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{{Expand Japanese|topic=manga|やおい|date=May 2011}}


].]] ].]]
{{Nihongo|'''''Yaoi'''''|やおい}}<ref group=nb>In careful Japanese enunciation, all three vowels are pronounced separately, for a three-] word, {{IPA-ja|ja.o.i|}}. The English equivalent is {{respell|YAH|oy}}.</ref> also known as '''Boys' Love''', is a Japanese ] for female-oriented fictional media that focus on ] or ] male relationships, usually created by female authors. As these depict males, there is an ] male audience as well; however, ] (bara) is considered a separate genre. Originally referring to a specific type of ] (self-published works) parody of mainstream anime and manga works, yaoi came to be used as a generic term for female-oriented ], ], ], novels and dōjinshi featuring idealized homosexual male relationships. The main characters in yaoi usually conform to the formula of the {{nihongo|''seme''|]|lit. "attacker"}} who pursues the {{nihongo|''uke''|]|lit. "receiver"}}. {{Nihongo|'''''Yaoi'''''}}<ref group=nb>In careful Japanese enunciation, all three vowels are pronounced separately, for a three-] word, {{IPA-ja|ja.o.i|}}. The English equivalent is {{respell|YAH|oy}}.</ref> also known as '''Boys' Love''', is a Japanese ] for female-oriented fictional media that focus on ] or ] male relationships, usually created by female authors. As these depict males, there is an ] male audience as well; however, ] (bara) is considered a separate genre.


In Japan, the term has largely been replaced by the rubric {{nihongo|'''Boys' Love'''|ボーイズラブ|Bōizu Rabu}}, which subsumes both parodies and original works, and commercial as well as dōjinshi works. Although the genre is called Boys' Love (commonly abbreviated as "'''BL'''"), the males featured are pubescent or older. Works featuring prepubescent boys are labeled ], and seen as a distinct genre. Yaoi (as it continues to be known among English-speaking fans) has spread beyond Japan: both translated and original yaoi is now available in many countries and languages. Although the genre is called Boys' Love (commonly abbreviated as "'''BL'''"), the males featured are pubescent or older. Works featuring prepubescent boys are labeled ], and seen as a distinct genre. Yaoi (as it continues to be known among English-speaking fans) has spread beyond Japan: both translated and original yaoi is now available in many countries and languages.


Yaoi began in the dōjinshi markets of Japan in the late 1970s/early 1980s as an outgrowth of {{nihongo|'''shōnen-ai'''|]}} (also known as "Juné" or "tanbi"), but whereas shōnen-ai (both commercial and dōjinshi) were original works, yaoi were ] of popular ] anime and manga, such as '']'' and '']''. Yaoi began in the dōjinshi markets of Japan in the late 1970s/early 1980s as an outgrowth of {{nihongo|'''shōnen-ai'''}}, but whereas shōnen-ai (both commercial and dōjinshi) were original works, yaoi were ] of popular ] anime and manga, such as '']'' and '']''. Originally referring to a specific type of ] (self-published works) parody of mainstream anime and manga works, yaoi came to be used as a generic term for female-oriented ], ], ], novels and dōjinshi featuring idealized homosexual male relationships.

BL creators and fans are careful to distinguish the genre from bara, including "gay manga", which are created by and for gay men.<ref name="pedagogy"/><ref name = "Korean Fandom"/> However, some male manga creators have produced BL works.<ref name="Yaoi Debate">Lunsing, Wim. ''Intersections: Gender, History and Culture in the Asian Context'' Issue 12, January 2006 Accessed 12 August 2008.</ref>


{{Anime and manga}} {{Anime and manga}}


==Terminology== ==History==
The earliest magazine about Boy's Love was '']'', which began in 1978 as a response to the success of commercially published manga such as the works of ], ] and ].<ref name="Sagawa interview"/> Other factors was the rising popularity of depictions of ''bishōnen'' in the ''dōjinshi'' market and ambiguous musicians such as ] and ]. ''June'' was meant to have an underground, "cultish, guerilla-style" feeling – most of its ] were new talent. Frederik L. Schodt describes ''June'' as "a kind of 'readers' magazine, created by and for the readers." Essays about the characteristics of the June genre were published with the manga in ''June''.
===Usage===


'']''{{#tag:ref|First serialised in '']'' in January 1976, ''Kaze'' has been called "the first commercially published boys' love story",<ref name="Toku Mechademia"/> but this claim has been challenged, as the first male-male kiss was in the 1970 ''In the Sunroom'', also by Keiko Takemiya.<ref>.Tcj.com. Retrieved on 23 December 2008</ref>
Although different meanings are often ascribed to the terms yaoi and Boy's Love (with yaoi generally said to be more explicit and BL generally said to being less so),<ref name=Zanghellini/> there is conflicting information on their usage.<ref name = "Yowie">Masaki, Lyle. (6 January 2008) '']''</ref>


In 1982, ''Shōsetsu June'' ("Novel June"), a sister magazine to ''June'' began publication. Its content is text-only stories with male romance.<ref name="Dreamland June"/> Nagaike believes that the true "revolution" in BL culture was when it began to be commercially published en masse in the 1990s.<ref name =Nagaike>{{cite journal|last=Nagaike|first=Kazumi|date=April 2009|title=Elegant Caucasians, Amorous Arabs, and Invisible Others: Signs and Images of Foreigners in Japanese BL Manga|journal=Intersections: Gender and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific |publisher=]|issue=20|url=http://intersections.anu.edu.au/issue20/nagaike.htm}}</ref> As of the mid-1990s, ''Shōsetsu June'' outsold ''June''.<ref name="Dreamland June">Schodt, Frederik L. (1996) '']'' pages 120–123</ref> As of 2008, June was still running,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.june-net.com/|title=June.net}}</ref> although the target audience's ages have widened and the style of stories has changed from being "soft love" to more overtly pornographic.<ref name="Sagawa interview"/>
Yaoi is an acronym created in the dōjinshi market of the late 1970s by ] and ]<ref name="Otaku Sexuality Foreword"/> and coined in the 1980s<ref name="yaoi redrawing"/> standing for {{Nihongo|'''Ya'''ma nashi, '''o'''chi nashi, '''i'''mi nashi|山なし、落ちなし、意味なし|extra2="No peak (climax), no fall (punch line/denouement), no meaning"}}. This phrase was first used as a "euphemism for the content"<ref name=rjcdef/> and refers to how yaoi, as opposed to the "difficult to understand" shōnen-ai of the ],<ref name="Suzuki 252">Suzuki, Kazuko. 1999. "Pornography or Therapy? Japanese Girls Creating the Yaoi Phenomenon". In Sherrie Inness, ed., ''Millennium Girls: Today's Girls Around the World''. London: Rowman & Littlefield, p.252 ISBN 0-8476-9136-5, ISBN 0-8476-9137-3.</ref> focused on "the yummy parts".<ref name="out of hand">]. (2004) pp. 169–186, In ''Fanning the Flames: Fans and Consumer Culture in Contemporary Japan'', William W. Kelly, ed., ] Press. ISBN 0-7914-6032-0. Retrieved 12 August 2008.</ref> The phrase also parodies ].<ref name="pedagogy">Wilson, Brent; Toku, Masami. 2003</ref> Kubota Mitsuyoshi says that ] used ''yama nashi, ochi nashi, imi nashi'' to dismiss poor quality manga, and this was appropriated by the early yaoi authors.<ref name=rjcdef/> As of 1998, the term ''yaoi'' was considered "common knowledge to manga fans".<ref name="Kinsella Otaku 1990s">Kinsella, Sharon ], Vol. 24, No. 2 (Summer, 1998), pp. 289–316</ref> A joking alternative acronym among '']'' (female yaoi fans) for yaoi is {{Nihongo3|"Stop, my ass hurts!"|やめて お尻が 痛い|'''Ya'''mete, '''o'''shiri ga '''i'''tai}}.<ref name="Yaoi Debate"/><ref>Fujimoto, Yukari (1991) "Shōjo manga ni okeru 'shōnen ai' no imi" ("The Meaning of 'Boys' Love' in Shōjo Manga"). In N. Mizuta, ed. ''New Feminism Review, Vol. 2: Onna to hyōgen'' ("Women and Expression"). Tokyo: Gakuyō Shobō, ISBN 4-313-84042-7. http://matt-thorn.com/shoujo_manga/fujimoto.php (in Japanese). Accessed 12 August 2008. "やめ て、お尻が、いたいから" – "Stop, because my butt hurts"</ref>


Matt Thorn says that ''Kaze'' was "the first shōjo manga to portray romantic and sexual relationships between boys", and that Takemiya first thought of ''Kaze'' nine years before it was approved for publication. Takemiya attributes the gap between the idea and its publication to the sexual elements of the story.<ref name="out of hand"/>|group="nb"}} was groundbreaking in its depictions of "openly sexual relationships", spurring the development of the Boys Love genre in ],<ref name="Toku Mechademia">Toku, Masami (2007) "" ''Mechademia 2'' p. 27</ref> and the development of ].<ref name=Matsui>Matsui, Midori. (1993) "Little girls were little boys: Displaced Femininity in the representation of homosexuality in Japanese girls' comics," in Gunew, S. and Yeatman, A. (eds.) Feminism and The Politics of Difference, pp.&nbsp;177–196. Halifax: ].</ref> The use of yaoi to denote those works with explicit scenes sometimes clashes with use of the word to describe the genre as a whole. Yaoi can be used by fans as a label for anime or manga-based ].<ref>Aquila, Meredith (2007) "" ''] 2'' p.39</ref>
Originally in Japan, much BL material was called {{nihongo|''june''|ジュネ}},<ref name="aestheticism definitions">{{cite web|url=http://replay.web.archive.org/20090605111837/http://www.aestheticism.com/visitors/reference/jpnse_def/index.htm|title= Definitions From Japan: BL, Yaoi, June|work=aestheticism.com}}</ref> a name derived from '']'', a magazine that published male/male {{nihongo|''tanbi''|耽美|"aesthetic"}} romances,{{#tag:ref|Tanbi was used for stories written for and about the worship of beauty,<ref name="aestheticism definitions"/> and romance between older men and beautiful youths<ref name="Mori Mari"/> using particularly flowery language and unusual kanji.<ref name="aestheticism definitions"/> ] in {{Nihongo3|''A Lovers' Forest''|恋人たちの森|Koibito tachi no mori}}, considered "the first work of BL ''per se''",<ref name="Pagliassotti BL West">] (November 2008) Particip@tions Volume 5, Issue 2 Special Edition</ref> used such unusual kanji for her characters' names that she converted to spelling their names in ].<ref name="Mori Mari">Vincent, Keith (2007) "" ''Mechademia 2'' pp. 64–79</ref> The word was originally used to describe an author's distinctive style, for example, the styles of ] and ]. Akiko Mizoguchi describes its application to male-male stories as "misleading", but notes "it was the most commonly used term in the early 1990s."<ref name=MizoguchiSubgenres>Mizoguchi Akiko (2003). "Male-Male Romance by and for Women in Japan: A History and the Subgenres of Yaoi Fictions". ''U.S.-Japan Women’s Journal'', '''25''': 49–75.</ref>|group="nb"}} ] had also written ''shōnen ai mono'' stories in the late 1970s that have been described as "the precursors of yaoi".<ref name="Otaku Sexuality Foreword">], foreword to ] (2007) "Otaku Sexuality" in Christopher Bolton, Istvan Csicsery-Ronay Jr., and ] ed., page 223 '''' ] Press ISBN 978-0-8166-4974-7</ref> The term "] manga" was used in the 1970s, but became depreciated in the 1990s when the manga featured a broader range of protagonists than adolescent boys.<ref name=MizoguchiSubgenres/> ''June'' magazine was named after the French author ], with "june" being a play on the Japanese pronunciation of his name.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/8191.html|title=Digital Manga Names New Yaoi Imprint: A Tribute to Jean Genet}}</ref> Eventually the term "june" died out in favour of "BL," which remains the most common name.<ref name="aestheticism definitions"/> Mizoguchi suggests that publishers wishing to get a foothold in the ''June'' market coined the term BL to disassociate the genre with the publisher of ''June''.<ref name=MizoguchiSubgenres/>


===Etymology===
Another term for yaoi is 801.<ref name="Aoyama Eureka">{{cite journal|last=Aoyama|first=Tomoko|date=April 2009|title=Eureka Discovers Culture Girls, Fujoshi, and BL: Essay Review of Three Issues of the Japanese Literary magazine, Yuriika (Eureka)|journal=Intersections: Gender and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific|volume=20|url=http://intersections.anu.edu.au/issue20/aoyama.htm}}</ref> "801" can be read as "yaoi"<ref name=rjcdef>{{Cite book | last = Ingulsrud | first = John E. | last2 = Allen | first2 = Kate | title = Reading Japan Cool: Patterns of Manga Literacy and Discourse |page=47 | publisher = Rowman & Littlefield | year = 2009 | isbn = 0-7391-2753-5 }}</ref> in the following form: the ] of the number 8 is "ya", 0 can be read as "o" – a western influence, while the short reading for 1 is "i" (''see ]''). For example, an Internet manga called '']'', about a male ] who dates a '']'', has been adapted into a serialized ] and a ]. 801-chan, the mascot of a Japanese shopping centre, is used in the manga.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-11-15/tonari-no-801-chan-fujoshi-manga-adapted-for-shojo-mag|title=Tonari no 801 chan Fujoshi Manga Adapted for Shōjo Mag}}</ref>
Yaoi is an acronym created in the dōjinshi market of the late 1970s by ] and ] and coined in the 1980s standing for {{Nihongo|'''Ya'''ma nashi, '''o'''chi nashi, '''i'''mi nashi|extra2="No peak (climax), no fall (punch line/denouement), no meaning"}}. This phrase was first used as a "euphemism for the content"<ref name=rjcdef/> and refers to how yaoi, as opposed to the "difficult to understand" shōnen-ai of the ],<ref name="Suzuki 252">Suzuki, Kazuko. 1999. "Pornography or Therapy? Japanese Girls Creating the Yaoi Phenomenon". In Sherrie Inness, ed., ''Millennium Girls: Today's Girls Around the World''. London: Rowman & Littlefield, p.252 ISBN 0-8476-9136-5, ISBN 0-8476-9137-3.</ref> focused on "the yummy parts".<ref name="out of hand">]. (2004) pp. 169–186, In ''Fanning the Flames: Fans and Consumer Culture in Contemporary Japan'', William W. Kelly, ed., ] Press. ISBN 0-7914-6032-0. Retrieved 12 August 2008.</ref> The phrase also parodies ].<ref name="pedagogy">Wilson, Brent; Toku, Masami. 2003</ref> Kubota Mitsuyoshi says that ] used ''yama nashi, ochi nashi, imi nashi'' to dismiss poor quality manga, and this was appropriated by the early yaoi authors.<ref name=rjcdef/> As of 1998, the term ''yaoi'' was considered "common knowledge to manga fans".<ref name="Kinsella Otaku 1990s">Kinsella, Sharon ], Vol. 24, No. 2 (Summer, 1998), pp. 289–316</ref> A joking alternative acronym among '']'' (female yaoi fans) for yaoi is {{Nihongo3|"Stop, my ass hurts!"}}.<ref name="Yaoi Debate"/><ref>Fujimoto, Yukari (1991) "Shōjo manga ni okeru 'shōnen ai' no imi" ("The Meaning of 'Boys' Love' in Shōjo Manga"). In N. Mizuta, ed. ''New Feminism Review, Vol. 2: Onna to hyōgen'' ("Women and Expression"). Tokyo: Gakuyō Shobō, ISBN 4-313-84042-7. http://matt-thorn.com/shoujo_manga/fujimoto.php (in Japanese). Accessed 12 August 2008. "やめ て、お尻が、いたいから" – "Stop, because my butt hurts"</ref>


''Yaoi'' has become an ] in the West for women's ] or Japanese-influenced comics with male-male relationships,<ref name="aestheticism definitions"/> and it is the term preferentially used by American manga publishers.<ref name = Boston/> The actual name of the genre aimed toward women in Japan is called 'BL' or 'Boy's Love'. BL is aimed at the ] and ] demographics, but is considered a separate category.<ref name="aestheticism definitions"/><ref name="Confused">Thorn, Matt </ref> Yaoi is used in Japan to include dōjinshi and sex scenes,<ref name="aestheticism definitions"/> and does not include ], which is by and for gay men.<ref name="pedagogy"/><ref name="aestheticism definitions"/> ''Yaoi'' has become an ] in the West for women's ] or Japanese-influenced comics with male-male relationships, and it is the term preferentially used by American manga publishers.<ref name = Boston/> The actual name of the genre aimed toward women in Japan is called 'BL' or 'Boy's Love'. BL is aimed at the ] and ] demographics, but is considered a separate category.<ref name="Confused">Thorn, Matt </ref> Yaoi is used in Japan to include dōjinshi and sex scenes, and does not include ], which is by and for gay men.


