The Fifty Shades Fad.

[Nick]

This is ridiculous. If they're a young child, then they'll go to the bookshop with their parents, and they'll probably never even realise this book was there. A child wouldn't look for books in the adult section, instead they'll just move to the children's section without a second glance. And that's assuming that the book-cover is bad- which it's not.

And have the adverts actually called this, or other books of its genre, adult fiction, or has it just named the price and had a picture of the cover? People aren't going to buy a book without any prior knowledge of it, they will only buy it if they have heard about it and, by hearing about it, they would know what the book's content/story is like.

 

[Nick]

And if you think, many erotic novels contain vulgar language which shouldn't be in a child's view either.

I didn't know rude language was pasted on the front cover, the only place in the book that children would ever see... :

 

[Sam]

I do not understand the need for it to rammed in peoples faces, the high street is a family environment and should remain so.

Where is this 'the high street is a family environment' crap coming from? I've seen Ann Summers, as well as numerous sex shops, gay saunas and gay bars on the 'high street', whatever that means (I presume you just mean any mainstream shopping street in a large town or city).

The 'high street' is absolutely not a 'family environment'. Parents have a responsibility to actually parent their children and stop them reading 50 Shades of Grey (which, btw, you'd have to get a good 50 pages into before you found anything pornographic), just like they have a responsibility to stop them walking into Ann Summers.

Like I said, if you think the high street should be a 'family environment' (urgh) like a freakin' playground or a nursery, then you'd also have to ban almost all of the great works of literature from bookshelves. TheMan, your arguments are outdated, reactionary, and hopelessly prudish.

 

[Andrew]

And if you think, many erotic novels contain vulgar language which shouldn't be in a child's view either.

I didn't know rude language was pasted on the front cover, the only place in the book that children would ever see... :

Not when they're at this level :

 

[Nick]

And if you think, many erotic novels contain vulgar language which shouldn't be in a child's view either.

I didn't know rude language was pasted on the front cover, the only place in the book that children would ever see... :

Not when they're at this level :

I'm not sure you understand, I was saying that there's no bad language on those covers so, even if children see them, they aren't going to "lose their innocence".

 

[Plastic Person]

In the case of WH Smiths, I have seen plenty of adverts for erotic fiction in the front windows of their stores. I, personally, would like some sort of censorship on them like they have with so called 'lad's mags' where they are on the top shelf, often covered, and there are no advertisements around the store for them. If someone wants to read it then they can go and find it.

But they're not the same thing. Lads mags covers directly objectify women on the front cover, and in a completely different context and style. Hardly comparable to this!

Both are different varieties of pornographic content, no matter how different they are. 'Lad's mag's don't usually show all 'parts' of a woman whereas these erotic novels go into detail about each part, so they balance each other out in terms of how pornographic they are. It doesn't make a difference about the cover if someone just opens them up, as curious children often do.

With all due respect, that's absolute nonsense. There's no sliding scale of explicitness; surely context is everything? A detailed description of a vagina is a completely different kettle of fish (pardon me) to a photo of some Romanian student with her legs spread. If your young, curious child is picking up Fifty Shades of Grey during a quick trip to WHSmiths, then reading and absorbing it to the level that it negatively impacts their childhood, then send them away from the high street to some sort of school for the terminally gifted.

But if they know what's going on with the ''Romanian student with her legs spread'' () then they'll know what's going on in the book too, won't they? And if you think, many erotic novels contain vulgar language which shouldn't be in a child's view either. They're just as bad as each other in my opinion.

No, absolutely not. One is a straight up, hardcore pornographic image, and one is a written work of fiction. You've inadvertently highlighted something else I'd argue... TheMan is entirely right that children need to be protected from too much sexuality, 'the right to a childhood', etc. There's little more cynical in the world than the crass commercialisation of sexuality. But then again, children do inevitably encounter sexual content, and it doesn't kill them, or send them to street corners. I recall my parents taking me in holiday to Spain as a child, and encountering in a shop, a pack of cards called 'Just Good Friends', on the cover of which was an orgy, of naked grinning Spaniards, in rather raw glory.

