Bondage: A Black & White Matter

I couldn’t find any surveys or studies to reference but I have a theory about the cult-hit book Fifty Shades of Grey. 

I have a hunch this book is far more popular with white audiences than black ones.

Perhaps the Pew Research Center ought to conduct a study?

White people have a thing for ropes and handcuffs. Western whites in particular have had a long history of getting  our jollies off of putting others in bondage.

Blacks, on the other hand, have an aversion to ropes and handcuffs.

Understandably so.

That the author of this book, E.L. James,  is British makes the story ever more disturbing, given the Commonwealth’s troubling historical propensity for enslaving others.

Affluent whites have always had the dominating role in these matters. Our nation’s history is rife with affluent whites whose best form of entertainment involved cotton rope and whips and someone moaning in pain.

Puts a whole new twist on it, when you consider this cult fiction within historical context, doesn’t it?

Of course, I’m sure E.L. James would rather readers not consider bondage a black and white matter.

And, as an affluent white woman (which she was long before the books hit the NYT) James enjoys the luxury of avoiding all that nasty history.

But let’s be honest here — bondage is a fantasy only white audiences can enjoy.

If you are black, it can be a terrifying nightmare.