When the Fifty Shades of Grey trailer was released earlier this week, it received mixed reviews, some even saying it wasn’t steamy enough. However, an anti-porn group known as Stop Porn Culture focused on a different aspect of the trailer—violence against women.
With the media popularizing the trailer, Dawn Hawkins, executive director of Morality in Media and PornHarms.com, believes it is glamorizing bondage and sadomasochism, reported the The Times of India.
“A warning to the women lining up to see this film: There is nothing empowering about whips and chains or humiliation and torture,” Hawkins said.
Last year, a study was published in the Journal of Women’s Health which said the book supports abusive relationship habits such as stalking and isolation, reported USA Today.
In the trilogy written by E.L. James, Anastasia Steele is a college student sucked into the world of BDSM by the wealthy businessman Christian Grey. The infamous “red room of pain” was also briefly shown in the trailer.
Gail Dines, the found member of Stop Porn Culture and a professor of sociology and women’s studies at Wheelock College in Boston, added that Anastasia was groomed to enjoy sadistic sex.
The film has not yet been rated, and is set to be released on Valentine’s Day 2015.