I remember being puzzled as to what it was, and as a curious child, asked my Mum, who quickly dragged me away! The following year, my Dad gave me 'the talk' on the same holiday, but in between, I came out the other side in the right frame of mind.

 

[James]

Not when they're at this level :

A child will still not register what that is though.

If they can register what it is, well then that child clearly is old enough to know about sex.

---

If people are so concerned about the exposure of this book, surly you should be targeting television? Fifty Shades has been on breakfast tv, on the news, mentioned on many other daytime tv shows. The exposure of Fifty Shades is not just limited to a high street store.

Sex bombards mainstream media anyway.

 

[Sam]

And if you think, many erotic novels contain vulgar language which shouldn't be in a child's view either.

I didn't know rude language was pasted on the front cover, the only place in the book that children would ever see... :

Not when they're at this level :

What exactly in those covers is offensive? A red ribbon? A Venetian mask? The words 'The Bride Stripped Bare'? 'In Too Deep'? It's hardly 'College Sluts XXX 5 bareback' is it?

You're 15. Don't be such a Mary Whitehouse prude, you don't even have the excuse of being elderly yet! Christ knows how you're going to cope when you go to uni...

 

[Nick]

To stop children being exposed to sex all you have to do is ban music, television, film, literature and the Internet. So only pretty much all media.

 

[James]

In summary: Lock your child in a cage or just don't have children. Either's just as easy.

 

[Plastic Person]

In summary: Lock your child in a cage

Steady on mate! Have you been reading this Fifty Shades of Grey I've been hearing about?

 

[James]

Steady on mate! Have you been reading this Fifty Shades of Grey I've been hearing about?

No, I just looked at the front cover in Smiths under the bright neon "erotic fiction" sign in the S&M window display and knew my destiny was to lock humans in cages.

 

[Sam]

No, I just looked at the front cover in Smiths under the bright neon "erotic fiction" sign in the S&M window display and knew my destiny was to lock humans in cages.

*gingerly raises a hand to volunteer*

 

[Andrew]

Let me make my feelings clear again in case they've disappeared in this debate.

I have no problem with people reading the books but I don't feel that they should be on display for children to see. I can see where people are coming from when they say that there's nothing offensive on the cover of the books when compared to magazines (which I agree with), but when you open the book it's a completely different story. Children will be curious as to what a certain thing is (it's generally a child's nature to ask 'What is this?' in order to learn) and they could possibly come across some foul language in the novel.

This is the same as with magazines-They may see something innapropriate. Therefore, these magazines are placed high on a shelf where young children can pick them up and open them. I believe that this should be the case with the novels too in case a child picks one up.

As for that image, I didn't mean to suggest that there was something rude on the front cover. I was more joking at the height that they were-It is quite easy for a child to pick a copy up. This further justifies the idea that I talked about above.

I hope I've made myself clear on this.

 

[Nick]

but when you open the book it's a completely different story.

Why would children open the book? It's never going to happen.

Children will be curious as to what a certain thing is (it's generally a child's nature to ask 'What is this?' in order to learn) and they could possibly come across some foul language in the novel.

Their parents would tell them it's a "grown-up book", or something like that. And how, without opening the book, would they come across bad language?

 

[Sam]

Andrew, do you feel that the mere sight of 'vulgar language' and 'foul language' (to use your words straight out of the mouth of a 1980s Tory MP) will instantly ruin and corrupt childhood, and turn any accidental viewers into proto-hoodies, immediately prone to yob violence?

As part of your campaign to force booksellers to hide away books that might contain any violent or sexual language, I presume you are in favour of The Bible, Ulysses and The Bell Jar being hidden in a special 'Adults' section...?

