‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ Novel Entrancing Nation’s Housewives

Stop the presses, women are hiding their porn in novels- which is what all the buzz around the book “Fifty Shades of Gray” seems to suggest.

However, if you recall about a decade ago, the whole “women digging porn” trope showed up on Friends, with Joey ribbing Rachel for a whole episode about her book starring “the Vicar.” It was played to lengthy effect that few Americans actually know what a Vicar is, but nevertheless, every time romance novels as porn comes up, everyone acts all surprised. And now that everyone and their mother and sister is reading “Fifty Shades of Gray,” the issue has re-emerged.

The New York Times profiled “Fifty Shades of Gray” and its buzz recently, amusingly speaking to some housewives on the condition of anonymity because their porn-reading habit is so scandalous. One housefrau from Long Island- who did not provide her name- whispered to the paper:

“Women just feel like it’s O.K. to read it… It’s taboo for women to admit that they watch pornography, but for some reason it’s O.K. to admit that they’re reading this book.”

A detractor, Meg Lazarus, said her friends read the book (and apparently she has as well, since she knows enough about it to critique it), and she says that the “hero is kind of a dick” thing still holds true:

“What I found fascinating is that there are all these supermotivated, smart, educated women saying this was like the greatest thing they’ve ever read… I don’t get it. There’s a lot of violence, and this guy is abhorrent sometimes.”

Have you skimmed a copy of “Fifty Shades of Grey” thus far?