A battered women’s shelter in the UK is exercising a rather extreme form of criticism for E.L. James’ best-selling novel Fifty Shades of Grey . They’ve decided to turn donated copies of the erotic novel into toilet paper, fit for many an English fanny.
MSN reports that a women’s shelter in the UK is accepting donated copies of the smut novel, initially to burn them in a Fahrenheit 451 -style bonfire. The plan has since changed. Clare Phillipson, the shelter’s operator, has decided on an alternative recycling technique for donated copies of Fifty Shades .
Turning them into toilet paper.
Why do this? Because the themes of Fifty Shades , which include sadism and masochism, are “vile,” according to Phillipson. The BBC reports that the charity, Wearside Women in Need, said that they received roughly 24 copies of Fifty Shades , which they have promised to cut up and “recycle.”
On the process used to decide the fate of the books, Phillipson said:
“There were a range options. We discussed the book burning while getting the message across that this book is a dangerous trend. I think we’ve got a culture now which has completely sexualized women and in which women feel obligated to take part in that culture. We want to draw a line under that.
“We will be cutting them up, using them for toilet roll and sticking them on our compost heap and they will go back into the ground … although the ideas they represent will continue.”
Publisher Random House said: “The sex scenes are entirely consensual.”
What do you think should be done with copies of Fifty Shades of Grey ?