Survey: ‘Fifty Shades Of Grey’ Sparks Timid Interest In BDSM

LOS ANGELES—A new survey indicates the novel Fifty Shades of Grey has sparked more interest in the practice of BDSM, but still little inclination to try the rough stuff in personal relationships. The online poll was conducted by leading adult company Vivid Entertainment and popular online adult site XCritic.com. Of the predominantly male survey respondents, 46 percent had tried some form of BDSM, but 54 percent had not. The survey results showed that the book had spurred curiosity to try BDSM in just 20 percent of its respondents while 36 percent had already tried it, but 44 percent had no curiosity about it. And just 24 percent know people that have tried BDSM while 76 percent know no one who has tried it as a result of the publicity surrounding the book, which is scheduled to debut as a movie in February 2015. Of those respondents to the survey who had tried BDSM, 46 percent had tried bondage, 39 percent tried master/slave role playing and 21 percent tried flogging. And of those who say they might try it, 40 percent would want to be the dominant partner while 23 percent would want to be submissive and 37 percent would want to switch back and forth between those roles. Nearly 48 percent of those surveyed said they had not suggested BDSM to their partner, while 21 percent were either curious or even enthusiastic about it, and just 10 percent said they “hate the idea.” Despite their reluctance to try it personally, 68 percent of the respondents believe Fifty Shades of Grey has made BDSM “more mainstream and acceptable,” compared with 32 percent who do not believe it has. The complete survey results are available here. For more information, email Jackie Martin or call 800-762-4761.