Although different meanings are often ascribed to the terms yaoi and Boy's Love (with yaoi generally said to be more explicit and BL generally said to being less so),<ref name=Zanghellini/> there is conflicting information on their usage.<ref name = "Yowie">Masaki, Lyle. (6 January 2008) '']''</ref>
The terms ''yaoi'' and ''shōnen-ai'' are sometimes used by western fans to differentiate between the contents of the genre. In this case, ''yaoi'' is used to describe titles that contain largely sex scenes and other sexually explicit themes and ''shōnen-ai'' is used to describe titles that focus more on romance and do not include explicit sexual content, although they may include implicit sexual content.<ref name="Drawn Together"/><ref name="What Girls Like?">Cha, Kai-Ming (7 March 2005) '']''</ref><ref name="Wood-06"/> When using the terms in this way, '']'' is considered to be ''shōnen-ai'' due to its focus on the characters' careers rather than their love life, while the Gravitation Remix and Megamix ] by the same author, which emphasize the characters' sexual relationships, would be considered ''yaoi''. Sometimes the word ] is used as an additional modifier with yaoi – "hentai yaoi" – to denote the most explicit titles.<ref name="Hello Boys">Thompson, David (8 September 2003) '']''</ref> However, '']''{{#tag:ref|First serialised in '']'' in January 1976, ''Kaze'' has been called "the first commercially published boys' love story",<ref name="Toku Mechademia"/> but this claim has been challenged, as the first male-male kiss was in the 1970 ''In the Sunroom'', also by Keiko Takemiya.<ref>.Tcj.com. Retrieved on 23 December 2008</ref> Matt Thorn says that ''Kaze'' was "the first shōjo manga to portray romantic and sexual relationships between boys", and that Takemiya first thought of ''Kaze'' nine years before it was approved for publication. Takemiya attributes the gap between the idea and its publication to the sexual elements of the story.<ref name="out of hand"/>|group="nb"}} was groundbreaking in its depictions of "openly sexual relationships", spurring the development of the Boys Love genre in ],<ref name="Toku Mechademia">Toku, Masami (2007) "" ''Mechademia 2'' p. 27</ref> and the development of ].<ref name=Matsui>Matsui, Midori. (1993) "Little girls were little boys: Displaced Femininity in the representation of homosexuality in Japanese girls' comics," in Gunew, S. and Yeatman, A. (eds.) Feminism and The Politics of Difference, pp.&nbsp;177–196. Halifax: ].</ref> The use of yaoi to denote those works with explicit scenes sometimes clashes with use of the word to describe the genre as a whole. Yaoi can be used by fans as a label for anime or manga-based ].<ref>Aquila, Meredith (2007) "" ''] 2'' p.39</ref>


The term "] manga" was used in the 1970s, but became depreciated in the 1990s when the manga featured a broader range of protagonists than adolescent boys. ''June'' magazine was named after the French author ], with "june" being a play on the Japanese pronunciation of his name.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/8191.html|title=Digital Manga Names New Yaoi Imprint: A Tribute to Jean Genet}}</ref> Eventually the term "june" died out in favour of "BL," which remains the most common name. Mizoguchi suggests that publishers wishing to get a foothold in the ''June'' market coined the term BL to disassociate the genre with the publisher of ''June''.
While ''shōnen-ai'' literally means ''boy's love'', the two terms are not synonymous. In Japan, shōnen-ai used to refer to a now obsolete subgenre of shōjo manga about prepubescent boys in relationships ranging from the ] to the ] and ]. The term was originally used to describe ], and in scholarly contexts still is. Boy's Love, on the other hand, is used as a genre's name and refers to all titles regardless of sexual content or the ages of characters in the story (with the exception of titles featuring prepubescent boys, which are categorized as ], a distinct genre with only peripheral connections to BL).<ref name="aestheticism definitions"/>


Another term for yaoi is 801.<ref name="Aoyama Eureka">{{cite journal|last=Aoyama|first=Tomoko|date=April 2009|title=Eureka Discovers Culture Girls, Fujoshi, and BL: Essay Review of Three Issues of the Japanese Literary magazine, Yuriika (Eureka)|journal=Intersections: Gender and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific|volume=20|url=http://intersections.anu.edu.au/issue20/aoyama.htm}}</ref> "801" can be read as "yaoi"<ref name=rjcdef>{{Cite book | last = Ingulsrud | first = John E. | last2 = Allen | first2 = Kate | title = Reading Japan Cool: Patterns of Manga Literacy and Discourse |page=47 | publisher = Rowman & Littlefield | year = 2009 | isbn = 0-7391-2753-5 }}</ref> in the following form: the ] of the number 8 is "ya", 0 can be read as "o" – a western influence, while the short reading for 1 is "i" (''see ]''). For example, an Internet manga called '']'', about a male ] who dates a '']'', has been adapted into a serialized ] and a ]. 801-chan, the mascot of a Japanese shopping centre, is used in the manga.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-11-15/tonari-no-801-chan-fujoshi-manga-adapted-for-shojo-mag|title=Tonari no 801 chan Fujoshi Manga Adapted for Shōjo Mag}}</ref>
===Gei comi/Bara===
{{Main|Bara (genre)}}
Although sometimes conflated with "yaoi" by Anglophone commentators, {{nihongo|'''gay manga'''|ゲイコミ|gei comi}} (also called {{nihongo|"Mens' Love"|メンズラブ|Menzu Rabu}}, ML, in Japan and "bara" in English) caters to a gay male audience rather than a female one and tends to be made primarily by homosexual and bisexual male artists (such as ]) and serialized in gay men's magazines.<ref>{{cite book
| last = McLelland
| first = Mark
| title = Male homosexuality in modern Japan
| publisher = Routledge
| year = 2000
| pages = 131 and ff
| isbn = 0-7007-1300-X}}</ref> It is an even smaller ] in Japan than yaoi manga; none has been licensed in English and not much has been ] into English.<ref>{{cite web | title=A Comics Reader's Guide to Manga Scanlations | author=Dirk Deppey | url=http://archives.tcj.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=430&Itemid=70&limit=1&limitstart=0 | publisher=] | accessdate=11 July 2007}}</ref> Considered a subgenre of {{nihongo|'']''|]|adult}} (men's erotica) for gay males, bara resembles comics for men (]) rather than comics for female readers (shōjo/]).


==Seme and uke==
Recently a subgenre of BL has been introduced in Japan, so-called {{nihongo|''gachi muchi''|ガチムチ}} or "muscley-chubby" BL,<ref name="muscleBL">{{cite web
| title = WeeklyAkibaWords: Gachi Muchi (ガチムチ)
| publisher = WeeklyAkibaWords
| date = 27 February 2009
| url = http://en.akibablog.net/archives/2009/02/weeklyakibawords_gachi_muchi.html
| accessdate =4/5/09 }}</ref>
which offers more masculine body types and is more likely to have gay male authors and artists. Although still marketed primarily to women,<ref name="muscleBL"/> it is also thought to attract a large crossover gay male audience.<ref>{{cite web
| last = Anderson
| first = Tina
| title = That Damn Bara Article!
| publisher = Guns, Guys & Yaoi
| date = date unknown
| url = http://ggymeta.wordpress.com/popular-gay-manga-posts/that-bara-article/
| accessdate =4/5/09}}</ref>
This material has been referred to as "bara" among English-speaking fans,<ref name="chicks"/><ref name="How To Find Bara In English">{{cite web|url=http://www.yaoi911.com/how-to-find-bara-in-english/ |title=How To Find Bara In English |publisher=Yaoi 911 |date=7 September 2008 |accessdate=8 September 2009}}</ref> but it is distinct in publishing terms (and often in content and style), and should not be confused with ''gei comi'' proper.

===Seme and uke===
{{Cleanup-rewrite|2=section|date=March 2009}}
] ]
The two participants in a yaoi relationship (sometimes also in ]<ref>Aoki, Deb (3 March 2007) "Because the dynamic of the ''seme'' / ''uke'' is so well known, it's bound to show up in ''yuri''. ... In general, I'm going to say no. There is much less obsession with pursued/pursuer in ''yuri'' ''manga'' than there is in ''yaoi''."</ref>) are often referred to as {{nihongo|''seme''|攻め or せめ}} and {{nihongo|''uke''|受け or うけ}}. These terms originated in martial arts and ''uke'' is used in ] to mean the receptive partner in anal sex.<ref name=bonking/> Aleardo Zanghellini suggests that the martial arts terms have special significance to a Japanese audience, as an archetype of male same-sex relationships involves ].<ref name=Zanghellini>{{cite doi|10.1177/0964663909103623}}</ref> '']'' derives from the ] verb {{nihongo|''semeru''|攻める to attack}} and '']'' from the verb {{nihongo|''ukeru''|受ける or うける|to receive}}. The ''seme'' and ''uke'' are often drawn in the ] style and are "highly idealised",<ref name = McLelland_2000/> blending both ] and ] qualities.<ref name="Kinsella Otaku 1990s"/> The two participants in a yaoi relationship (sometimes also in ]<ref>Aoki, Deb (3 March 2007) "Because the dynamic of the ''seme'' / ''uke'' is so well known, it's bound to show up in ''yuri''. ... In general, I'm going to say no. There is much less obsession with pursued/pursuer in ''yuri'' ''manga'' than there is in ''yaoi''."</ref>) are often referred to as ''seme'' and ''uke''. These terms originated in martial arts and ''uke'' is used in ] to mean the receptive partner in anal sex. Aleardo Zanghellini suggests that the martial arts terms have special significance to a Japanese audience, as an archetype of male same-sex relationships involves ].<ref name=Zanghellini>{{cite doi|10.1177/0964663909103623}}</ref> '']'' derives from the ] verb "to attack" and '']'' from the verb "to receive". The ''seme'' and ''uke'' are often drawn in the ] style and are "highly idealised", blending both ] and ] qualities.<ref name="Kinsella Otaku 1990s"/>


Zanghellini suggests that the samurai archetype is responsible for "the 'hierarchical' structure and age difference" of some relationships portrayed in yaoi and BL.<ref name=Zanghellini/> The ''seme'' is often depicted as the ] male of anime and manga culture: restrained, physically powerful, and/or protective. The ''seme'' is generally older and taller,<ref name=yaoi101>Camper, Cathy (2006) </ref> with a stronger chin, shorter hair, smaller eyes, and a more stereotypically masculine, even "macho",<ref name="Suzuki 253">Suzuki, Kazuko. 1999. "Pornography or Therapy? Japanese Girls Creating the Yaoi Phenomenon". In Sherrie Inness, ed., ''Millennium Girls: Today's Girls Around the World''. London: Rowman & Littlefield, p.253 ISBN 0-8476-9136-5, ISBN 0-8476-9137-3.</ref> demeanour than the ''uke''. The ''seme'' usually pursues the ''uke'', hence the name. The ''uke'' usually has softer, androgynous, feminine features with bigger eyes and a smaller build, and is often physically weaker than the ''seme''.<ref name = Boston>Jones, V.E. . ''Boston.com''. April 2005.</ref><ref name=bonking/><ref name="girly uke"/> Zanghellini feels that these stereotypes come from ] conventions of depicting heroines and her female rival, where the heroine would be portrayed as ] and her rival would be portrayed as a sophisticated and adult beauty. When the characters were changed from female to male, these characteristics remained in the seme and uke characters. In this view, readers identify with the ''uke''.<ref name=Zanghellini/> Readers may identify with the ''seme'', or the ''uke'', or both at the same time, or instead become a ].<ref>http://www.imageandnarrative.be/index.php/imagenarrative/article/viewFile/130/101</ref> Zanghellini suggests that the samurai archetype is responsible for "the 'hierarchical' structure and age difference" of some relationships portrayed in yaoi and BL.<ref name=Zanghellini/> The ''seme'' is often depicted as the ] male of anime and manga culture: restrained, physically powerful, and/or protective. The ''seme'' is generally older and taller,<ref name=yaoi101>Camper, Cathy (2006) </ref> with a stronger chin, shorter hair, smaller eyes, and a more stereotypically masculine, even "macho",<ref name="Suzuki 253">Suzuki, Kazuko. 1999. "Pornography or Therapy? Japanese Girls Creating the Yaoi Phenomenon". In Sherrie Inness, ed., ''Millennium Girls: Today's Girls Around the World''. London: Rowman & Littlefield, p.253 ISBN 0-8476-9136-5, ISBN 0-8476-9137-3.</ref> demeanour than the ''uke''. The ''seme'' usually pursues the ''uke'', hence the name. The ''uke'' usually has softer, androgynous, feminine features with bigger eyes and a smaller build, and is often physically weaker than the ''seme''.<ref name = Boston>Jones, V.E. . ''Boston.com''. April 2005.</ref>


] is a prevalent theme in yaoi, as nearly all stories feature it in some way.<ref name=bonking/> The storyline where an ''uke'' is reluctant to have anal sex with a ''seme'' is considered to be similar to the reader's reluctance to have sexual contact with someone for the first time.<ref name = revisited>Avila, K. . ''Sequential Tart''. January 2005.</ref> Zanghellini notes that anal sex is almost always in a position so that the characters face each other, not in the ] Zanghelli states is portrayed by ]. Zanghellini also notes that the uke rarely ] the seme, but instead receives the sexual and romantic attentions of the seme.<ref name=Zanghellini/> ] is a prevalent theme in yaoi, as nearly all stories feature it in some way. The storyline where an ''uke'' is reluctant to have anal sex with a ''seme'' is considered to be similar to the reader's reluctance to have sexual contact with someone for the first time.<ref name = revisited>Avila, K. . ''Sequential Tart''. January 2005.</ref> Zanghellini notes that anal sex is almost always in a position so that the characters face each other, not in the ] Zanghelli states is portrayed by ]. Zanghellini also notes that the uke rarely ] the seme, but instead receives the sexual and romantic attentions of the seme.<ref name=Zanghellini/>


One stereotype that is criticized is when the protagonists do not identify as gay, but rather are simply in love with that particular person.<ref name = "Korean Fandom"/><ref name=bonking/> This is said to heighten the theme of all-conquering love,<ref name=Akibayaoi>Lees, Sharon (June 2006). . ''Akiba Angels''.</ref> but is also pointed to as avoiding having to address prejudices against ].<ref name = "Korean Fandom">{{cite web|url=http://moongsil.com/study/yaoi_eng.pdf|format=PDF|title=Reading YAOI Comics: An Analysis of Korean Girls' Fandom|last=Noh|first=Sueen|year=2002}}</ref> In recent years, newer yaoi stories have characters that identify as gay.<ref name="Yaoi Debate"/> Criticism of the stereotypically "girly" behavior of the uke has also been prominent.<ref name="girly uke">Keller, Katherine ''Sequential Tart'' February 2008</ref> It has been questioned if yaoi is ], due to the masculine ''seme'' and feminine ''uke'' stereotypes.<ref name = Boston/><ref>Linderström, Jenny </ref> Additionally, yaoi stories are often told from the ''uke'''s perspective.<ref name = Boston/> When the seme and uke roles are more closely adhered to, the uke character may be said to represent a "'vagina/anus' to be penetrated", but even as he is penetrated, his phallus is not forgotten, for example, as a seme simultaneously fellates and digitally penetrates his partner in '']''. This combination of penetration and phallic pleasure reinforces depictions of sex in yaoi as challenging the idea that there is an active, penetrating, male sexuality as opposed to a passive, penetrated, female sexuality.<ref name=Nagaike03/> One stereotype that is criticized is when the protagonists do not identify as gay, but rather are simply in love with that particular person. This is said to heighten the theme of all-conquering love,<ref name=Akibayaoi>Lees, Sharon (June 2006). . ''Akiba Angels''.</ref> but is also pointed to as avoiding having to address prejudices against ].<ref name = "Korean Fandom">{{cite web|url=http://moongsil.com/study/yaoi_eng.pdf|format=PDF|title=Reading YAOI Comics: An Analysis of Korean Girls' Fandom|last=Noh|first=Sueen|year=2002}}</ref> In recent years, newer yaoi stories have characters that identify as gay.<ref name="Yaoi Debate"/> Criticism of the stereotypically "girly" behavior of the uke has also been prominent.<ref name="girly uke">Keller, Katherine ''Sequential Tart'' February 2008</ref>


