What about men? That was the first thought that came to mind after reading Katie Roiphe’s Newsweek cover storyon
the BDSM-themed “Fifty Shades of Grey” phenomenon, in which she
controversially speculated that women’s current fascination with the
book’s story line of female submission was the result of the “pressure
of economic participation” and the “hard work” of striving for equality.
The desire for submission is hardly something unique to women.
Who
understands this better than professional dominatrixes? With so many
speculating this week on Roiphe’s article, I decided to hand the
microphone over to women with a unique perspective on the dynamics in
power and play.
Several said
that Roiphe is actually on to something when she talks about submission
as an escape from life’s stresses — only, this reasonable point is
overwritten by her wrongheaded focus on women and the impact of
feminism. Roiphe wonders whether there is “something exhausting about
the relentless responsibility of a contemporary woman’s life … all that
strength and independence and desire and going out into the world,” and
suggests “that, for some, the more theatrical fantasies of sexual
surrender offer a release, a vacation, an escape from the dreariness and
hard work of equality.” What about the exhausting, relentless
responsibility of contemporary people’s lives? READ MORE
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