5 Reasons Why Mr. Grey Needs to be Spanked, Fifty Shades of Grey, Film, Books, Relationships

A few short years after the massive success E.L. James enjoyed with “Fifty Shades of Grey,” a novel kicking off a trilogy that explores colorful sexual practices involving bondage/discipline, dominance/submission and sadism/masochism, BDSM, the book’s cultural legacy continues. A film translation is due to be released for Valentine’s Day in 2015. The trilogy has sparked a national debate on multiple fronts regarding female sexuality, including commentary from feminists, the BDSM community and others. Dr. Warren Shepell, a psychologist and founder and president of Warren Shepell Consultants Corp., which provided Employee Assistance Program services to more than 2,000 companies and where he counseled couples for more than 25 years before he sold the company in 2005, says plenty of the cultural focus inspired from the book is misplaced. “Much of the commentary I’ve read seems to assume a sexually static role for men, that ‘men will be men’ and there’s really little hope for change, but men are not static; they can experience more than just a basic, primitive satisfaction,” says Shepell, who recently published “A Woman’s Pleasure,” (www.awomanspleasure.com), a novel under the pen name J.F. Kelly, which explores the emotional layers of physical relationships. Shepell outlines some of the ways in which Mr. Grey misses the boat on the richness possible within female sexuality.

BDSM is Not the Pinnacle of Sexual Adventure

“For all the bells and whistles involved in BDSM, including various fetishes, whips, chains or demands, I don’t think it’s all that interesting,” he says. “For one, it is role playing, rather than two people expressing their souls through a loving act. And, it’s pretty black and white, with one playing the boss and the other as the submissive. In the long run, it can be damaging, hurtful, and degrading, but what makes it interesting to people, I think, is that BDSM is unusual and that it caters to past scripts of control and domination learned early on in life. It is not liberating nor does it promote equality between men and women.”

A Woman’s Pleasure is a Man’s Pleasure

Mr. Grey doesn’t seem to appreciate the joy of experiencing a woman’s satisfaction. A complaint from many old-school men is that their wife or girlfriend doesn’t give them enough sex. Men tend to reach orgasm four to five times faster than women. In order to make their wife or girlfriend happy, men should try being more attentive, passionate and take time in their sexual and lovemaking encounters. “Why wouldn’t a man want a woman to be sexually fulfilled? – Her satisfaction usually means more enthusiasm and frequency of sex, in addition to stronger bonds within the relationship,” Shepell says. “If women were totally satisfied with their sexual and lovemaking experiences, women would welcome the lovemaking experience as much as men.”