Though these stereotypes are common, not all works adhere to them.<ref name = "Yowie"/><ref name="girly uke"/> Mark McLelland says that authors are "interested in exploring, not repudiating" the dynamics between the insertive partner and the receptive partner.<ref name="WorldofYaoi">McLelland, Mark. ''Australian Feminist Law Journal'', 2005.</ref> The possibility of switching roles is often a source of playful teasing and sexual excitement for the characters, which has been said to show that the genre is aware of the "performative nature" of the roles.<ref name=Wood-06>Wood, Andrea. (Spring 2006). "Straight" Women, Queer Texts: Boy-Love Manga and the Rise of a Global Counterpublic. '']'', '''34''' (1/2), pp. 394–414.</ref> Sometimes the bottom character will be the aggressor in the relationship,{{#tag:ref|This character has been called an "Osoi uke" (襲い受け, "attacking uke"). He is usually paired with a "Hetare seme" (ヘタレ攻め, "wimpy seme").<ref name="fujyoshi glossary"/>|group="nb"}} or the pair will switch their sexual roles.<ref>Manry, Gia. (16 April 2008) ''The Escapist''</ref> ''Riba'', リバ (a contraction of the English word "reversible") is used to describe a couple that yaoi fans think is still plausible when the partners switch their seme/uke roles.<ref name="fujyoshi glossary">{{cite web|url=http://fujyoshi.jp/fujyoshi_kouza0|title=fujyoshi.jp}}</ref> In another common mode of characters, the author will forego the stylisations of the ''seme'' and ''uke'', and will portray both lovers as "equally attractive handsome men". In this case, whichever of the two who is ordinarily in charge will take the "passive role" in the bedroom.<ref name="Suzuki 253"/> Though these stereotypes are common, not all works adhere to them. Mark McLelland says that authors are "interested in exploring, not repudiating" the dynamics between the insertive partner and the receptive partner.<ref name="WorldofYaoi">McLelland, Mark. ''Australian Feminist Law Journal'', 2005.</ref> The possibility of switching roles is often a source of playful teasing and sexual excitement for the characters, which has been said to show that the genre is aware of the "performative nature" of the roles.<ref name=Wood-06>Wood, Andrea. (Spring 2006). "Straight" Women, Queer Texts: Boy-Love Manga and the Rise of a Global Counterpublic. '']'', '''34''' (1/2), pp. 394–414.</ref> Sometimes the bottom character will be the aggressor in the relationship,{{#tag:ref|This character has been called an "Osoi uke" ("attacking uke"). He is usually paired with a "Hetare seme" ("wimpy seme").<ref name="fujyoshi glossary"/>|group="nb"}} or the pair will switch their sexual roles.<ref>Manry, Gia. (16 April 2008) ''The Escapist''</ref> ''Riba'', リバ (a contraction of the English word "reversible") is used to describe a couple that yaoi fans think is still plausible when the partners switch their seme/uke roles.<ref name="fujyoshi glossary">{{cite web|url=http://fujyoshi.jp/fujyoshi_kouza0|title=fujyoshi.jp}}</ref> In another common mode of characters, the author will forego the stylisations of the ''seme'' and ''uke'', and will portray both lovers as "equally attractive handsome men". In this case, whichever of the two who is ordinarily in charge will take the "passive role" in the bedroom.<ref name="Suzuki 253"/>


==Shōnen-ai== ==Shōnen-ai==
''Shōnen-ai'' originally connoted ] or ] in Japan, but from the early 1970s to the late 1980s, was used to describe a new genre of ], primarily by the ], about beautiful boys in love. Characteristics of shōnen-ai include that they were exotic, often taking place in Europe,<ref name="Welker06 842">Welker, James. 2006. "Beautiful, Borrowed, and Bent: 'Boys' Love' as Girls' Love in Shôjo Manga' ''Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society'' vol. 31, no. 3. page 842. {{doi|10.1086/498987}}</ref> and idealistic.<ref name="Suzuki 250">Suzuki, Kazuko. 1999. "Pornography or Therapy? Japanese Girls Creating the Yaoi Phenomenon". In Sherrie Inness, ed., ''Millennium Girls: Today's Girls Around the World''. London: Rowman & Littlefield, p.250 ISBN 0-8476-9136-5, ISBN 0-8476-9137-3.</ref> Suzuki describes shōnen-ai as being "pedantic" and "difficult to understand",<ref name="Suzuki 252"/> saying that they required "knowledge of classic literature, history and science"<ref name="Suzuki 250"/> and were replete with "philosophical and abstract musings".<ref name="Suzuki 251">Suzuki, Kazuko. 1999. "Pornography or Therapy? Japanese Girls Creating the Yaoi Phenomenon". In Sherrie Inness, ed., ''Millennium Girls: Today's Girls Around the World''. London: Rowman & Littlefield, p.251 ISBN 0-8476-9136-5, ISBN 0-8476-9137-3.</ref> She says that this challenged the young readers and expanded their minds. Although they could not understand the works at first reading, as they grew older they would come to understand the works more. In the meantime, "the readers' attention became focused on the figure of the male protagonist" and how he navigated his sexual relationships.<ref name="Suzuki 251"/> By the late 1980s, the popularity of professionally published shōnen-ai was declining, and yaoi dōjinshi was becoming more popular.<ref name="out of hand"/> In recent years, the terms ''yaoi'' and ''shōnen-ai'' have sometimes been used by western fans ]. Yaoi has been used to describe titles that contain largely sex scenes and other sexually explicit themes and ''shōnen-ai'' is used to describe titles that focus more on romance and do not include explicit sexual content, although they may include implicit sexual content.<ref name="Drawn Together"/><ref name="What Girls Like?"/><ref name="Wood-06"/> ''Shōnen-ai'' originally connoted ] or ] in Japan, but from the early 1970s to the late 1980s, was used to describe a new genre of ], primarily by the ], about beautiful boys in love. Characteristics of shōnen-ai include that they were exotic, often taking place in Europe,<ref name="Welker06 842">Welker, James. 2006. "Beautiful, Borrowed, and Bent: 'Boys' Love' as Girls' Love in Shôjo Manga' ''Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society'' vol. 31, no. 3. page 842. {{doi|10.1086/498987}}</ref> and idealistic.

While ''shōnen-ai'' literally means ''boy's love'', the two terms are not synonymous. In Japan, shōnen-ai used to refer to a now obsolete subgenre of shōjo manga about prepubescent boys in relationships ranging from the ] to the ] and ]. The term was originally used to describe ], and in scholarly contexts still is. Boy's Love, on the other hand, is used as a genre's name and refers to all titles regardless of sexual content or the ages of characters in the story (with the exception of titles featuring prepubescent boys, which are categorized as ], a distinct genre with only peripheral connections to BL).

In the meantime, "the readers' attention became focused on the figure of the male protagonist" and how he navigated his sexual relationships. By the late 1980s, the popularity of professionally published shōnen-ai was declining, and yaoi dōjinshi was becoming more popular.<ref name="out of hand"/> In recent years, the terms ''yaoi'' and ''shōnen-ai'' have sometimes been used by western fans ]. Yaoi has been used to describe titles that contain largely sex scenes and other sexually explicit themes and ''shōnen-ai'' is used to describe titles that focus more on romance and do not include explicit sexual content, although they may include implicit sexual content.<ref name="Drawn Together"/><ref name="What Girls Like?"/><ref name="Wood-06"/>

The terms ''yaoi'' and ''shōnen-ai'' are sometimes used by western fans to differentiate between the contents of the genre. In this case, ''yaoi'' is used to describe titles that contain largely sex scenes and other sexually explicit themes and ''shōnen-ai'' is used to describe titles that focus more on romance and do not include explicit sexual content, although they may include implicit sexual content.<ref name="Drawn Together"/><ref name="What Girls Like?">Cha, Kai-Ming (7 March 2005) '']''</ref><ref name="Wood-06"/> When using the terms in this way, '']'' is considered to be ''shōnen-ai'' due to its focus on the characters' careers rather than their love life, while the Gravitation Remix and Megamix ] by the same author, which emphasize the characters' sexual relationships, would be considered ''yaoi''. Sometimes the word ] is used as an additional modifier with yaoi – "hentai yaoi" – to denote the most explicit titles.<ref name="Hello Boys">Thompson, David (8 September 2003) '']''</ref>


==Dōjinshi== ==Dōjinshi==
The ] subculture has been considered the Japanese equivalent of the English-language ], especially as they both do not have typical "narrative structure", science fiction works are particularly popular in both,<ref name="Kinsella Otaku 1990s"/> and they both originated in the 1970s.<ref name="yaoi redrawing"/><ref name="Drawn Together"/> The ] subculture has been considered the Japanese equivalent of the English-language ], especially as they both do not have typical "narrative structure", science fiction works are particularly popular in both,<ref name="Kinsella Otaku 1990s"/> and they both originated in the 1970s.<ref name="yaoi redrawing"/><ref name="Drawn Together"/>
Typical yaoi ] features male-male pairings from non-romantic, published ] and ]. Much of the material derives from male-oriented (] and ]) works which contained male-male close friendships and are perceived by fans to imply ],<ref name="out of hand"/> such as with '']''<ref name="pedagogy"/> and '']'', two titles which popularised yaoi in the 1980s.<ref name="yaoi redrawing"/> '']'' was particularly popular as it had a large cast of characters, most of them male, which allowed "an incredible number" of pairings between characters, although ] was one of the more popular characters to parody in yaoi, as he was presented in the original series as "fragile and sensible, with fine traits, long hair, doe eyes and the most feminine armour of the group".<ref name="Kimbergt Saint Seiya">{{cite book|first=Sébastien|last=Kimbergt|contribution=Ces mangas qui utilisent le yaoi pour doper leurs ventes|editor-last=Brient|editor-first=Hervé|title=Homosexualité et manga: le yaoi|publisher=Editions H|series=Manga: 10000 images|year=2008|isbn=978-2-9531781-0-4|pages=113–115|language=French}}</ref> For a time, yaoi dōjinshi was known as “Captain Tsubasa”.<ref name = "unlikely explorers">{{cite web | first= Matt |last=Thorn |authorlink=Matt Thorn | title=Unlikely Explorers: Alternative Narratives of Love, Sex, Gender, and Friendship in Japanese "Girls'" Comics | url=http://www.matt-thorn.com/shoujo_manga/sexual_ambiguity/index.html|accessdate=5 December 2007}}</ref> Dōjinshi has been described by ]'s co-founder ] as being "girls playing with dolls";<ref name = revisited/> yaoi fans may ] any male-male pairing, sometimes pairing off a favourite character, or creating a story about two men and fitting existing characters into the story.<ref name="pedagogy"/>


Typical yaoi ] features male-male pairings from non-romantic, published ] and ]. Much of the material derives from male-oriented (] and ]) works which contained male-male close friendships and are perceived by fans to imply ],<ref name="out of hand"/> such as with '']''<ref name="pedagogy"/> and '']'', two titles which popularised yaoi in the 1980s.<ref name="yaoi redrawing"/> Dōjinshi has been described by ]'s co-founder ] as being "girls playing with dolls";<ref name = revisited/> yaoi fans may ] any male-male pairing, sometimes pairing off a favourite character, or creating a story about two men and fitting existing characters into the story.<ref name="pedagogy"/>
Matt Thorn notes that unlike in slash fandom, a ] homoerotic element "takes away the fun" of creating yaoi for that series, for example, '']'' is more popular with slash fans than it has been with dōjinshi artists.<ref name="out of hand"/> Kazuko Suzuki outlines the thematic development of the ], from curiosity about sexuality, to taking a parodic revenge against men, to a feminist protest, and lastly, exploring "ideal relationships".<ref>Suzuki, Kazuko. 1999. "Pornography or Therapy? Japanese Girls Creating the Yaoi Phenomenon". In Sherrie Inness, ed., ''Millennium Girls: Today's Girls Around the World''. London: Rowman & Littlefield, p.260 ISBN 0-8476-9136-5, ISBN 0-8476-9137-3.</ref> The parodic themes in dojinshi have been compared to the queer practice of ].<ref>http://www.english.ufl.edu/imagetext/archives/v4_3/darlington/</ref>


Important characteristics of the early yaoi dōjinshi were that they were amateur publications not controlled by media restrictions, the stories were by teens for other teens and they were based on famous characters who were in their teens or early twenties, the same age as the yaoi fans.<ref name="yaoi redrawing">{{cite journal|last=McHarry|first=Mark|url= http://classic-web.archive.org/web/20080417001927/http://www.guidemag.com/temp/yaoi/a/mcharry_yaoi.html|title=Yaoi: Redrawing Male Love|journal=The Guide|month=November | year=2003}}</ref> The rapid expansion of ] during the 1980s (less than 10,000 attendees in 1982-over 100,000 attendees in 1989) permitted many doujinshi authors to sell thousands of copies of their works, earning a fair amount of money. Mizoguchi points out that June paid a small ] and only published stories which suited their less-explicit style, leading to some authors of ''yaoi'' choosing not to try to publish in ''June''.<ref name=MizoguchiSubgenres/> During the early 1990s, dōjinshi played a part in popularising yaoi.<ref name=McLelland_2000>McLelland, Mark. "." ''Intersections: Gender, History and Culture in the Asian Context'' Issue 3, January 2000</ref> Yaoi dōjinshi has been compared to the "Plot, what Plot?" subgenre of ].<ref>McLelland, Mark. (2006). "Manga" In Gaëtan Brulotte and John Phillips (eds.). ''Encyclopedia of Erotic Literature''. New York: Routledge, pp. 849–851.</ref> Important characteristics of the early yaoi dōjinshi were that they were amateur publications not controlled by media restrictions, the stories were by teens for other teens and they were based on famous characters who were in their teens or early twenties, the same age as the yaoi fans.<ref name="yaoi redrawing">{{cite journal|last=McHarry|first=Mark|url= http://classic-web.archive.org/web/20080417001927/http://www.guidemag.com/temp/yaoi/a/mcharry_yaoi.html|title=Yaoi: Redrawing Male Love|journal=The Guide|month=November | year=2003}}</ref>


Though collectors often focus on dōjinshi based on particular manga, any male character may become the subject of a yaoi dōjinshi, even characters from non-manga titles such as '']'' or '']'',<ref>Granick, Jennifer (16 August 2006) ]</ref> or video games such as '']'' and '']'',<ref> aestheticism.com</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://vcj.sagepub.com/content/3/2/213.abstract|title=Heavy Hero or Digital Dummy? Multimodal Player–Avatar Relations in Final Fantasy 7}}</ref> real people such as politicians, or ] such as '']'', or complementary items such as ] or ]. Patrick W. Galbraith sums this up by saying "Among fujoshi, there seems no limit to the potential of transgressive intimacy imagined in yaoi relationships in pursuit of ]."<ref>Galbraith, Patrick W. (31 October 2009) </ref> Though collectors often focus on dōjinshi based on particular manga, any male character may become the subject of a yaoi dōjinshi, even characters from non-manga titles such as '']'' or '']'',<ref>Granick, Jennifer (16 August 2006) ]</ref> or video games such as '']'' and '']'',<ref> aestheticism.com</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://vcj.sagepub.com/content/3/2/213.abstract|title=Heavy Hero or Digital Dummy? Multimodal Player–Avatar Relations in Final Fantasy 7}}</ref> real people such as politicians, or ] such as '']'', or complementary items such as ] or ].


