Fifty Shades and the law: Regulating sex and sex media in the UK

This article considers the success and widespread discussion of kinky sex practices in EL James’s book Fifty Shades of Grey in the broader context of legal developments in the UK around ‘obscene’ and ‘extreme’ sexual representations and practices. It examines how the legislation of sexual media is changing and in particular the relations between legislation and an apparent mainstreaming of both pornography and BDSM/kink. The article outlines the main legal provisions used to regulate sex media in English criminal law, and situates Fifty Shades in relation to these and to four key cases in which ‘obscene’ and ‘extreme’ materials came under scrutiny. What do these, taken together, suggest about the way that sex and sex media are regulated in the UK, and what are the key issues that emerge in public discussions about them?