Sometimes I pass along stories because they caught my attention and made me think. Other times - like this one - I pass along stories because they made me howl. Yes, dear readers, I just had one of those moments. You know, the ones that make Mr. Duck shelter our littlest duck under his wing to huddle at the computer in the bedroom area of the pond - hoping that Mama Duck won't find them until she's calmed down. The story that inspired such dark duck rage this time is entitled: "50 Shades of Pornography Addiction."
It starts off by hypothesizing that porn purveyors have vanquished the male population and turned their greedy, beady eyes towards the female half of the planet. To lure in the women, the purveyors had to modify their product and their pitch because the porn that lures men objectifies women and that doesn't lure the ladies. To woo women, the story says, purveyors have honed in on "intimacy and relationships" because "women tend to objectify these feelings."
And here's the part of the story that enraged my ducks:
Today, many women read soft core pornography as an escape and as an extension to their interest in romance novels. One such recently popular title Fifty Shades of Grey has made great inroads into this niche. And because of that trend, some women are moving to online pornography from soft core and romance novels.
It’s no secret that soft core pornography is mainstream. The three books in the 50 Shades trilogy currently occupy three of five tops spots on the New York Times bestseller list and recently held the top three. Other erotic novels frequently make it into the top fifteen.
In reality, these books, now displayed front and center in bookstores, tend to glamorize unhealthy relationships depicted in them, and by extension, pornography in general. It seems soft core porn is viewed by most as a harmless distraction, but too often, it’s a gateway to more hardcore pornography and addiction.
Seriously? The MAN who wrote this article actually believes that romance novels and erotica are gateway addictions that will push women down to the level of trolling the internet for hardcore porn? No, SIR, reading about love and passion will never cause women to descend to the depths where you reside.
Romance novels are gateways drugs, all right. They addict women to hope and love and happy endings. Also, I'll say it one more time- Fifty Shades of Grey is, at its core, a good, old-fashioned love story. And reading about men strong enough to surrender to love and passion - and the women who taught them love's lessons - is apt to make women want more of something. That something is not naked men wandering around, constantly ready to screw one, two or twelve other people at any given time.
No, women who read about those strong, smart romance novel heroes won't settle for sex. The dangerous lesson of romance novels is that all women deserve men who make them feel like the heroine of their own love story. So romance novels are a gateway -- they lead readers to seek their very own happily ever afters, each as different and individual and varied as all the world and all the dreamers who ever made their dreams come true.
You know what? We need a lot more of the "drugs" that create romance novel addicts and a lot fewer people who can't see past their own limitations to appreciate that reading is power and romance is hope.