Most dōjinshi are created by ] who often work in "circles";<ref>http://educa.lit.osaka-cu.ac.jp/~ggp/nakami/2008/Comparative%20Studies%20on%20Urban%20Cultures02.pdf#page=33</ref> for example, the group ] began as an amateur dōjinshi circle, drawing ''Saint Seiya'' yaoi.<ref name="Kimbergt Saint Seiya"/> However, some professional artists, such as Kodaka Kazuma create dōjinshi as well.<ref>Lees, Sharon (July 2006). . ''Akiba Angels''.</ref> Some publishing companies have used dōjinshi published in the 1980s to spot talented amateurs,<ref name="Drawn Together"/><ref name="bonking"/> such as Biblos hiring ].<ref name="Yōka Nitta interview">O’Connell, M. . ''Sequential Tart''. April 2006.</ref> Most dōjinshi are created by ] who often work in "circles";<ref>http://educa.lit.osaka-cu.ac.jp/~ggp/nakami/2008/Comparative%20Studies%20on%20Urban%20Cultures02.pdf#page=33</ref> for example, the group ] began as an amateur dōjinshi circle, drawing ''Saint Seiya'' yaoi. However, some professional artists, such as Kodaka Kazuma create dōjinshi as well.<ref>Lees, Sharon (July 2006). . ''Akiba Angels''.</ref> Some publishing companies have used dōjinshi published in the 1980s to spot talented amateurs,<ref name="Drawn Together"/> such as Biblos hiring ].<ref name="Yōka Nitta interview">O’Connell, M. . ''Sequential Tart''. April 2006.</ref>


Convention when labelling stories differs between Japanese fandom and slash-influenced fandoms. In Japan, the labelling is to put the two names of the characters separated by a ], with the ''seme'' being first, and the ''uke'' being second.<ref name="Sagawa interview">Toku, Masami (6 June 2002) </ref> Convention when labelling stories differs between Japanese fandom and slash-influenced fandoms. In Japan, the labelling is to put the two names of the characters separated by a ], with the ''seme'' being first, and the ''uke'' being second.<ref name="Sagawa interview">Toku, Masami (6 June 2002) </ref>

==Global BL==
As Japanese yaoi gained popularity in the U.S., a few American artists began creating ] for female readers featuring beautiful male-male couples,<ref name="yaoi redrawing"/><ref name="Pagliassotti BL West"/> referred to as "American yaoi." The first known original English-language BL comic is ''Sexual Espionage #1'' by ], published in May 2002.<ref>] (2 June 2008) </ref> Since approximately 2004, what started as a small subculture in North America has become a burgeoning market, as new publishers began producing female-oriented male/male erotic comics and manga from creators outside Japan.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sequentialtart.com/article.php?id=408|title=The Growth of Yaoi|accessdate =13 July 2007}}</ref> Because creators from all parts of the globe are published in these ] works, the term "American Yaoi" fell out of use; terms like 'Original English Language yaoi'<ref>{{cite journal|last=Arrant|first=Chris|date=June 2006|title=Home-Grown Boys' Love from Yaoi Press|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6341172.html}} {{dead link|date=July 2010}}</ref> shortened to 'Global Yaoi'.<ref>{{cite web|last=Abraham|first=Yamila|authorlink=Yamila Abraham|date=April 2007|title=Publisher Yaoi Press 'Global Yaoi' Amazon Listings|url=http://www.amazon.com/Yaoi-Press-Global/lm/R1JLG7ZSK38CGK}}</ref> The term Global BL was coined by creators and newsgroups that wanted to distinguish the Asian specific content known as 'yaoi', from the original English content, and so the term Global BL was used.<ref>{{cite web|date=October 2007|title=Links to Yaoi-Con coverage|url=http://www.icaruscomics.com/wp_web/?p=938}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=April 2008|title=German Publisher Licenses Global BL Titles|url=http://comipress.com/news/2008/04/18/3508}}</ref> "Global BL" was shortened by comics author Tina Anderson in interviews and on her blog to the acronym 'GloBL'.<ref name="chicks"/><ref>{{cite web|date=September 2007|title=GloBL Previews and Other Stuff|url=http://ggymeta.wordpress.com/2007/09/17/globl-previews-and-other-stuff/}}</ref>

High-Volume North American publishers of 'Global BL' are ],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/press-release/2007-01-08/yaoi-press-moves-stores-and-opens-doors|title=Yaoi Press Moves Stores and Opens Doors|accessdate =13 July 2007}}</ref>, which continues to release illustrated fiction written by the companies CEO, ] under the imprint ]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.beautifulandrogyny.com/?p=240/|title=Interview: Yamila Abraham|accessdate =24 July 2011}}</ref>. Prior publishers include ], which debuted its 'Global BL' quarterly anthology ''RUSH'' in 2006, <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/press-release/2006-08-07/dramaqueen-announces-new-yaoi-and-manhwa-titles|title=DramaQueen Announces New Yaoi & Manhwa Titles|accessdate =13 July 2007}}</ref> and Iris Print,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/new-titles/adult-announcements/article/1634-a-year-of-yaoi-at-iris-print-.html|title=A Year of Yaoi At Iris Print|accessdate =13 March 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/12751.html |title=Iris Print Wilts|publisher = ICv2 |date=17 June 2008 |accessdate=14 July 2008 }}</ref>, both ceased publishing due to financial issues<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/12751.html/|title=Iris Print Wilts|accessdate =17 June 2008}}</ref>.

In 2009, Germany saw a period of ''GloBL'' releases, with a handful of original German titles gaining popularity for being set in Asia.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Malone|first=Paul M.|date=April 2009|title=Home-grown ''Shōjo Manga'' and the Rise of Boys' Love among Germany's 'Forty-Niners'|journal=Intersections: Gender and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific|volume=20|url=http://intersections.anu.edu.au/issue20/malone.htm}}</ref> Some publishers of German GloBL were traditional manga publishers like Carlsen Manga,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.carlsen.de/web/manga/buecher_von?aid=158478|title=Anne Delseit, Martina Peters|accessdate =July 2009}}</ref> and small press publishers specializing in GloBL like The Wild Side<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wildsideverlag.wordpress.com/|title=The Wildside Verlag Blog|accessdate =July 2009}}</ref> and Fireangels Verlag.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://fireangels.net/|title=Fireangels.net Site|accessdate =July 2009}}</ref>

Pioneering GloBL creators include ],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=yayoi+neko|title=Amazon listings|accessdate =July 2009}}</ref> ],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Dany+%26+Dany+yaoi&x=0&y=0|title=Amazon listings|accessdate =May 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.activeanime.com/html/content/view/3727/36/ |title=Active Anime Interviews Famous Italian Manga-Ka Duo Dany&Dany &#124; Manga, Very, Were, Yaoi, Have |publisher=activeanime.com |date=17 August 2008 |accessdate=8 September 2009}}</ref> ],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.amazon.com/Tina-Anderson/e/B002BML3ZG|title=Amazon Listings|accessdate =May 2010}}</ref> and ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&sort=relevancerank&search-alias=books&field-author=KOSEN|title=Amazon Listings|accessdate =May 2010}}</ref>, and ].

Other successful series in GloBL include web comics ] and ], and ] from artist ]'s studio ], all three of which are also being promoted by ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kuriousity.ca/2012/02/sleepless-nights-in-these-words-new-bl-titles-scheduled-for-print/|title=Sleepless Nights, In These Words – New BL Titles Scheduled For Print|accessdate =02 February 2012}}</ref>

==Publishing==
]
Mizoguchi divides BL publication into two eras – the first era from the time of ''June'' to 2004, and a second era from 2004 onwards.<ref name=Mizoguchi10>{{cite book|last=Mizoguchi|first=Akiko|title=Comics Worlds and the World of Comics: Towards Scholarship on a Global Scale|year=2010|publisher=International Manga Research Center, ]|isbn=978-4-905187-01-1 |pages=145–170|url=http://imrc.jp/2010/09/26/20100924Comics%20Worlds%20and%20the%20World%20of%20Comics.pdf|editor=Berndt, Jaqueline|accessdate=29 October 2010|location=Kyoto, Japan|chapter=Theorizing comics/manga genre as a productive forum: yaoi and beyond|month=September}}</ref>
The earliest magazine about Boy's Love was '']'', which began in 1978 as a response to the success of commercially published manga such as the works of ], ] and ].<ref name="Sagawa interview"/> Other factors was the rising popularity of depictions of ''bishōnen'' in the ''dōjinshi'' market and ambiguous musicians such as ] and ]. ''June'' was meant to have an underground, "cultish, guerilla-style" feeling – most of its ] were new talent. Frederik L. Schodt describes ''June'' as "a kind of 'readers' magazine, created by and for the readers." Essays about the characteristics of the June genre were published with the manga in ''June''. In 1982, ''Shōsetsu June'' ("Novel June"), a sister magazine to ''June'' began publication. Its content is text-only stories with male romance.<ref name="Dreamland June"/> Nagaike believes that the true "revolution" in BL culture was when it began to be commercially published en masse in the 1990s.<ref name =Nagaike>{{cite journal|last=Nagaike|first=Kazumi|date=April 2009|title=Elegant Caucasians, Amorous Arabs, and Invisible Others: Signs and Images of Foreigners in Japanese BL Manga|journal=Intersections: Gender and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific |publisher=]|issue=20|url=http://intersections.anu.edu.au/issue20/nagaike.htm}}</ref> As of the mid-1990s, ''Shōsetsu June'' outsold ''June''.<ref name="Dreamland June">Schodt, Frederik L. (1996) '']'' pages 120–123</ref> As of 2008, June was still running,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.june-net.com/|title=June.net}}</ref> although the target audience's ages have widened and the style of stories has changed from being "soft love" to more overtly pornographic.<ref name="Sagawa interview"/> The magazine {{nihongo|''Allan''|アラン|Aran}} (1980–1984) which was more text-based than ''June'' was influential in cultivating a ].<ref>{{cite book|last=Welker|first=James|title=AsiaPacifQueer: Rethinking Genders and Sexualities|editor=Fran Martin, Peter Jackson, Audrey Yue|publisher=University of Illinois Press|year=2008|pages=46–66|chapter=Lilies of the Margin: Beautiful Boys and Queer Female Identities in Japan|isbn=978-0-252-07507-0}}</ref>
The Japanese publisher ] was a BL publisher established in 1988 but their bankruptcy due to failure of their parent company<ref name="bonking">McLelland, Mark. ''Refractory: A Journal of Entertainment Media'' Vol.10, 2006/2007</ref> caused them to fold in April 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2006-04-05/biblos-bankrupt|title=Biblos Bankrupt}}</ref> Most of their titles were picked up by Libre.<ref>Cha, Kai-Ming and Reid, Calvin (29 March 2006) '']''</ref> A 2006 breakdown of the Japanese commercial BL market estimated it grosses approximately 12 billion yen annually, with novel sales generating 250 million yen per month, manga generating 400 million yen per month, CDs generating 180 million yen per month, and video games generating 160 million yen per month.<ref name =Nagaike/> A 2010 report estimated that the Boys Love market was worth approximately 21.3 billion yen in both 2009 and 2010.<ref>http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-10-14/yano-research-reports-on-japan-2009-10-otaku-market</ref>

Japanese BL works are sold to English-speaking countries by companies that translate and print them in English; companies such as ] with their imprints 801 Media (for explicit BL) and June (for "romantic and sweet" BL),<ref name="Drawn Together">Strickland, Elizabeth. ''The Village Voice''. 2 November 2006.</ref> as well as ], ], ]'s ],<ref name = Boston/> ] under their imprint BLU, ] under their Boysenberry imprint, ] under their imprint ], and ]. The first publisher of BL in translation may be ], which released two volumes of shōnen-ai manga as e-books in January 2000.<ref>{{cite book|last=Thompson|first=Jason|authorlink=Jason Thompson (writer)|title=]|publisher=Del Rey|year=2007|page=417|isbn=0-345-48590-4}}</ref> In 2001, the only BL-type manga available in print in English were the barely-suggestive '']'' and '']'',<ref></ref> and in 2002, commercially translated BL was "not common".<ref>Perper, Timothy and Cornog, Martha (March 2002) ''Sexuality & Culture'', '''6''' (1) pp.&nbsp;3–126</ref> According to McLelland, the earliest officially translated BL manga in print appeared in 2003, and as of 2006 there were about 130 English-translated works commercially available.<ref name="bonking"/> In March 2007, ] stopped selling shōnen manga and increased their yaoi lines, anticipating to publish one or two titles per month that year.<ref>Cha, Kai-Ming (13 March 2007) '']''</ref> In 2007 following Biblos' bankruptcy, Libre published an open letter on their website which said that English-language publishers had to renegotiate publishing rights for Biblos' former series with Libre, specifically naming CPM's releases as "illegal".<ref>.Libre-pub.co.jp. Retrieved on 23 December 2008</ref><ref>.Animenewsnetwork.com. Retrieved on 23 December 2008</ref> ] estimated the U.S. sales of yaoi manga as being approximately ] 6 million in 2007. In English-speaking countries explicit stories are either sold online or displayed in ].<ref>Cha, Kai-Ming (10 August 2008) San Francisco Chronicle</ref> Mark McLelland surveyed 135 yaoi books published in North America between 2003 and 2006, and found that 14% was rated at 13 years or over, 39% was rated for readers aged 15 years or over, and 47% was rated for readers 18 years or older.<ref>McLelland, Mark; Yoo, Seunghyun (March 2007). . '']'', Vol. 4, No. 1, pages 93–104. {{doi|10.1525/srsp.2007.4.1.93}}.</ref> In 2008, BLU reported that although bookshops are becoming more willing to stock BL titles, they are conservative about how the books are labelled, leading to books being shrink wrapped and rated for over 18s which previously would have garnered an over 16 rating, and do not "really follow through on the promise."<ref name="Pagliassotti BL West"/>

In 2010, Libre Publishing sent cease and desist letters to English language BL ] groups.<ref></ref>

Tokyopop and its imprint BLU folded in May 2011. In October 2011, ] launched the BL imprint SuBLime in collaboration with the Japanese BL publisher ] and the Japanese retailer ] to publish English-language BL for the print and worldwide digital market.<ref>http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2011-10-22/viz-launches-sublime-boys-love-manga-line-with-love-pistols</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Balistrieri|first=Emily|title=SuBLime: Everything We Know About VIZ's New Boys' Love Line|url=http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-feature/2011/10/22/sublime-everything-we-know-about-vizs-new-boys-love-line|publisher=Crunchyroll|accessdate=24 October 2011}}</ref>


==Thematic elements== ==Thematic elements==
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===Female characters=== ===Female characters===
Female characters often have very minor roles in yaoi, or are absent altogether.<ref name=Akibayaoi/><ref name="Fletcher 2002"/> Suzuki notes that mothers, in particular, are portrayed badly, such as Takuto's mother from '']'', who killed her husband in front of her young son. Suzuki suggests this is because the character and the reader are attempting to replace a mother's lacking "unconditional love" with the "forbidden" all-consuming love presented in yaoi.<ref>Suzuki, Kazuko. 1999. "Pornography or Therapy? Japanese Girls Creating the Yaoi Phenomenon". In Sherrie Inness, ed., ''Millennium Girls: Today's Girls Around the World''. London: Rowman & Littlefield, pp. 259–260 ISBN 0-8476-9136-5, ISBN 0-8476-9137-3.</ref> ], a yaoi author, says she feels that when women are shown, "it can't help but become weirdly real".<ref>Saitō Tamaki (2007) "Otaku Sexuality" in Christopher Bolton, Istvan Csicsery-Ronay Jr., and ] ed., page 231 '''' University of Minnesota Press ISBN 978-0-8166-4974-7</ref> When yaoi fan works are created from a series which originally contained females (such as '']''),<ref>Drazen, Patrick (October 2002). '"A Very Pure Thing": Gay and Pseudo-Gay Themes' in '']'' Berkeley, California: Stone Bridge Press p.95 ISBN 1-880656-72-8. "The five pilots of ''Gundam Wing'' (1995) have female counterparts, yet a lot of ] are produced as if these girls never existed."</ref> the female's role is either minimised or the character is killed off.<ref name="Fletcher 2002">Fletcher, Dani (May 2002). . ''Sequential Tart''.</ref> Early shōnen-ai and yaoi has been regarded as ], but Lunsing detects a decrease in misogynistic comments from characters and regards the development of the ] as reflecting a reduction of internal misogyny.<ref name="Yaoi Debate"/> Alternatively, the yaoi fandom is also viewed as a "refuge" from mainstream culture, which in this paradigm is viewed as inherently misogynistic.<ref name="yaoi redrawing"/> ] is regarded as a creator who usually includes at least one sympathetic female character in her works.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sequentialtart.com/reports.php?ID=5222&issue=2007-04-01|title=Ichigenme Volume 1|last=Mayerson|first=Ginger|date=1 April 2007|work=The Report Card|publisher=Sequential Tart|accessdate=5 April 2009}}</ref> Also, there are many female characters in Yaoi who are ] themselves. Female characters often have very minor roles in yaoi, or are absent altogether.<ref name=Akibayaoi/><ref name="Fletcher 2002"/> Suzuki notes that mothers, in particular, are portrayed badly, such as Takuto's mother from '']'', who killed her husband in front of her young son. Suzuki suggests this is because the character and the reader are attempting to replace a mother's lacking "unconditional love" with the "forbidden" all-consuming love presented in yaoi.<ref>Suzuki, Kazuko. 1999. "Pornography or Therapy? Japanese Girls Creating the Yaoi Phenomenon". In Sherrie Inness, ed., ''Millennium Girls: Today's Girls Around the World''. London: Rowman & Littlefield, pp. 259–260 ISBN 0-8476-9136-5, ISBN 0-8476-9137-3.</ref> ], a yaoi author, says she feels that when women are shown, "it can't help but become weirdly real".<ref>Saitō Tamaki (2007) "Otaku Sexuality" in Christopher Bolton, Istvan Csicsery-Ronay Jr., and ] ed., page 231 '''' University of Minnesota Press ISBN 978-0-8166-4974-7</ref> When yaoi fan works are created from a series which originally contained females (such as '']''),<ref>Drazen, Patrick (October 2002). '"A Very Pure Thing": Gay and Pseudo-Gay Themes' in '']'' Berkeley, California: Stone Bridge Press p.95 ISBN 1-880656-72-8. "The five pilots of ''Gundam Wing'' (1995) have female counterparts, yet a lot of ] are produced as if these girls never existed."</ref> the female's role is either minimised or the character is killed off.<ref name="Fletcher 2002">Fletcher, Dani (May 2002). . ''Sequential Tart''.</ref>
Early shōnen-ai and yaoi has been regarded as ], but Lunsing detects a decrease in misogynistic comments from characters and regards the development of the ] as reflecting a reduction of internal misogyny.<ref name="Yaoi Debate"/> Alternatively, the yaoi fandom is also viewed as a "refuge" from mainstream culture, which in this paradigm is viewed as inherently misogynistic.<ref name="yaoi redrawing"/> ] is regarded as a creator who usually includes at least one sympathetic female character in her works.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sequentialtart.com/reports.php?ID=5222&issue=2007-04-01|title=Ichigenme Volume 1|last=Mayerson|first=Ginger|date=1 April 2007|work=The Report Card|publisher=Sequential Tart|accessdate=5 April 2009}}</ref> Also, there are many female characters in Yaoi who are ] themselves.


