The novel “50 Shades of Grey” has allowed women to become more empowered and playful in bed. This summer three of my girlfriends and I got together to read this book series. The best part about this is I got to see how this book transformed their relationships and how they act in bed. Writing this article I decided to get their perspective as well.

Women have gained more confidence in the bedroom due to reading “50 Shades.” Females have become more talkative which in turn allows men to know what they desire in bed. Many women start finding their bedroom activities lacking when there is no communication and this novel may be just the right remedy to open the door for some.

“I think women are too quick to make sex all about a man and his pleasure,” Kayleigh Davis 2011 alumna said. “The main character gets this self confidence and empowerment through this relationship, and it’s not all about the sex but how he treats her as well.”

In the novel Anastasia Steele is a virgin who falls into sexy billionaire Christian Grey’s office. What makes this novel so hot is he makes his lover feel sexual urges and desires she had never known before and crave such intimate sex. Grey allows her to explore her newfound sexuality with him and explore the art of seduction.

It seems our generation of women has accepted that men are the dominants ones and this book is bringing that out into the public sphere.

“It’s usually a girl’s part to pleasure her man and this books challenges that,” Aileen Rago, junior speech pathology and audiology major said. “Our society has a double standard where men can explore their sexuality without much judgment but women are told not to be promiscuous.”

After reading this book we all realized how much regular sex, or “vanilla sex” as the book refers to it, we were having. But there are a lot of women out there who like ice cream flavors that are more vivid and delectable than your plain old-fashioned vanilla.

“We haven’t tried anything new yet but when I read the book I think of him and I get excited to try stuff out,” said Caitlin Loonan, junior business administration major.

But the novel itself may set an incredibly high standard that men may not be able to satisfy. This may in turn have negative side effects for both men and women.

“Although this book spices up the bedroom it also fortunately and unfortunately raises your expectation after reading,” said Davis. “You just need to remember to take tips you like out of the book, realize it’s fiction and remember not even Christian Grey himself is perfect.”

Although women seem to be getting a sex boost, it can be putting a lot of extra weight on men to try and fill Christian Grey’s shoes.

“Some guys get really offended by it,” Rago said. “Christian Grey is this sexy, young and successful guy who is what every male in society tries to reach. It really puts a high up standard and that is not always a good thing.”

Although many people call this the mommy porn book, the truth is many men could improve their sex game from reading this book and not in a kinky way as most would suspect.

“I think a lot of the times when a girl tries to make a suggestion in bed men freak out or think they are not enough,” said Davis. “The reason women are freaking out over this book is not because of the sex but the way he makes her feel and treats her both in and out of the bedroom.”

Men just need to be more attentive to their women and this book brings to light the fact that loving someone means more than just saying the words but following through with some sort of action too. One doesn’t need to be a multi-billionaire sex-god to become his woman’s Christian Grey. Rather they just need to be more in-tune with what their women want.

Next time you’re rumbling around between the sheets with your man, it never hurts to spice it up with a little play time. Sex does not need to be so “hit it and quit it” as many of my friends call it. This gives some women that little nudge they need to speak up in bed and challenge their men, in a healthy way of course, to give them the ‘more’ they desire.

Chanel Saidi can be reached at [email protected]