Originally Posted by hangnbyathread
Women have culturally been led to believe that they are supposed to be below men, economically, emotionally, sexually and otherwise.
I agree. That's why I think the problem with 50 shades is misplaced. It's the antiquated gender roles in 50 shades that are bothersome for me. In the BDSM world, gender roles are turned on their head. Yes, there are often male Doms and female subs, but as I said upthread, the D/s roles are not necessarily determined by gender and those roles aren't always permanent. Triads are also very popular, so we aren't even talking about relationships involving just two people. People in alternative lifestyles are not usually ones to stick to tradition, and that definitely includes traditional gender roles.
For what it's worth, most of my friends in the lifestyle laugh at 50 shades.