Bonomi Amy E, Nichols Emily M, Carotta Christin L, Kiuchi Yuya, Perry Samantha
1 Human Development and Family Studies, Michigan State University , East Lansing, Michigan.
2 Research Consortium on Gender-Based Violence, Michigan State University , East Lansing, Michigan.
J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2016 Feb;25(2):139-48. doi: 10.1089/jwh.2015.5318. Epub 2015 Nov 16.
Millions of women are interacting with Fifty Shades of Grey-a best-selling novel and film. Yet, to date, no social science study has been undertaken to examine women's perceptions of the Fifty Shades relationship narrative in its film adaptation-what they deem appealing, what they deem unappealing, and what they would welcome or resist in their own relationship. In the present study, we used focus groups to examine women's perceptions of the relationship patterns in the Fifty Shades of Grey film.
Focus groups were conducted with 35 young adult women (randomly sampled from the registrar's office of a large Midwestern university) immediately after watching the Fifty Shades film with the study team at a local theater within two days of the film's release. Seven semistructured questions concentrating on reactions to the relationship patterns between Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele depicted in the Fifty Shades film were asked, including general reactions, appealing and unappealing characteristics, romantic and dangerous elements, and aspects that participants would tolerate (or not tolerate) in their own relationships.
While participants assessed parts of the relationship between Christian and Anastasia as exciting and romantic, they consistently indicated an unappealing lack of health in the relationship. Participants expressed grave concerns over Christian's stalking, controlling, manipulative, and emotionally abusive behavior, anger in sexual interactions, and neglect of Anastasia's needs. At the same time, they sympathized with and rationalized Christian's behaviors as a function of his personality, needs, and abilities. A small contingent implicated Anastasia in the unhealthy relationship process, whereas a broader majority of participants highlighted the challenges with trying to "speak up" in an unhealthy relationship like Christian and Anastasia's. When asked where participants would draw the line in their own relationship, participants indicated they would welcome the adventure and gifts, but would not tolerate being controlled and stalked, having their needs neglected, and having a partner who expressed anger in sexual interactions.
Our findings point to the value of using popular culture, including the Fifty Shades narrative, to actively engage young women in productive conversation about characteristics of relationship health and un-health. Similar approaches could be used to engage young women in safe, relatable conversations about healthy and unhealthy relationships, including the warning signs of abuse. As a broader impact, our study contributes to an understanding of how young women interact with and make sense of relationships depicted in popular culture.
数以百万计的女性正在接触《五十度灰》——一部畅销小说及电影。然而，迄今为止，尚未有社会科学研究去考察女性对其电影改编版中恋爱关系叙述的看法——她们认为有吸引力的地方、没有吸引力的地方，以及在自己的恋爱关系中会欢迎或抵制的方面。在本研究中，我们采用焦点小组来考察女性对《五十度灰》电影中恋爱关系模式的看法。
在电影上映两天内，35名年轻成年女性（从一所大型中西部大学的注册办公室随机抽取）与研究团队在当地一家影院观看《五十度灰》电影后，立即参与了焦点小组。提出了七个半结构化问题，聚焦于对《五十度灰》电影中克里斯蒂安·格雷和阿纳斯塔西娅·斯蒂尔之间恋爱关系模式的反应，包括总体反应、有吸引力和没有吸引力的特征、浪漫和危险元素，以及参与者在自己恋爱关系中会容忍（或不容忍）的方面。
虽然参与者认为克里斯蒂安和阿纳斯塔西娅之间恋爱关系的部分内容令人兴奋且浪漫，但他们始终指出这段关系中存在缺乏健康的、没有吸引力的方面。参与者对克里斯蒂安的跟踪、控制、操纵和情感虐待行为、性行为中的愤怒以及对阿纳斯塔西娅需求的忽视表示严重关切。与此同时，他们因克里斯蒂安的个性、需求和能力而对其行为表示同情并为之辩解。一小部分人认为阿纳斯塔西娅也参与了这段不健康的恋爱关系过程，而更大多数的参与者强调了在像克里斯蒂安和阿纳斯塔西娅那样不健康的恋爱关系中试图“直言”所面临的挑战。当被问及在自己的恋爱关系中会在何处划清界限时，参与者表示他们会欢迎冒险和礼物，但不会容忍被控制和跟踪、需求被忽视以及有一个在性行为中表达愤怒的伴侣。
我们的研究结果指出了利用流行文化，包括《五十度灰》的叙述，来积极引导年轻女性就恋爱关系健康与不健康的特征进行富有成效的对话的价值。类似的方法可用于引导年轻女性就健康和不健康的恋爱关系，包括虐待的警示信号，进行安全、相关的对话。作为更广泛的影响，我们的研究有助于理解年轻女性如何与流行文化中描绘的恋爱关系互动并理解这些关系。
