With the release of the new "Fifty Shades of Grey" soon, there is going to be an influx of people thinking that manipulative relationships are normal. While both parties in "Fifty Shades" ultimately were consenting to each other, in many cases both parties are not consenting.

There have been multiple times in my own life where I have been sexually assaulted, starting as young as 14-years-old, and now I'm past it and comfortable with talking about my story. As someone who has been in that kind of situation and is now on the other side, I know what it is like to be manipulated into staying with their abuser.

The idea of Christian Grey is so unhealthy because all of these women in the series were willing to let Christian Grey do whatever he wanted to them simply because he was handsome, rich, and famous. When Anna came along and she wasn't comfortable with what Christian wanted to do with her, he became angry because he wasn't used to hearing no.

Christian also ultimately didn't care about the fact that Anna was a virgin at the beginning of their relationship, and Christian just assumed that he could expect Anna to be intimate with him. This is not normal in a healthy relationship.

The idea of BDSM in a relationship is on a spectrum, and the portrayal of BDSM in the Fifty Shades movies is so extreme, that people who are just being introduced to these ideas may believe that what they are seeing is the only thing that exists. However, it is not normal for your significant other to just decide to whip you for sexual pleasure without making sure that you wanted to be treated in such a way.

Since BDSM is a spectrum, I understand that there are people who are interested in the more extreme end of the spectrum, however, I firmly believe that that is something two partners would work up to, rather than just jumping in the deep end.

If you think you are being manipulated or abused, or you know someone else who is, please, seek help. There are people whose sole job is to be there for victims. You are not alone.