I've noticed a steady stream recently of searches for "fifty shades of grey femdom" or some variant, landing on this site. In case you have been hiding under a rock and not heard about this phenomenon, the Fifty Shades of Grey series is a trilogy which follows the developing relationship between an overbearing man who self identifies as a dominant, and a younger woman who is too inexperienced to self identify as anything (so by default she is vanilla (?) ). He pursues her and introduces her to sex and bdsm (with a full time slave contract - no shades of grey there then...).
I'm sure that searchers for "50 shades of grey femdom" have so far left this site unsatisfied, as the post I mention the series in is a moan about not being able to find femdom books. I ignored these searches for as long as I could, but it's gotten to me eventually and I think I can do better.
The question is though, what are people searching for femdom and fifty shades of grey really looking for? I don't know for sure, but here are some of my ideas:
Is there a book like Fifty shades of Grey, but the other way around - with a female dominant rather than a male dominant?
This is the most obvious interpretation, but also the most difficult. What did you like about it? If you simply want an erotic book with explicit bdsm femdom, then Natural Law by Joey Hill is for you. Both characters indentify as Mistress and submissive from the beginning and it's wonderfully erotic, well written, with enough kink to satisfy as well as a strong romantic relationship.
If you liked the concept of an older, authoritative dom introducing a younger vanilla protégée to bdsm, maybe you would like Rebecca's Way by Rynna Cress, where an experienced Mistress introduces a wayward man to being submissive.
Did you like the student and authority figure dynamic? Maybe The Cruel Dr Fox by SM Calor would be your thing. That features a college professor who takes her student in hand in a servant submissive relationship.
My wife/girlfriend read Fifty Shades and liked it. I want to introduce femdom to her. Maybe I could find an equivalent fifty shades book with femdom and she would like that too?
There are lots of good options here, depending on what her normal reading matter is. If she likes historical books, then A Lady Awakened is the one. A subtle femdom book, the heroine is very controlling and controlled and likes sex only on her terms.
If she normally likes other modern/contemporary novels, then try This is What I Want, or Taking Care of Business, both by Megan Hart. Taking Care of Business is a dual story line book, with a femdom relationship which sizzles and a maledom relationship which isn't so good. This is What I Want is less explicitly femdom and more about a woman sharing her fantasies, both ones where she is in and not in control (though mainly the former).
For a book where a woman discovers her dominant side after being submissive, then Power Play by Charlotte Stein is the hottest example of this. Switch, again by Megan Hart, is a tamer example with only subtle bdsm undertones.
For a woman discovering her dominant side from being vanilla, Taking Her Boss by Alegra Verde is worth a look. Giving by Charlotte Stein features a woman introduced to femdom bdsm by her boyfriend's confessed fantasies.
If she likes the purple prose and hyperbole of Fifty Shades, then she might like Evangeline Anderson erotic sci-fi books. There's a lot of male service elements in these books, which are otherwise mainly maledom.
Does Fifty Shades of Grey feature any femdom?
I haven't read the books, but nothing that I've read about them gives me any hope, no.
Is there a 'mainstream' femdom book, similar to Fifty Shades of Grey, that I can buy at the store? With a tasteful grey cover perhaps?
Not really, no. Natural Law is the only straight femdom book I know of at the moment that really justifies general consumption. But then, it's not really about a book being good, is it? It's a right place, right time thing and we're not there yet for femdom. And no femdom book can have a tasteful cover. Ever.
So that's it. If you reached this page through a search, let me know in the comments if I answered your question. If I didn't, do ask.
The Paramount Rule by Tanya Simmonds (femdom) blew my mind. Amazingly classily written AND has a tasteful cover.
ReplyDelete... So I looked up the cover for The Paramount, and saw this: http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Paramount_Rule.html?id=VBrFQgAACAAJ&redir_esc=y - and I'm thinking that your idea of tasteful and mine are rather different! Then I realized that everywhere else, there's a rather lovely period style black and sepia cover.
DeleteSo perfect, as it's the exception that proves the rule - it has a nice cover, but it presumably used to have a crass cover!
Thanks for the rec, I'll add it to the list.
I wrote a new novel. It is Fifty Shades for the assertive woman. Its the reverse scenario of a submissive intern guy and his dominant female boss. Let me know what you guys think of it.
ReplyDeleteHere's the link:
http://www.amazon.com/Her-Toyboy-ebook/dp/B008YGMRIU
Hi Samantha,
DeleteThanks for the rec. It's always great to see new femdom writing.
It occurred to me that that this novella has a common problem that I've seen with other self-published femdom novels. At $4 for 50 pages of e-book, it's kind've expensive. By comparison, 50 Shades is just over $4 but x10 more pages. I know it's quality not quantity, etc. etc. But I've been wondering recently whey femdom books, as a rule, seem to be so much more expensive than other genres.
Anyone got any ideas about why femdom seems more expensive (for self pub books at least) - or is it just my slightly skewed perception?
Just so you know there is a Femdom in Fifty Shades of Grey. The problems that the only dominant female in the book also happens to be a pedophile. Basically she is the one who introduces the Cristian Grey character to the lifestyle. It's fine that the writer wanted an agegap to be part of their relationship she didn't have to make their relationship start when he was 14 and she was like 40. It kinda just comes across as a way of demonizing female dominance.
ReplyDeleteYet another case of mistaking a woman being dominant for a woman sexually abusing an underage boy. When will people learn that Femdom doesn't equal child abuse? They really are quite different, but it's a surprisingly common trope in BDSM.
DeleteYes, I remember someone saying this about FSOG now that you mention it. Thanks for pointing it out. It's rather sad really - a bit like the whole FSOG plot I suppose.
You sort of answered my question (and much better than anywhere else). I got here looking for some reading to give to my new protege so he could get to grips with things in a reassuringly mainstream way (FSOG in reverse). Thanks for some great reading tips!
ReplyDeleteHey, thanks for letting me know.
DeleteI'm not sure what I would recommend for your new sub to read. Perhaps some of the anthologies? They are generally quite good quality and have a big range of subject matter and tone, which can make it easier to figure out what you like. As for mainstream... difficult.