===Gachi muchi=== ===Gachi muchi===
Recently, a subgenre of BL has been introduced in Japan, so-called "muscley-chubby BL" or '''gachi muchi''' (from {{nihongo|''gacchiri''|がっちり|muscular}} and {{nihongo|''muchimuchi''|ムチムチ|chubby}})<ref name="muscleBL" /> Recently, a subgenre of BL has been introduced in Japan, so-called "muscley-chubby BL" or '''gachi muchi''' (muscular) and muchimuchi (chubby}<ref name="muscleBL" />
which offers more masculine body types and is more likely to have gay male authors and artists. Although still marketed primarily to women,<ref name="muscleBL"/> it is also thought to attract a large crossover gay male audience.<ref name="AndersonBara">{{cite web which offers more masculine body types and is more likely to have gay male authors and artists. Although still marketed primarily to women,<ref name="muscleBL"/> it is also thought to attract a large crossover gay male audience.<ref name="AndersonBara">{{cite web
| last = Anderson | last = Anderson
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===Gay rights=== ===Gay rights===
Many BL manga have ], historic or futuristic settings, and many fans consider BL to be an "escapist fantasy".<ref name="Shamoon p.86">Shamoon, Deborah (July 2004) “Office Sluts and Rebel Flowers: The Pleasures of Japanese Pornographic Comics for Women” in ] ed. ''Porn Studies''. Duke University Press p. 86</ref> ], when it is presented as an issue at all,<ref name = "Yowie"/> is used as a ] to "heighten the drama",<ref name="Romance by Any Other Name"/> or to show the purity of the leads’ love.<ref name="Mori Mari"/> Matt Thorn has suggested that as BL is a romance narrative, having strong political themes may be a "turn off" to the readers.<ref name="out of hand"/> Yaoi narratives show characters "overcoming obstacles, often internal, to be together". The theme of the victory of the protagonists in yaoi has been compared favourably to Western ]s, as the latter intends to enforce the status quo, but yaoi is "about desire" and seeks "to explore, not circumscribe, possibilities."<ref name="Yaoi EEL">McHarry, Mark. (2006) "Yaoi" in Gaëtan Brulotte and John Phillips (eds.). ''Encyclopedia of Erotic Literature''. New York: Routledge, pp. 1445–1447.</ref> Hisako Miyoshi, vice editor-in-chief for ], has said that she feels that boys love manga has become less realist, with more comedic elements or being "simply for entertainment". She thinks that earlier BL focused "more on the homosexual way of life with a realist perspective."<ref>{{cite book|first=Hadrien |last=de Bats |contribution=Entretien avec Hisako Miyoshi|editor-last=Brient|editor-first=Hervé|title=Homosexualité et manga: le yaoi|publisher=Editions H|series=Manga: 10000 images|year=2008|isbn=978-2-9531781-0-4|pages=17–19|language=French}}</ref> ] has said that she feels that BL with a focus on realistic gay issues "won't become a trend, because girls like fiction more than realism."<ref></ref> Akiko Mizoguchi feels that while depictions of homosexuality as "shameful" to heighten dramatic tension are still shown, BL is including more ] stories which portray a gradual acceptance from the wider community. Mizoguchi feels that BL is showing far more gay-friendly depictions of Japanese society, which she regards as activism.<ref name=Mizoguchi10/> Many BL manga have ], historic or futuristic settings, and many fans consider BL to be an "escapist fantasy".<ref name="Shamoon p.86">Shamoon, Deborah (July 2004) “Office Sluts and Rebel Flowers: The Pleasures of Japanese Pornographic Comics for Women” in ] ed. ''Porn Studies''. Duke University Press p. 86</ref> ], when it is presented as an issue at all,<ref name = "Yowie"/> is used as a ] to "heighten the drama",<ref name="Romance by Any Other Name"/> or to show the purity of the leads’ love. Matt Thorn has suggested that as BL is a romance narrative, having strong political themes may be a "turn off" to the readers.<ref name="out of hand"/>


Yaoi narratives show characters "overcoming obstacles, often internal, to be together". The theme of the victory of the protagonists in yaoi has been compared favourably to Western ]s, as the latter intends to enforce the status quo, but yaoi is "about desire" and seeks "to explore, not circumscribe, possibilities."<ref name="Yaoi EEL">McHarry, Mark. (2006) "Yaoi" in Gaëtan Brulotte and John Phillips (eds.). ''Encyclopedia of Erotic Literature''. New York: Routledge, pp. 1445–1447.</ref> Hisako Miyoshi, vice editor-in-chief for ], has said that she feels that boys love manga has become less realist, with more comedic elements or being "simply for entertainment". She thinks that earlier BL focused "more on the homosexual way of life with a realist perspective."<ref>{{cite book|first=Hadrien |last=de Bats |contribution=Entretien avec Hisako Miyoshi|editor-last=Brient|editor-first=Hervé|title=Homosexualité et manga: le yaoi|publisher=Editions H|series=Manga: 10000 images|year=2008|isbn=978-2-9531781-0-4|pages=17–19|language=French}}</ref>
===Idealism===

{{Expand section|date=March 2011}}
] has said that she feels that BL with a focus on realistic gay issues "won't become a trend, because girls like fiction more than realism."<ref></ref> Akiko Mizoguchi feels that while depictions of homosexuality as "shameful" to heighten dramatic tension are still shown, BL is including more ] stories which portray a gradual acceptance from the wider community. Mizoguchi feels that BL is showing far more gay-friendly depictions of Japanese society, which she regards as activism.<ref name=Mizoguchi10/>
Most BL manga have been said to "foster an aesthetic of purity, even when depicting hard-core sex acts."<ref name="Shamoon p.97">Shamoon, Deborah (July 2004) “Office Sluts and Rebel Flowers: The Pleasures of Japanese Pornographic Comics for Women” in Linda Williams ed. ''Porn Studies''. Duke University Press p.97</ref> Sandra Buckley felt that the characters have equality in their relationships, which were "free of domination and exploitation".<ref>Buckley, Sandra (1991) "'Penguin in Bondage': A Graphic Tale of Japanese Comic Books", p. 175, In ''Technoculture''. C. Penley and A. Ross, eds. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota ISBN 0-8166-1932-8</ref> Yaoi stories are often strongly ], which gives the men freedom to bond with each other and to pursue shared goals together, as in ] representations of ''Captain Tsubasa'', or to rival each other, as in '']''. This spiritual bond and equal partnership shown overcomes the male-female power hierarchy.<ref name=Nagaike03/>

Yaoi stories are often strongly ], which gives the men freedom to bond with each other and to pursue shared goals together, as in ] representations of ''Captain Tsubasa'', or to rival each other, as in '']''. This spiritual bond and equal partnership shown overcomes the male-female power hierarchy.<ref name=Nagaike03/>


===Rape=== ===Rape===
According to Suzuki, ] in yaoi is a way of expressing commitment to a partner, and "apparent violence" in sex is a "measure of passion". Suzuki elaborates that when a woman is raped, she is stigmatised by society, but in yaoi narratives, boys who are loved by their rapists are still "imbued with innocence", a theme she attributes to '']''.<ref name="Suzuki 257-8">Suzuki, Kazuko. 1999. "Pornography or Therapy? Japanese Girls Creating the Yaoi Phenomenon". In Sherrie Inness, ed., ''Millennium Girls: Today's Girls Around the World''. London: Rowman & Littlefield, pp. 257–258 ISBN 0-8476-9136-5, ISBN 0-8476-9137-3.</ref> According to Nagaike, rape scenes in yaoi are rarely presented as crimes with an assaulter and a victim. Nagaike feels that scenes where a seme rapes a uke are not symptomatic of the seme's "disruptive sexual/violent desires", but instead are a signifier of the "uncontrollable love" felt by a seme for an uke. Instead of being depicted as a crime, rape scenes can be a ] used to make the uke see the seme as more than just a good friend, resulting in the uke falling in love with the seme.<ref name=Nagaike03/> ] themes have been said to free the protagonist of responsibility in sex, leading to the ] of the story, where "the protagonist takes responsibility for his own sexuality".<ref name =Valenti>Valenti, Kristy L. (2005). . '']'', issue 269.</ref> The 2003–2005 '']'', set in a men's prison, has been praised for showing a more realistic depiction of rape.<ref>http://www.mania.com/under-grand-hotel-vol-01_article_123833.html</ref> According to Suzuki, ] in yaoi is a way of expressing commitment to a partner, and "apparent violence" in sex is a "measure of passion". Suzuki elaborates that when a woman is raped, she is stigmatised by society, but in yaoi narratives, boys who are loved by their rapists are still "imbued with innocence", a theme she attributes to '']''.<ref name="Suzuki 257-8">Suzuki, Kazuko. 1999. "Pornography or Therapy? Japanese Girls Creating the Yaoi Phenomenon". In Sherrie Inness, ed., ''Millennium Girls: Today's Girls Around the World''. London: Rowman & Littlefield, pp. 257–258 ISBN 0-8476-9136-5, ISBN 0-8476-9137-3.</ref>
According to Nagaike, rape scenes in yaoi are rarely presented as crimes with an assaulter and a victim. Nagaike feels that scenes where a seme rapes a uke are not symptomatic of the seme's "disruptive sexual/violent desires", but instead are a signifier of the "uncontrollable love" felt by a seme for an uke. Instead of being depicted as a crime, rape scenes can be a ] used to make the uke see the seme as more than just a good friend, resulting in the uke falling in love with the seme.<ref name=Nagaike03/> ] themes have been said to free the protagonist of responsibility in sex, leading to the ] of the story, where "the protagonist takes responsibility for his own sexuality".<ref name =Valenti>Valenti, Kristy L. (2005). . '']'', issue 269.</ref> The 2003–2005 '']'', set in a men's prison, has been praised for showing a more realistic depiction of rape.<ref>http://www.mania.com/under-grand-hotel-vol-01_article_123833.html</ref>


===Tragedy=== ===Tragedy===
June stories with suicide endings were popular,<ref name="Dreamland June"/> as was "watching men suffer".<ref name=Gravett>] (2004) '']'' (Harper Design ISBN 1-85669-391-0) pages 80–81</ref> Matt Thorn theorises that depicting abuse in yaoi is a coping mechanism for some yaoi fans.<ref name="out of hand"/> By the mid 1990s the fashion was for ]s.<ref name="Dreamland June"/> When tragic endings are shown, the cause is not infidelity, but "the cruel and intrusive demands of an uncompromising outside world."<ref>McLelland, Mark (2000) "The love between 'beautiful boys' in women's comics" page 69 ''Male Homosexuality in Modern Japan: Cultural Myths and Social Realities'' Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press ISBN 0-7007-1425-1</ref> June stories with suicide endings were popular,<ref name="Dreamland June"/> as was "watching men suffer".<ref name=Gravett>] (2004) '']'' (Harper Design ISBN 1-85669-391-0) pages 80–81</ref> Matt Thorn theorises that depicting abuse in yaoi is a coping mechanism for some yaoi fans.<ref name="out of hand"/> By the mid 1990s the fashion was for ]s.<ref name="Dreamland June"/> When tragic endings are shown, the cause is not infidelity, but "the cruel and intrusive demands of an uncompromising outside world."<ref>McLelland, Mark (2000) "The love between 'beautiful boys' in women's comics" page 69 ''Male Homosexuality in Modern Japan: Cultural Myths and Social Realities'' Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press ISBN 0-7007-1425-1</ref>

==Bara==
{{Main|Bara (genre)}}
Although sometimes conflated with "yaoi" by Anglophone commentators, also called ML (men's love), in Japan and "bara" in English, caters to a gay male audience rather than a female one and tends to be made primarily by homosexual and bisexual male artists (such as ]) and serialized in gay men's magazines.<ref>{{cite book
| last = McLelland
| first = Mark
| title = Male homosexuality in modern Japan
| publisher = Routledge
| year = 2000
| pages = 131 and ff
| isbn = 0-7007-1300-X}}</ref> It is an even smaller ] in Japan than yaoi manga; none has been licensed in English and not much has been ] into English.<ref>{{cite web | title=A Comics Reader's Guide to Manga Scanlations | author=Dirk Deppey | url=http://archives.tcj.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=430&Itemid=70&limit=1&limitstart=0 | publisher=] | accessdate=11 July 2007}}</ref> Considered a subgenre of seijin (men's erotica) for gay males, bara resembles comics for men (]) rather than comics for female readers (shōjo/]).

Recently a subgenre of BL has been introduced in Japan, so-called ''gachi muchi'' "muscley-chubby" BL,<ref name="muscleBL">{{cite web
| title = WeeklyAkibaWords: Gachi Muchi (ガチムチ)
| publisher = WeeklyAkibaWords
| date = 27 February 2009
| url = http://en.akibablog.net/archives/2009/02/weeklyakibawords_gachi_muchi.html
| accessdate =4/5/09 }}</ref>
which offers more masculine body types and is more likely to have gay male authors and artists. Although still marketed primarily to women,<ref name="muscleBL"/> it is also thought to attract a large crossover gay male audience.<ref>{{cite web
| last = Anderson
| first = Tina
| title = That Damn Bara Article!
| publisher = Guns, Guys & Yaoi
| date = date unknown
| url = http://ggymeta.wordpress.com/popular-gay-manga-posts/that-bara-article/
| accessdate =4/5/09}}</ref>
This material has been referred to as "bara" among English-speaking fans,<ref name="chicks"/><ref name="How To Find Bara In English">{{cite web|url=http://www.yaoi911.com/how-to-find-bara-in-english/ |title=How To Find Bara In English |publisher=Yaoi 911 |date=7 September 2008 |accessdate=8 September 2009}}</ref> but it is distinct in publishing terms (and often in content and style), and should not be confused with ''gei comi'' proper.