 

[Amy]

but when you open the book it's a completely different story.

Why would children open the book? It's never going to happen.

I have been a complete bookworm for as long as I can remember. Certainly, as soon as I was able to read, I did so at every opportunity. I've always had a book on the go, and as a child (before smartphones!), I couldn't go to bed without a book. If I'd come across a huge display of books at the front of a shop that looked like a big deal...I'd have picked one up and had a look. I'm sure that if I'd been in WH Smiths with my mum and seen this display, I'd have been interested. Based on my own experience, and my view that children should be protected from things that are too old for them, I think that erotic fiction should be in a specific section where children are unlikely to encounter them! If a book is as popular as this series was, people will seek them out. They don't need to be thrust (ahem) in customers' faces.

The other thing I'd like to say, is that I bought the first Fifty Shades book due to the huge amount of hype around the books. My thinking was that if so many people were into them, they must be something special. Harry Potter never appealed to me, but I read the first Potter book based on the same reasoning. I'm now a HUGE Harry Potter fan! Sometimes, taking into account the opinion of the majority pays off, sometimes it doesn't!

 

[Pixie-Ro]

As part of your campaign to force booksellers to hide away books that might contain any violent or sexual language, I presume you are in favour of The Bible, Ulysses and The Bell Jar being hidden in a special 'Adults' section...?

Exactly. Most classic literature is pure filth! You should be more worried about the books aimed at pre-teen and early teenage girls - I don't suppose you've read Forever by Judy Blume? This book tells the story of 16 year olds losing their virginity to each other and does so in some detail for what is classed as a children's novel - the main character even names his penis (Ralph if you're interested), and the book describes mutual masturbation as well as penetrative sex. Obviously not in the same vein as Shades but quite explicit for the intended audience. Bear in mind this type of book will be shelved alongside the likes of Jacqueline Wilson (and some of her books aimed at older children are quite...'juicy', shall we say?)

Oh, and I read Forever at about the age of 11, mainly because my older sister had it and my parents told me I wasn't allowed to read it. Of course, telling me I wasn't allowed to read it made me want to read it even more. If they hadn't mentioned it I probably wouldn't have been bothered.

 

[Andrew]

Andrew, do you feel that the mere sight of 'vulgar language' and 'foul language' (to use your words straight out of the mouth of a 1980s Tory MP) will instantly ruin and corrupt childhood, and turn any accidental viewers into proto-hoodies, immediately prone to yob violence?

First of all, I didn't know that they were words out of the mouth of a 1980s Tory MP. Secondly, if a child sees a word then they usually ask their parents what it is. Of course, the answer would be 'That's a bad word. Don't use it.' but it's still in the child's mind! They could still say it even if their parents told them not to.

As to the other books, I presume that they're different to this novel. They don't focus on sex as far as I know (I've only read the Bible) so they don't pose as much of an issue. Yes, there are controversial issues in these books (I'm not denying that either before you slate me for it) but they're not on the scale of what there is in Fifty Shades of Grey.

With a book as popular as this, children are bound to hear something about it (whether this be through the news, via their parents talking about it, or overhearing people in a bookshop) and become curious as to what it is. And if they then see this in a bookstore then they may pick it up.

 

[Sam]

They don't focus on sex as far as I know (I've only read the Bible) so they don't pose as much of an issue. Yes, there are controversial issues in these books (I'm not denying that either before you slate me for it) but they're not on the scale of what there is in Fifty Shades of Grey.

Firstly, I've read far more sexually explicit novels than Fifty Shades which are also widely on display in bookshops (anything by Alan Hollinghurst springs to mind). If you want to send anything worse than Fifty Shades to an adult section, then half of any bookshop would be 'adult'.

Secondly, nobody gets murdered or raped in Fifty Shades. Thousands, if not millions, get murdered in the Bible, as well as rape, paedophilia and incest all playing major themed. Far bigger in scale than anything E.L. James could dream up.