50 Shades of…Babies?
Staffordshire University’s Professor Ellis Cashmore has predicted that we will see a small rise in the number of babies born next year, and everyone’s favorite piece of amateur erotic fiction is to blame.
Yes, it seems that 50 Shades of Grey’s ability to ignite passion in the bedroom could result in a crop of kids who will someday develop serious psychological issues when they discover that they’re the result of 50 Shades of Grey.
Cashmore’s theory is that if more couples are getting it on regularly, it’s statistically likely that there will be more pregnancies. Even folks in motherhood and pregnancy-related online forums have been suggesting the book as a conception aid and sharing stories of their 50 Shades-related pregnancies. So I guess in nine months or so, be on the lookout for kids named Gainsboro, Slate, Ash and Charcoal.
But it’s not just pregnancy rates that are being affected by the book’s success.
Obviously sex shops, such as New York’s Babeland, have been seeing a lot more customers lately. Babeland reports that in the past few months, its sales have increased by 30%, with many shoppers looking for Ben Wa balls and other accoutrements that appear in the novel. Bondage gear has become so popular that the store even created a special ’50 Shades Beginner’s Kit’.
According to online dating site Seeking Arrangement, they’ve experienced a spike in signups since the novel’s release. Seeking Arrangement is a site specifically for those who are looking for a ‘sugar daddy’ type of situation. CEO Brandon Wade claims that 186,000 of women who use the site have stated or alluded in their profile that they are looking for their very own Christian Grey.
Here’s one that you probably wouldn’t have guessed: hardware stores are getting in on the 50 Shades action. In interviews with the New York Post, hardware store owners reported seeing more women in the store, and selling a lot more rope – specifically soft, cotton rope such as the kind typically used for clothes lines. Unless there’s been a huge uprising of people looking to dry their slacks and blouses in an environmentally-conscious fashion, I think we can safely assume that that rope is being used for freakier purposes.
Say what you will about 50 Shades of Grey, but it seems that by.. uh.. ‘stimulating’ its readers, it’s also stimulating the economy.