==Popularity outside Japan==
As Japanese yaoi gained popularity in the U.S., a few American artists began creating ] for female readers featuring beautiful male-male couples referred to as "American yaoi." The first known original English-language BL comic is ''Sexual Espionage #1'' by Daria McGrain, published in May 2002.<ref>] (2 June 2008) </ref>

Since approximately 2004, what started as a small subculture in North America has become a burgeoning market, as new publishers began producing female-oriented male/male erotic comics and manga from creators outside Japan.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sequentialtart.com/article.php?id=408|title=The Growth of Yaoi|accessdate =13 July 2007}}</ref> Because creators from all parts of the globe are published in these ] works, the term "American Yaoi" fell out of use; terms like 'Original English Language yaoi'<ref>{{cite journal|last=Arrant|first=Chris|date=June 2006|title=Home-Grown Boys' Love from Yaoi Press|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6341172.html}} {{dead link|date=July 2010}}</ref> shortened to 'Global Yaoi'.<ref>{{cite web|last=Abraham|first=Yamila|authorlink=Yamila Abraham|date=April 2007|title=Publisher Yaoi Press 'Global Yaoi' Amazon Listings|url=http://www.amazon.com/Yaoi-Press-Global/lm/R1JLG7ZSK38CGK}}</ref>

The term Global BL was coined by creators and newsgroups that wanted to distinguish the Asian specific content known as 'yaoi', from the original English content, and so the term Global BL was used.<ref>{{cite web|date=October 2007|title=Links to Yaoi-Con coverage|url=http://www.icaruscomics.com/wp_web/?p=938}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=April 2008|title=German Publisher Licenses Global BL Titles|url=http://comipress.com/news/2008/04/18/3508}}</ref> "Global BL" was shortened by comics author Tina Anderson in interviews and on her blog to the acronym 'GloBL'.<ref name="chicks"/><ref>{{cite web|date=September 2007|title=GloBL Previews and Other Stuff|url=http://ggymeta.wordpress.com/2007/09/17/globl-previews-and-other-stuff/}}</ref> High-Volume North American publishers of 'Global BL' are ],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/press-release/2007-01-08/yaoi-press-moves-stores-and-opens-doors|title=Yaoi Press Moves Stores and Opens Doors|accessdate =13 July 2007}}</ref>, which continues to release illustrated fiction written by the companies CEO, ] under the imprint Yaoi Prose<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.beautifulandrogyny.com/?p=240/|title=Interview: Yamila Abraham|accessdate =24 July 2011}}</ref>. Prior publishers include ], which debuted its 'Global BL' quarterly anthology ''RUSH'' in 2006, <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/press-release/2006-08-07/dramaqueen-announces-new-yaoi-and-manhwa-titles|title=DramaQueen Announces New Yaoi & Manhwa Titles|accessdate =13 July 2007}}</ref> and Iris Print,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/new-titles/adult-announcements/article/1634-a-year-of-yaoi-at-iris-print-.html|title=A Year of Yaoi At Iris Print|accessdate =13 March 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/12751.html |title=Iris Print Wilts|publisher = ICv2 |date=17 June 2008 |accessdate=14 July 2008 }}</ref>, both ceased publishing due to financial issues<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/12751.html/|title=Iris Print Wilts|accessdate =17 June 2008}}</ref>.

In 2009, Germany saw a period of ''GloBL'' releases, with a handful of original German titles gaining popularity for being set in Asia.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Malone|first=Paul M.|date=April 2009|title=Home-grown ''Shōjo Manga'' and the Rise of Boys' Love among Germany's 'Forty-Niners'|journal=Intersections: Gender and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific|volume=20|url=http://intersections.anu.edu.au/issue20/malone.htm}}</ref> Some publishers of German GloBL were traditional manga publishers like Carlsen Manga,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.carlsen.de/web/manga/buecher_von?aid=158478|title=Anne Delseit, Martina Peters|accessdate =July 2009}}</ref> and small press publishers specializing in GloBL like The Wild Side<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wildsideverlag.wordpress.com/|title=The Wildside Verlag Blog|accessdate =July 2009}}</ref> and Fireangels Verlag.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://fireangels.net/|title=Fireangels.net Site|accessdate =July 2009}}</ref>

Other successful series in GloBL include web comics ] and ], and In These Words from artist ]'s studio Guilt Pleasure, all three of which are also being promoted by ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kuriousity.ca/2012/02/sleepless-nights-in-these-words-new-bl-titles-scheduled-for-print/|title=Sleepless Nights, In These Words – New BL Titles Scheduled For Print|accessdate =02 February 2012}}</ref>

==Publishing==
]
Mizoguchi divides BL publication into two eras – the first era from the time of ''June'' to 2004, and a second era from 2004 onwards.<ref name=Mizoguchi10>{{cite book|last=Mizoguchi|first=Akiko|title=Comics Worlds and the World of Comics: Towards Scholarship on a Global Scale|year=2010|publisher=International Manga Research Center, ]|isbn=978-4-905187-01-1 |pages=145–170|url=http://imrc.jp/2010/09/26/20100924Comics%20Worlds%20and%20the%20World%20of%20Comics.pdf|editor=Berndt, Jaqueline|accessdate=29 October 2010|location=Kyoto, Japan|chapter=Theorizing comics/manga genre as a productive forum: yaoi and beyond|month=September}}</ref>

Japanese BL works are sold to English-speaking countries by companies that translate and print them in English; companies such as ] with their imprints 801 Media (for explicit BL) and June (for "romantic and sweet" BL),<ref name="Drawn Together">Strickland, Elizabeth. ''The Village Voice''. 2 November 2006.</ref> as well as ], ], ]'s ],<ref name = Boston/> ] under their imprint BLU, ] under their Boysenberry imprint, ] under their imprint ], and Yaoi Generation. According to McLelland, the earliest officially translated BL manga in print appeared in 2003, and as of 2006 there were about 130 English-translated works commercially available. In March 2007, ] stopped selling shōnen manga and increased their yaoi lines, anticipating to publish one or two titles per month that year.<ref>Cha, Kai-Ming (13 March 2007) '']''</ref> ] estimated the U.S. sales of yaoi manga as being approximately ] 6 million in 2007.

Mark McLelland surveyed 135 yaoi books published in North America between 2003 and 2006, and found that 14% was rated at 13 years or over, 39% was rated for readers aged 15 years or over, and 47% was rated for readers 18 years or older.<ref>McLelland, Mark; Yoo, Seunghyun (March 2007). . '']'', Vol. 4, No. 1, pages 93–104. {{doi|10.1525/srsp.2007.4.1.93}}.</ref> In 2008, BLU reported that although bookshops are becoming more willing to stock BL titles, they are conservative about how the books are labelled, leading to books being shrink wrapped and rated for over 18s which previously would have garnered an over 16 rating, and do not "really follow through on the adult content promise."

A 2006 breakdown of the Japanese commercial BL market estimated it grosses approximately 12 billion yen annually, with novel sales generating 250 million yen per month, manga generating 400 million yen per month, CDs generating 180 million yen per month, and video games generating 160 million yen per month.<ref name =Nagaike/> A 2010 report estimated that the Boys Love market was worth approximately 21.3 billion yen in both 2009 and 2010.<ref>http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-10-14/yano-research-reports-on-japan-2009-10-otaku-market</ref>


==Critical attention== ==Critical attention==
Boys' Love manga has received considerable critical attention, especially after translations of BL became commercially available outside of Japan in the 21st century.<ref name="out of hand"/> Different critics and commentators have had very different views of BL. In 1983, ] observed that “aesthetically” depicted male-male homosexual relationships had become popular among female readers as an extension of bisexual themes already present in shōjo manga.<ref name="Schodt83">Schodt, Frederik L. (1983) '']''. pages 100–101 Tokyo and New York: Kodansha International. ISBN 0-87011-752-1</ref> Japanese critics have seen BL as allowing girls to distance sex from their own bodies,<ref name="Ueno89">Ueno, Chizuko (1989) "Jendaaresu waarudo no <ai> no jikken" ("Experimenting with <love> in a Genderless World"). In ''Kikan Toshi II'' ("Quarterly City II"), Tokyo: Kawade Shobō Shinsha, ISBN 4-309-90222-7. Cited and translated in Thorn, 2004.</ref> as allowing girls to avoid adult ] while simultaneously creating greater fluidity in perceptions of gender and sexuality,<ref name="Fujimoto91">Fujimoto, Yukari (1991) "Shōjo manga ni okeru 'shōnen ai' no imi" ("The Meaning of 'Boys' Love' in Shōjo Manga"). In N. Mizuta, ed. ''New Feminism Review, Vol. 2: Onna to hyōgen'' ("Women and Expression"). Tokyo: Gakuyō Shobō, ISBN 4-313-84042-7. http://matt-thorn.com/shoujo_manga/fujimoto.php (in Japanese). Accessed 12 August 2008.</ref> and as rejecting “socially mandated” ]s as a “first step toward feminism.”<ref name = "Takemiya">]. (1993) "Josei wa gei ga suki!?" (Women Like Gays!?) '' Bungei shunjū'', ], pp. 82–83.</ref> In more elaborate theorizing, Kazuko Suzuki sees BL manga emerging from girls' contempt and dislike for masculine ] and from an effort to define "ideal relationships" among men.<ref>Suzuki, Kazuko. (1999) "Pornography or Therapy? Japanese Girls Creating the Yaoi Phenomenon". In Sherrie Inness, ed., ''Millennium Girls: Today's Girls Around the World''. London: Rowman & Littlefield, p.246 ISBN 0-8476-9136-5, ISBN 0-8476-9137-3.</ref> Mizoguchi, writing in 2003, feels that BL is a "female-gendered space", as the writers, readers, artists and most of the editors of BL are female.<ref>http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1229&context=artspapers</ref> BL has been compared to ] by English-speaking librarians.<ref name=yaoi101/><ref name="Romance by Any Other Name">Brenner, Robyn </ref> Parallels have also been noted in the popularity of ],<ref name=bonking/><ref name = revisited/> and yaoi has been called a form of "female ]".<ref name="Visual Kei">Hashimoto, Miyuki Intercultural Communication Studies XVI: 1 2007 pp. 87–99</ref> ], a science fiction writer, has said that she wrote yaoi ] fiction as a teen because she could not enjoy "conventional pornography, which had been made for men", and that she had found a "limitless freedom" in yaoi, much like in science fiction.<ref>McCaffery, Larry; Gregory, Sinda; Kotani, Mari; Takayuki, Tatsumi (n.d.) </ref> Boys' Love manga has received considerable critical attention, especially after translations of BL became commercially available outside of Japan in the 21st century.<ref name="out of hand"/> Different critics and commentators have had very different views of BL. In 1983, ] observed that “aesthetically” depicted male-male homosexual relationships had become popular among female readers as an extension of bisexual themes already present in shōjo manga.<ref name="Schodt83">Schodt, Frederik L. (1983) '']''. pages 100–101 Tokyo and New York: Kodansha International. ISBN 0-87011-752-1</ref>
Japanese critics have seen BL as allowing girls to distance sex from their own bodies,<ref name="Ueno89">Ueno, Chizuko (1989) "Jendaaresu waarudo no <ai> no jikken" ("Experimenting with <love> in a Genderless World"). In ''Kikan Toshi II'' ("Quarterly City II"), Tokyo: Kawade Shobō Shinsha, ISBN 4-309-90222-7. Cited and translated in Thorn, 2004.</ref> as allowing girls to avoid adult ] while simultaneously creating greater fluidity in perceptions of gender and sexuality,<ref name="Fujimoto91">Fujimoto, Yukari (1991) "Shōjo manga ni okeru 'shōnen ai' no imi" ("The Meaning of 'Boys' Love' in Shōjo Manga"). In N. Mizuta, ed. ''New Feminism Review, Vol. 2: Onna to hyōgen'' ("Women and Expression"). Tokyo: Gakuyō Shobō, ISBN 4-313-84042-7. http://matt-thorn.com/shoujo_manga/fujimoto.php (in Japanese). Accessed 12 August 2008.</ref> and as rejecting “socially mandated” ]s as a “first step toward feminism.”<ref name = "Takemiya">]. (1993) "Josei wa gei ga suki!?" (Women Like Gays!?) '' Bungei shunjū'', ], pp. 82–83.</ref> In more elaborate theorizing, Kazuko Suzuki sees BL manga emerging from girls' contempt and dislike for masculine ] and from an effort to define "ideal relationships" among men.<ref>Suzuki, Kazuko. (1999) "Pornography or Therapy? Japanese Girls Creating the Yaoi Phenomenon". In Sherrie Inness, ed., ''Millennium Girls: Today's Girls Around the World''. London: Rowman & Littlefield, p.246 ISBN 0-8476-9136-5, ISBN 0-8476-9137-3.</ref>
Mizoguchi, writing in 2003, feels that BL is a "female-gendered space", as the writers, readers, artists and most of the editors of BL are female.<ref>http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1229&context=artspapers</ref> BL has been compared to ] by English-speaking librarians.<ref name=yaoi101/><ref name="Romance by Any Other Name">Brenner, Robyn </ref> Parallels have also been noted in the popularity of ], and yaoi has been called a form of "female ]".<ref name="Visual Kei">Hashimoto, Miyuki Intercultural Communication Studies XVI: 1 2007 pp. 87–99</ref> ], a science fiction writer, has said that she wrote yaoi ] fiction as a teen because she could not enjoy "conventional pornography, which had been made for men", and that she had found a "limitless freedom" in yaoi, much like in science fiction.<ref>McCaffery, Larry; Gregory, Sinda; Kotani, Mari; Takayuki, Tatsumi (n.d.) </ref>

Other commentators have suggested that more radical gender-political issues underlie BL. Shihomi Sakakibara (1998) argued that yaoi fans, including herself, were homosexually oriented female-to-male transsexuals.<ref name = "Sakakibara">Sakakibara, Shihomi (1998) ''Yaoi genron: yaoi kara mieta mono'' (An Elusive Theory of Yaoi: The view from Yaoi). Tokyo: Natsume Shobo, ISBN 4-931391-42-7.</ref> For Sandra Buckley, ''bishōnen'' narratives champion “the imagined potentialities of alternative differentiations"<ref name="Buckley">Buckley, Sandra (1991) "'Penguin in Bondage': A Graphic Tale of Japanese Comic Books", pp. 163–196, In ''Technoculture''. C. Penley and A. Ross, eds. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota ISBN 0-8166-1932-8</ref> and James Welker described the ''bishōnen'' character as "]", observing that manga critic Akiko Mizoguchi saw ''shōnen-ai'' as playing a role in how she herself had become a lesbian.<ref name="Welker06">Welker, James. 2006. "Beautiful, Borrowed, and Bent: 'Boys' Love' as Girls' Love in Shôjo Manga' ''Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society'' vol. 31, no. 3. page 843. {{doi|10.1086/498987}}</ref> Dru Pagliassotti sees this and the ''yaoi ronsō'' as indicating that for Japanese gay and lesbian readers, BL is not as far removed from reality as heterosexual female readers like to claim. Welker added that ''shōnen-ai'' liberates readers "not just from patriarchy, but from gender ] and heteronormativity."<ref name="Welker06"/>


===Criticism ===
Other commentators have suggested that more radical gender-political issues underlie BL. Shihomi Sakakibara (1998) argued that yaoi fans, including herself, were homosexually oriented female-to-male transsexuals.<ref name = "Sakakibara">Sakakibara, Shihomi (1998) ''Yaoi genron: yaoi kara mieta mono'' (An Elusive Theory of Yaoi: The view from Yaoi). Tokyo: Natsume Shobo, ISBN 4-931391-42-7.</ref> For Sandra Buckley, ''bishōnen'' narratives champion “the imagined potentialities of alternative differentiations"<ref name="Buckley">Buckley, Sandra (1991) "'Penguin in Bondage': A Graphic Tale of Japanese Comic Books", pp. 163–196, In ''Technoculture''. C. Penley and A. Ross, eds. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota ISBN 0-8166-1932-8</ref> and James Welker described the ''bishōnen'' character as "]", observing that manga critic Akiko Mizoguchi saw ''shōnen-ai'' as playing a role in how she herself had become a lesbian.<ref name="Welker06">Welker, James. 2006. "Beautiful, Borrowed, and Bent: 'Boys' Love' as Girls' Love in Shôjo Manga' ''Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society'' vol. 31, no. 3. page 843. {{doi|10.1086/498987}}</ref> Dru Pagliassotti sees this and the ''yaoi ronsō'' as indicating that for Japanese gay and lesbian readers, BL is not as far removed from reality as heterosexual female readers like to claim.<ref name="Pagliassotti BL West"/> Welker added that ''shōnen-ai'' liberates readers "not just from patriarchy, but from gender ] and heteronormativity."<ref name="Welker06"/>
Some gay and lesbian commentators have criticized how gay identity is portrayed in BL, most notably in the ''yaoi ronsō'' or "yaoi debate" of 1992–1997. In May 1992, gay activist Masaki Satō criticized yaoi fans and artists in an ] to the feminist ] (or ''minikomi'' in Japanese) ''Choisir''. Satō said that yaoi failed to provide accurate information about gay men, promoted a destructive image of gay men as wealthy, handsome, and well-educated, ignored prejudice and discrimination against gay men in society, and co-opted gay men as masturbation fantasies. An extensive debate ensued, with yaoi fans and artists arguing that yaoi is entertainment for women, not education for gay men, and that yaoi characters are not meant to represent "real gay men." As internet resources for gay men developed in the 1990s, the yaoi debate waned<ref>Blackarmor (19 February 2008) "A Follow-Up To the Yaoi Debate" http://blackarmor.exblog.jp/7508722/ (In Japanese.) Accessed 14 August 2008.</ref> but has had later echoes, for example when Mizoguchi in 2003 characterised stereotypes in modern BL as being "unrealistic and homophobic".<ref name = "MizoguchiAASAM">Mizoguchi, Akiko. (2003) "Homophobic Homos, Rapes of Love, and Queer Lesbians: Yaoi as a Conflicting Site of Homo/ Hetero-Sexual Female Sexual Fantasy". Session 187, ] Annual Meeting, New York, 27–30 March 2003. http://www.aasianst.org/absts/2003abst/Japan/sessions.htm Accessed 12 August 2008.</ref>


