one of the best known lawyers in the United Kingdom to take care of her divorce petition, saying the book made her find out that her husband is not able to accompany her in sexual adventures.
References:
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-11-11/news/35053607_1_divorce-petition-divorce-lawyer-husband
http://literatortura.com/2012/11/13/mulher-pede-divorcio-apos-marido-recusar-fantasias-do-livro-cinquenta-tons-de-cinza/
http://mulher.uol.com.br/comportamento/noticias/redacao/2012/10/26/cinquenta-tons-de-cinza-levou-homens-as-sex-shops-dizem-profissionais-do-mercado-erotico.htm