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A Winnipeg Member of Parliament is calling for a boycott of blockbuster BDSM-inspired film Fifty Shades of Grey.

Joy Smith, Conservative MP for Kildonan-St. Paul, wants people to stop seeing the movie. Instead, they should donate the money they would pay for ticket admission towards women’s shelters, she suggests.

"Boycott a film that glamourizes exploitation & instead support the survivors of #sexualviolence & women’s shelters #50dollarsnot50shades," Smith tweeted on Saturday night.

In a phone interview with the Free Press on Sunday, Smith said she takes issue with Fifty Shades being promoted as a "date movie."

"When women are hurt, this is not something that we should be promoting, especially with our young people. It’s not something that we should be promoting as normal," Smith said. "This is not true love. This is not normal. When a girl goes out on Valentine’s Day, she doesn’t want to end up being hurt or dominated."

Fifty Shades of Grey is the first book in an erotic series of three penned by E. L. James and published in 2011. The book was adapted for the silver screen and released in theatres this weekend. Universal Pictures, which owns the franchise, expects Fifty Shades to make around $158.3 million internationally in its debut weekend.

The story’s plotline follows the budding and unlikely relationship between a young female college student and a business tycoon who enjoys BDSM sex. BDSM stands for bondage, dominance, sadism and masochism.

Many from the BDSM community are boycotting Fifty Shades, but not for the same reasons as Smith.

Local sex and health educator, Jodie Layne, said the BDSM roleplay depicted in the movie isn’t positive or consensual.

"What happens in the film and the book is actually abuse. There are actually some very stark instances of sexual assault that happen in the book. It’s not a healthy sort of model for a BDSM relationship," Layne said.

"I think that people who are choosing to consume this media should be choosing to do so critically."

Layne said she agrees with Smith that the depictions of sex in Fifty Shades are too violent, but thinks a boycott of the film is unnecessary. A positive takeaway from the Fifty Shades franchise is the frank discussion it spurred among women opening up about their sexual preferences, Layne said.

"I’ve seen this open up a lot of doors for women specifically to talk about sexuality and about their sexual desires in a way that they haven’t been able to. So I think that’s really positive," Layne said. "I’m not a fan of the book, but I’m a fan of talking about sexuality."

"I don’t think I’m going to tell anybody what to do about this (movie). If people want to boycott it, then I think that’s their perogative," she said.

Smith has been an MP since 2004 and will step down after she finishes her current term to continue her activism work concerning human trafficking. She said violence against women is one of the topics she hopes to tackle in her new career.

"We have to set an environment where all of this stuff is not okay," Smith said. "We’ve worked for years to get through a glass ceiling... women need to be treated in a respectful way (and) so do men. And that’s why I spoke out about this and yes, I will continue to do this. I want to spend more time on it, that’s why I decided not to run for re-election."

Smith said the influx of appreciative emails she has gotten from women across the country since speaking out against Fifty Shades has been overwhelming. Many of those who emailed her were victims of domestic abuse who were also offended by Fifty Shades or were reminded of their own abuse by the movie.

"What struck me is the stories. It’s not even the emails from people saying, ‘I like what you’re saying, I don’t like what you’re saying.’ It’s the women telling me their stories and it shouldn’t be happening," Smith said.

"Someone should have already said something and we should have said it years ago, when Pretty Woman came out," said Smith, referencing the 1990 movie starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, which she believes "glamourized prostitution."

"I don’t believe any interaction where someone is hurt in a relationship is normal. I’m sorry, I don’t buy that. I know that’s touted in the media and it’s touted that everything is normal, but my goodness where do we draw the line?" Smith said.

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