Some gay and lesbian commentators have criticized how gay identity is portrayed in BL, most notably in the ''yaoi ronsō'' or "yaoi debate" of 1992–1997.<ref name="Yaoi Debate"/><ref name="Mori Mari"/> In May 1992, gay activist Masaki Satō criticized yaoi fans and artists in an ] to the feminist ] (or ''minikomi'' in Japanese) ''Choisir''.<ref name="Yaoi Debate"/><ref name="Mori Mari"/> Satō said that yaoi failed to provide accurate information about gay men, promoted a destructive image of gay men as wealthy, handsome, and well-educated, ignored prejudice and discrimination against gay men in society, and co-opted gay men as masturbation fantasies.<ref name="Mori Mari"/> An extensive debate ensued, with yaoi fans and artists arguing that yaoi is entertainment for women, not education for gay men, and that yaoi characters are not meant to represent "real gay men."<ref name="Mori Mari"/> As internet resources for gay men developed in the 1990s, the yaoi debate waned<ref>Blackarmor (19 February 2008) "A Follow-Up To the Yaoi Debate" http://blackarmor.exblog.jp/7508722/ (In Japanese.) Accessed 14 August 2008.</ref> but has had later echoes, for example when Mizoguchi in 2003 characterised stereotypes in modern BL as being "unrealistic and homophobic".<ref name = "MizoguchiAASAM">Mizoguchi, Akiko. (2003) "Homophobic Homos, Rapes of Love, and Queer Lesbians: Yaoi as a Conflicting Site of Homo/ Hetero-Sexual Female Sexual Fantasy". Session 187, ] Annual Meeting, New York, 27–30 March 2003. http://www.aasianst.org/absts/2003abst/Japan/sessions.htm Accessed 12 August 2008.</ref> There has been similar criticism to the Japanese yaoi debate in the English-speaking fandom.<ref name = "Yowie"/><ref>Butcher, Christopher (18 August 2006). </ref><ref>Johnson, M.J. (May 2002). . ''Sequential Tart''.</ref><ref>McHarry, Mark. "Identity Unmoored: Yaoi in the West". In Thomas Peele, ed., ''Queer Popular Culture: Literature, Media, Film, and Television''. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. ISBN 1-4039-7490-X. pp. 187–188.</ref> In 1993 and 2004, ] pointed to the complexity of these phenomena, and suggested that yaoi and ] fans are discontented with “the standards of femininity to which they are expected to adhere and a ] that does not validate or sympathize with that discontent.”<ref name="out of hand"/><ref name = "Thorn1993">Thorn, Matt. (1993) "Unlikely Explorers: Alternative Narratives of Love, Sex, Gender, and Friendship in Japanese Girls' Comics." New York Conference on ], ], 16 October 1993.</ref> There has been similar criticism to the Japanese yaoi debate in the English-speaking fandom.<ref name = "Yowie"/><ref>Butcher, Christopher (18 August 2006). </ref><ref>Johnson, M.J. (May 2002). . ''Sequential Tart''.</ref><ref>McHarry, Mark. "Identity Unmoored: Yaoi in the West". In Thomas Peele, ed., ''Queer Popular Culture: Literature, Media, Film, and Television''. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. ISBN 1-4039-7490-X. pp. 187–188.</ref> In 1993 and 2004, ] pointed to the complexity of these phenomena, and suggested that yaoi and ] fans are discontented with “the standards of femininity to which they are expected to adhere and a ] that does not validate or sympathize with that discontent.”<ref name="out of hand"/><ref name = "Thorn1993">Thorn, Matt. (1993) "Unlikely Explorers: Alternative Narratives of Love, Sex, Gender, and Friendship in Japanese Girls' Comics." New York Conference on ], ], 16 October 1993.</ref>


As women have greater economic power, commercial demand for the sexualization of men may correlate. Korean comic writer ] wrote in a commentary to Vol. 5, Chp 2 of an ] themed shōnen-ai work, A Night of a Thousand Dreams, "Men are now marketable. It's also a time where women are big consumers and can buy almost anything they desire. Some men think this is ]...but the tables have turned, and I like the fact that men are just as commercialized now." He jokes that after researching ], which requires extreme physical fitness, he does not feel as marketable, illustrating that yaoi and other pornography exploiting men is subject to traditional criticisms, such as ], creating unrealistic expectations and negative ]s. As women have greater economic power, commercial demand for the sexualization of men may correlate. Korean comic writer Jin Seok Jeon wrote in a commentary to Vol. 5, Chp 2 of an ] themed shōnen-ai work, A Night of a Thousand Dreams, "Men are now marketable. It's also a time where women are big consumers and can buy almost anything they desire. Some men think this is ]...but the tables have turned, and I like the fact that men are just as commercialized now." He jokes that after researching ], which requires extreme physical fitness, he does not feel as marketable, illustrating that yaoi and other pornography exploiting men is subject to traditional criticisms, such as ], creating unrealistic expectations and negative ]s.


In China, BL became very popular in the late 1990s, attracting media attention, which became negative, focusing on the challenge it posed to "heterosexual hegemony". Publishing and distributing BL is illegal in mainland China.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://intersections.anu.edu.au/issue20/liu.htm |title=Intersections: Conflicting Discourses on Boys' Love and Subcultural Tactics in Mainland China and Hong Kong |publisher=Intersections.anu.edu.au |accessdate=8 September 2009}}</ref> Zanghellini notes that due to the "characteristics of the yaoi/BL genre" of showing characters who are often ] engaging in romantic and sexual situations, child pornography laws in ] and ] "may lend themselves to targeting yaoi/BL work". He notes that in the ], cartoons are exempt from child pornography laws unless they are used for ].<ref name=Zanghellini/> In China, BL became very popular in the late 1990s, attracting media attention, which became negative, focusing on the challenge it posed to "heterosexual hegemony". Publishing and distributing BL is illegal in mainland China.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://intersections.anu.edu.au/issue20/liu.htm |title=Intersections: Conflicting Discourses on Boys' Love and Subcultural Tactics in Mainland China and Hong Kong |publisher=Intersections.anu.edu.au |accessdate=8 September 2009}}</ref> Zanghellini notes that due to the "characteristics of the yaoi/BL genre" of showing characters who are often ] engaging in romantic and sexual situations, child pornography laws in ] and ] "may lend themselves to targeting yaoi/BL work". He notes that in the ], cartoons are exempt from child pornography laws unless they are used for ].<ref name=Zanghellini/>

Revision as of 04:50, 8 August 2012

"Boys Love" redirects here. For the film, see Boys Love (film). For the manga, see Boys Love (manga).
Example of shōnen-ai artwork, originally published at Animexx.

error: {{nihongo}}: Japanese or romaji text required (help) also known as Boys' Love, is a Japanese popular term for female-oriented fictional media that focus on homoerotic or homoromantic male relationships, usually created by female authors. As these depict males, there is an androphilic male audience as well; however, manga aimed at a gay male audience (bara) is considered a separate genre.

Although the genre is called Boys' Love (commonly abbreviated as "BL"), the males featured are pubescent or older. Works featuring prepubescent boys are labeled shotacon, and seen as a distinct genre. Yaoi (as it continues to be known among English-speaking fans) has spread beyond Japan: both translated and original yaoi is now available in many countries and languages.

Yaoi began in the dōjinshi markets of Japan in the late 1970s/early 1980s as an outgrowth of error: {{nihongo}}: Japanese or romaji text required (help), but whereas shōnen-ai (both commercial and dōjinshi) were original works, yaoi were parodies of popular shōnen anime and manga, such as Captain Tsubasa and Saint Seiya. Originally referring to a specific type of dōjinshi (self-published works) parody of mainstream anime and manga works, yaoi came to be used as a generic term for female-oriented manga, anime, dating sims, novels and dōjinshi featuring idealized homosexual male relationships.

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History

The earliest magazine about Boy's Love was June, which began in 1978 as a response to the success of commercially published manga such as the works of Keiko Takemiya, Moto Hagio and Yumiko Ōshima. Other factors was the rising popularity of depictions of bishōnen in the dōjinshi market and ambiguous musicians such as David Bowie and Queen. June was meant to have an underground, "cultish, guerilla-style" feeling – most of its manga artists were new talent. Frederik L. Schodt describes June as "a kind of 'readers' magazine, created by and for the readers." Essays about the characteristics of the June genre were published with the manga in June.

Kaze to Ki no Uta was groundbreaking in its depictions of "openly sexual relationships", spurring the development of the Boys Love genre in shōjo manga, and the development of sexually explicit amateur comics. The use of yaoi to denote those works with explicit scenes sometimes clashes with use of the word to describe the genre as a whole. Yaoi can be used by fans as a label for anime or manga-based slash fiction.

Etymology

Yaoi is an acronym created in the dōjinshi market of the late 1970s by Yasuko Sakata and Akiko Hatsu and coined in the 1980s standing for error: {{nihongo}}: Japanese or romaji text required (help). This phrase was first used as a "euphemism for the content" and refers to how yaoi, as opposed to the "difficult to understand" shōnen-ai of the Year 24 Group, focused on "the yummy parts". The phrase also parodies a classical style of plot structure. Kubota Mitsuyoshi says that Osamu Tezuka used yama nashi, ochi nashi, imi nashi to dismiss poor quality manga, and this was appropriated by the early yaoi authors. As of 1998, the term yaoi was considered "common knowledge to manga fans". A joking alternative acronym among fujoshi (female yaoi fans) for yaoi is error: {{nihongo3}}: Japanese or romaji text required (help).

Yaoi has become an umbrella term in the West for women's manga or Japanese-influenced comics with male-male relationships, and it is the term preferentially used by American manga publishers. The actual name of the genre aimed toward women in Japan is called 'BL' or 'Boy's Love'. BL is aimed at the shōjo and josei demographics, but is considered a separate category. Yaoi is used in Japan to include dōjinshi and sex scenes, and does not include gei comi, which is by and for gay men.

Although different meanings are often ascribed to the terms yaoi and Boy's Love (with yaoi generally said to be more explicit and BL generally said to being less so), there is conflicting information on their usage.

The term "bishōnen manga" was used in the 1970s, but became depreciated in the 1990s when the manga featured a broader range of protagonists than adolescent boys. June magazine was named after the French author Jean Genet, with "june" being a play on the Japanese pronunciation of his name. Eventually the term "june" died out in favour of "BL," which remains the most common name. Mizoguchi suggests that publishers wishing to get a foothold in the June market coined the term BL to disassociate the genre with the publisher of June.

Another term for yaoi is 801. "801" can be read as "yaoi" in the following form: the "short" reading of the number 8 is "ya", 0 can be read as "o" – a western influence, while the short reading for 1 is "i" (see Japanese wordplay). For example, an Internet manga called Tonari no 801-chan, about a male otaku who dates a fujoshi, has been adapted into a serialized shōjo manga and a live-action film. 801-chan, the mascot of a Japanese shopping centre, is used in the manga.

Seme and uke

Artwork depicting a seme (left) and uke (right) couple.

The two participants in a yaoi relationship (sometimes also in yuri) are often referred to as seme and uke. These terms originated in martial arts and uke is used in Japanese gay slang to mean the receptive partner in anal sex. Aleardo Zanghellini suggests that the martial arts terms have special significance to a Japanese audience, as an archetype of male same-sex relationships involves that once held between samurai and their companions. Seme derives from the ichidan verb "to attack" and uke from the verb "to receive". The seme and uke are often drawn in the bishōnen style and are "highly idealised", blending both masculine and feminine qualities.

Zanghellini suggests that the samurai archetype is responsible for "the 'hierarchical' structure and age difference" of some relationships portrayed in yaoi and BL. The seme is often depicted as the stereotypical male of anime and manga culture: restrained, physically powerful, and/or protective. The seme is generally older and taller, with a stronger chin, shorter hair, smaller eyes, and a more stereotypically masculine, even "macho", demeanour than the uke. The seme usually pursues the uke, hence the name. The uke usually has softer, androgynous, feminine features with bigger eyes and a smaller build, and is often physically weaker than the seme.

Anal sex is a prevalent theme in yaoi, as nearly all stories feature it in some way. The storyline where an uke is reluctant to have anal sex with a seme is considered to be similar to the reader's reluctance to have sexual contact with someone for the first time. Zanghellini notes that anal sex is almost always in a position so that the characters face each other, not in the doggy style Zanghelli states is portrayed by gay pornography. Zanghellini also notes that the uke rarely fellates the seme, but instead receives the sexual and romantic attentions of the seme.

One stereotype that is criticized is when the protagonists do not identify as gay, but rather are simply in love with that particular person. This is said to heighten the theme of all-conquering love, but is also pointed to as avoiding having to address prejudices against people who consider themselves to have been born homosexual. In recent years, newer yaoi stories have characters that identify as gay. Criticism of the stereotypically "girly" behavior of the uke has also been prominent.

Though these stereotypes are common, not all works adhere to them. Mark McLelland says that authors are "interested in exploring, not repudiating" the dynamics between the insertive partner and the receptive partner. The possibility of switching roles is often a source of playful teasing and sexual excitement for the characters, which has been said to show that the genre is aware of the "performative nature" of the roles. Sometimes the bottom character will be the aggressor in the relationship, or the pair will switch their sexual roles. Riba, リバ (a contraction of the English word "reversible") is used to describe a couple that yaoi fans think is still plausible when the partners switch their seme/uke roles. In another common mode of characters, the author will forego the stylisations of the seme and uke, and will portray both lovers as "equally attractive handsome men". In this case, whichever of the two who is ordinarily in charge will take the "passive role" in the bedroom.

Shōnen-ai

Shōnen-ai originally connoted ephebophilia or pederasty in Japan, but from the early 1970s to the late 1980s, was used to describe a new genre of shōjo manga, primarily by the Year 24 Group, about beautiful boys in love. Characteristics of shōnen-ai include that they were exotic, often taking place in Europe, and idealistic.

While shōnen-ai literally means boy's love, the two terms are not synonymous. In Japan, shōnen-ai used to refer to a now obsolete subgenre of shōjo manga about prepubescent boys in relationships ranging from the platonic to the romantic and sexual. The term was originally used to describe ephebophilia, and in scholarly contexts still is. Boy's Love, on the other hand, is used as a genre's name and refers to all titles regardless of sexual content or the ages of characters in the story (with the exception of titles featuring prepubescent boys, which are categorized as shotacon, a distinct genre with only peripheral connections to BL).

In the meantime, "the readers' attention became focused on the figure of the male protagonist" and how he navigated his sexual relationships. By the late 1980s, the popularity of professionally published shōnen-ai was declining, and yaoi dōjinshi was becoming more popular. In recent years, the terms yaoi and shōnen-ai have sometimes been used by western fans to differentiate between the contents of the genre. Yaoi has been used to describe titles that contain largely sex scenes and other sexually explicit themes and shōnen-ai is used to describe titles that focus more on romance and do not include explicit sexual content, although they may include implicit sexual content.

The terms yaoi and shōnen-ai are sometimes used by western fans to differentiate between the contents of the genre. In this case, yaoi is used to describe titles that contain largely sex scenes and other sexually explicit themes and shōnen-ai is used to describe titles that focus more on romance and do not include explicit sexual content, although they may include implicit sexual content. When using the terms in this way, Gravitation is considered to be shōnen-ai due to its focus on the characters' careers rather than their love life, while the Gravitation Remix and Megamix dōjinshi by the same author, which emphasize the characters' sexual relationships, would be considered yaoi. Sometimes the word hentai is used as an additional modifier with yaoi – "hentai yaoi" – to denote the most explicit titles.

