Real-life fantasy

Women aggressively seek Fifty Shades of Grey relationships online: And Houston'sNo 1 in pursuit

Readers of Fifty Shades of Grey are turning to online dating sites to possiblyfind relationships like those in the book, complete with masks, blindfolds,handcuffs and, of course, sex.
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Online dating websites, such as Seeking Arrangment (detail here), are nowinundated with Fifty Shades-related terms as search words.
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The source of this obsession.

Since the third installment's January release, E. L. James' Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy has been practically inescapable, between whispers at the office water cooler, face-shielding paperbacks on the METRO and awkward conversations at the family dinner table.

While my own conflict centers around whether to subject myself to a trashy novel in exchange for greater societal understanding (and, of course, a bit of ribald entertainment), it seems that other women experience an inner debate of a more physical variety.

Like, whether or not to engage in a real-life, Anastasia Steele/Christian Grey relationship of their own.

SeekingArrangement.com claims that 8,306 (and counting) Houston women have signed up for the site.

SeekingArrangement.com, self-described as "the world's largest online dating website for those who are seeking mutually beneficial relationships," claims that enrollment has "ballooned" since the trilogy appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers list, with more than 186,000 women signing up for the site to find their own version of the Fifty Shades fantasy.

"Fifty Shades of Grey is a sugar daddy meet sugar baby story based on money, power and sex," Brandon Wade, founder and CEO of the website, said in a statement.

"Most women love the Cinderella story where a young and innocent girl is swept off her feet by a rich, powerful and handsome man," Wade continued. "This is the reason why hundreds of thousands of women are signing up on SeekingArrangement.com to fulfill their own fantasy."

That idea appeals to Texas women in particular: The site claims that 8,306 (and counting) Houston women have signed up for the site, plus more than 5,265 women from San Antonio, 4,736 from Dallas and 3,177 from Austin.

Though the site facilitates match ups for "friendship or companionship," many member seem interested in the same BDSM practices so pervasive in James' erotic novels: Of the 1.6 million site members polled, 78.8 percent of women like the idea of succumbing to a dominant male, while 90 percent of men find the idea of a submissive women to be exciting.

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”