Dōjinshi

The dōjinshi subculture has been considered the Japanese equivalent of the English-language slash fandom, especially as they both do not have typical "narrative structure", science fiction works are particularly popular in both, and they both originated in the 1970s.

Typical yaoi dōjinshi features male-male pairings from non-romantic, published manga and anime. Much of the material derives from male-oriented (shōnen and seinen) works which contained male-male close friendships and are perceived by fans to imply homosexual attraction, such as with Captain Tsubasa and Saint Seiya, two titles which popularised yaoi in the 1980s. Dōjinshi has been described by Comiket's co-founder Yoshihiro Yonezawa as being "girls playing with dolls"; yaoi fans may ship any male-male pairing, sometimes pairing off a favourite character, or creating a story about two men and fitting existing characters into the story.

Important characteristics of the early yaoi dōjinshi were that they were amateur publications not controlled by media restrictions, the stories were by teens for other teens and they were based on famous characters who were in their teens or early twenties, the same age as the yaoi fans.

Though collectors often focus on dōjinshi based on particular manga, any male character may become the subject of a yaoi dōjinshi, even characters from non-manga titles such as Harry Potter or The Lord of the Rings, or video games such as Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy, real people such as politicians, or personifications such as Hetalia: Axis Powers, or complementary items such as salt and pepper or peanut butter and jelly.

Most dōjinshi are created by amateurs who often work in "circles"; for example, the group CLAMP began as an amateur dōjinshi circle, drawing Saint Seiya yaoi. However, some professional artists, such as Kodaka Kazuma create dōjinshi as well. Some publishing companies have used dōjinshi published in the 1980s to spot talented amateurs, such as Biblos hiring Youka Nitta.

Convention when labelling stories differs between Japanese fandom and slash-influenced fandoms. In Japan, the labelling is to put the two names of the characters separated by a multiplication sign, with the seme being first, and the uke being second.

Thematic elements

BL has similar themes to heterosexual shōjo manga, several exploring adolescent romance and the "interiority of the characters." Nagaike identifies common narratives as being toshishita zeme, where the younger partner penetrates the older, shota mono about young adolescents, riiman mono, about salarymen, and gakuen mono, stories set on a campus. Common characters in yaoi are schoolboys and yakuza. Sometimes, schoolboys are depicted in sexual situations, which is controversial when these titles are licensed in countries where underage sexuality and its depiction is taboo.

Female characters

Female characters often have very minor roles in yaoi, or are absent altogether. Suzuki notes that mothers, in particular, are portrayed badly, such as Takuto's mother from Zetsuai 1989, who killed her husband in front of her young son. Suzuki suggests this is because the character and the reader are attempting to replace a mother's lacking "unconditional love" with the "forbidden" all-consuming love presented in yaoi. Nariko Enomoto, a yaoi author, says she feels that when women are shown, "it can't help but become weirdly real". When yaoi fan works are created from a series which originally contained females (such as Gundam Wing), the female's role is either minimised or the character is killed off.

Early shōnen-ai and yaoi has been regarded as misogynistic, but Lunsing detects a decrease in misogynistic comments from characters and regards the development of the yuri genre as reflecting a reduction of internal misogyny. Alternatively, the yaoi fandom is also viewed as a "refuge" from mainstream culture, which in this paradigm is viewed as inherently misogynistic. Fumi Yoshinaga is regarded as a creator who usually includes at least one sympathetic female character in her works. Also, there are many female characters in Yaoi who are Fujoshi themselves.

Gachi muchi

Recently, a subgenre of BL has been introduced in Japan, so-called "muscley-chubby BL" or gachi muchi (muscular) and muchimuchi (chubby} which offers more masculine body types and is more likely to have gay male authors and artists. Although still marketed primarily to women, it is also thought to attract a large crossover gay male audience. Although this type of material has also been referred to as "bara" among English-speaking fans, it is not equivalent to gei comi proper (although there is considerable overlap, as writers, artists and art styles cross over between the two genres). Prior to the development of gachi muchi, the greatest overlap between yaoi and bara authors has been in BDSM-themed publications such as Zettai Reido, a yaoi anthology magazine which had a number of openly male contributors. Several female yaoi authors who have done BDSM-themed yaoi have been recruited to contribute stories to BDSM-themed bara anthologies or special issues.

Gay rights

Many BL manga have fantastic, historic or futuristic settings, and many fans consider BL to be an "escapist fantasy". Homophobia, when it is presented as an issue at all, is used as a plot device to "heighten the drama", or to show the purity of the leads’ love. Matt Thorn has suggested that as BL is a romance narrative, having strong political themes may be a "turn off" to the readers.

Yaoi narratives show characters "overcoming obstacles, often internal, to be together". The theme of the victory of the protagonists in yaoi has been compared favourably to Western fairy tales, as the latter intends to enforce the status quo, but yaoi is "about desire" and seeks "to explore, not circumscribe, possibilities." Hisako Miyoshi, vice editor-in-chief for Libre Publishing, has said that she feels that boys love manga has become less realist, with more comedic elements or being "simply for entertainment". She thinks that earlier BL focused "more on the homosexual way of life with a realist perspective."

Makoto Tateno has said that she feels that BL with a focus on realistic gay issues "won't become a trend, because girls like fiction more than realism." Akiko Mizoguchi feels that while depictions of homosexuality as "shameful" to heighten dramatic tension are still shown, BL is including more coming out stories which portray a gradual acceptance from the wider community. Mizoguchi feels that BL is showing far more gay-friendly depictions of Japanese society, which she regards as activism.

Yaoi stories are often strongly homosocial, which gives the men freedom to bond with each other and to pursue shared goals together, as in dojinshi representations of Captain Tsubasa, or to rival each other, as in Haru wo Daiteita. This spiritual bond and equal partnership shown overcomes the male-female power hierarchy.

Rape

According to Suzuki, sexual intercourse in yaoi is a way of expressing commitment to a partner, and "apparent violence" in sex is a "measure of passion". Suzuki elaborates that when a woman is raped, she is stigmatised by society, but in yaoi narratives, boys who are loved by their rapists are still "imbued with innocence", a theme she attributes to Kaze to Ki no Uta.

According to Nagaike, rape scenes in yaoi are rarely presented as crimes with an assaulter and a victim. Nagaike feels that scenes where a seme rapes a uke are not symptomatic of the seme's "disruptive sexual/violent desires", but instead are a signifier of the "uncontrollable love" felt by a seme for an uke. Instead of being depicted as a crime, rape scenes can be a plot device used to make the uke see the seme as more than just a good friend, resulting in the uke falling in love with the seme. Rape fantasy themes have been said to free the protagonist of responsibility in sex, leading to the narrative climax of the story, where "the protagonist takes responsibility for his own sexuality". The 2003–2005 Under Grand Hotel, set in a men's prison, has been praised for showing a more realistic depiction of rape.

Tragedy

June stories with suicide endings were popular, as was "watching men suffer". Matt Thorn theorises that depicting abuse in yaoi is a coping mechanism for some yaoi fans. By the mid 1990s the fashion was for happy endings. When tragic endings are shown, the cause is not infidelity, but "the cruel and intrusive demands of an uncompromising outside world."

Bara

Main article: Bara (genre)

Although sometimes conflated with "yaoi" by Anglophone commentators, also called ML (men's love), in Japan and "bara" in English, caters to a gay male audience rather than a female one and tends to be made primarily by homosexual and bisexual male artists (such as Gengoroh Tagame) and serialized in gay men's magazines. It is an even smaller niche genre in Japan than yaoi manga; none has been licensed in English and not much has been scanlated into English. Considered a subgenre of seijin (men's erotica) for gay males, bara resembles comics for men (seinen) rather than comics for female readers (shōjo/josei).

Recently a subgenre of BL has been introduced in Japan, so-called gachi muchi "muscley-chubby" BL, which offers more masculine body types and is more likely to have gay male authors and artists. Although still marketed primarily to women, it is also thought to attract a large crossover gay male audience. This material has been referred to as "bara" among English-speaking fans, but it is distinct in publishing terms (and often in content and style), and should not be confused with gei comi proper.

Popularity outside Japan

As Japanese yaoi gained popularity in the U.S., a few American artists began creating original English-language manga for female readers featuring beautiful male-male couples referred to as "American yaoi." The first known original English-language BL comic is Sexual Espionage #1 by Daria McGrain, published in May 2002.

Since approximately 2004, what started as a small subculture in North America has become a burgeoning market, as new publishers began producing female-oriented male/male erotic comics and manga from creators outside Japan. Because creators from all parts of the globe are published in these "original English language" works, the term "American Yaoi" fell out of use; terms like 'Original English Language yaoi' shortened to 'Global Yaoi'.

The term Global BL was coined by creators and newsgroups that wanted to distinguish the Asian specific content known as 'yaoi', from the original English content, and so the term Global BL was used. "Global BL" was shortened by comics author Tina Anderson in interviews and on her blog to the acronym 'GloBL'. High-Volume North American publishers of 'Global BL' are Yaoi Press,, which continues to release illustrated fiction written by the companies CEO, Yamila Abraham under the imprint Yaoi Prose. Prior publishers include DramaQueen, which debuted its 'Global BL' quarterly anthology RUSH in 2006, and Iris Print,, both ceased publishing due to financial issues.

In 2009, Germany saw a period of GloBL releases, with a handful of original German titles gaining popularity for being set in Asia. Some publishers of German GloBL were traditional manga publishers like Carlsen Manga, and small press publishers specializing in GloBL like The Wild Side and Fireangels Verlag.

Other successful series in GloBL include web comics Teahouse and Starfighter, and In These Words from artist Jo Chen's studio Guilt Pleasure, all three of which are also being promoted by Digital Manga Publishing.

Publishing

Books on display at a San Francisco Kinokuniya bookstore

Mizoguchi divides BL publication into two eras – the first era from the time of June to 2004, and a second era from 2004 onwards.

Japanese BL works are sold to English-speaking countries by companies that translate and print them in English; companies such as Digital Manga Publishing with their imprints 801 Media (for explicit BL) and June (for "romantic and sweet" BL), as well as DramaQueen, Kitty Media, Central Park Media's Be Beautiful, Tokyopop under their imprint BLU, Broccoli under their Boysenberry imprint, Aurora Publishing under their imprint Deux Press, and Yaoi Generation. According to McLelland, the earliest officially translated BL manga in print appeared in 2003, and as of 2006 there were about 130 English-translated works commercially available. In March 2007, Media Blasters stopped selling shōnen manga and increased their yaoi lines, anticipating to publish one or two titles per month that year. Diamond Comic Distributors estimated the U.S. sales of yaoi manga as being approximately $US 6 million in 2007.

Mark McLelland surveyed 135 yaoi books published in North America between 2003 and 2006, and found that 14% was rated at 13 years or over, 39% was rated for readers aged 15 years or over, and 47% was rated for readers 18 years or older. In 2008, BLU reported that although bookshops are becoming more willing to stock BL titles, they are conservative about how the books are labelled, leading to books being shrink wrapped and rated for over 18s which previously would have garnered an over 16 rating, and do not "really follow through on the adult content promise."

A 2006 breakdown of the Japanese commercial BL market estimated it grosses approximately 12 billion yen annually, with novel sales generating 250 million yen per month, manga generating 400 million yen per month, CDs generating 180 million yen per month, and video games generating 160 million yen per month. A 2010 report estimated that the Boys Love market was worth approximately 21.3 billion yen in both 2009 and 2010.

Critical attention

Boys' Love manga has received considerable critical attention, especially after translations of BL became commercially available outside of Japan in the 21st century. Different critics and commentators have had very different views of BL. In 1983, Frederik L. Schodt observed that “aesthetically” depicted male-male homosexual relationships had become popular among female readers as an extension of bisexual themes already present in shōjo manga.

Japanese critics have seen BL as allowing girls to distance sex from their own bodies, as allowing girls to avoid adult female sexuality while simultaneously creating greater fluidity in perceptions of gender and sexuality, and as rejecting “socially mandated” gender roles as a “first step toward feminism.” In more elaborate theorizing, Kazuko Suzuki sees BL manga emerging from girls' contempt and dislike for masculine heterosexism and from an effort to define "ideal relationships" among men.

Mizoguchi, writing in 2003, feels that BL is a "female-gendered space", as the writers, readers, artists and most of the editors of BL are female. BL has been compared to romance novels by English-speaking librarians. Parallels have also been noted in the popularity of lesbianism in pornography, and yaoi has been called a form of "female fetishism". Mariko Ōhara, a science fiction writer, has said that she wrote yaoi Kirk/Spock fiction as a teen because she could not enjoy "conventional pornography, which had been made for men", and that she had found a "limitless freedom" in yaoi, much like in science fiction.

Other commentators have suggested that more radical gender-political issues underlie BL. Shihomi Sakakibara (1998) argued that yaoi fans, including herself, were homosexually oriented female-to-male transsexuals. For Sandra Buckley, bishōnen narratives champion “the imagined potentialities of alternative differentiations" and James Welker described the bishōnen character as "queer", observing that manga critic Akiko Mizoguchi saw shōnen-ai as playing a role in how she herself had become a lesbian. Dru Pagliassotti sees this and the yaoi ronsō as indicating that for Japanese gay and lesbian readers, BL is not as far removed from reality as heterosexual female readers like to claim. Welker added that shōnen-ai liberates readers "not just from patriarchy, but from gender dualism and heteronormativity."

Criticism

Some gay and lesbian commentators have criticized how gay identity is portrayed in BL, most notably in the yaoi ronsō or "yaoi debate" of 1992–1997. In May 1992, gay activist Masaki Satō criticized yaoi fans and artists in an open letter to the feminist zine (or minikomi in Japanese) Choisir. Satō said that yaoi failed to provide accurate information about gay men, promoted a destructive image of gay men as wealthy, handsome, and well-educated, ignored prejudice and discrimination against gay men in society, and co-opted gay men as masturbation fantasies. An extensive debate ensued, with yaoi fans and artists arguing that yaoi is entertainment for women, not education for gay men, and that yaoi characters are not meant to represent "real gay men." As internet resources for gay men developed in the 1990s, the yaoi debate waned but has had later echoes, for example when Mizoguchi in 2003 characterised stereotypes in modern BL as being "unrealistic and homophobic".

There has been similar criticism to the Japanese yaoi debate in the English-speaking fandom. In 1993 and 2004, Matt Thorn pointed to the complexity of these phenomena, and suggested that yaoi and slash fiction fans are discontented with “the standards of femininity to which they are expected to adhere and a social environment that does not validate or sympathize with that discontent.”

As women have greater economic power, commercial demand for the sexualization of men may correlate. Korean comic writer Jin Seok Jeon wrote in a commentary to Vol. 5, Chp 2 of an Arabian Nights themed shōnen-ai work, A Night of a Thousand Dreams, "Men are now marketable. It's also a time where women are big consumers and can buy almost anything they desire. Some men think this is degrading...but the tables have turned, and I like the fact that men are just as commercialized now." He jokes that after researching oil wrestling, which requires extreme physical fitness, he does not feel as marketable, illustrating that yaoi and other pornography exploiting men is subject to traditional criticisms, such as sexual objectification, creating unrealistic expectations and negative body images.

In China, BL became very popular in the late 1990s, attracting media attention, which became negative, focusing on the challenge it posed to "heterosexual hegemony". Publishing and distributing BL is illegal in mainland China. Zanghellini notes that due to the "characteristics of the yaoi/BL genre" of showing characters who are often underage engaging in romantic and sexual situations, child pornography laws in Australia and Canada "may lend themselves to targeting yaoi/BL work". He notes that in the UK, cartoons are exempt from child pornography laws unless they are used for child grooming.

In 2001, a controversy erupted in Thailand regarding homosexual male comics. Television reports labeled the comics as negative influences, while a newspaper falsely stated that most of the comics were not copyrighted as the publishers feared arrest for posting the content; in reality most of the titles were likely illegally published without permission from the original Japanese publishers. The shōnen ai comics provided profits for the comic shops, which sold between 30 to 50 such comics per day. The moral panic regarding the male homosexual comics subsided. The Thai girls felt too embarrassed to read heterosexual stories, so they read homosexual male-themed josei and shōjo stories, which they saw as "unthreatening."

Youka Nitta has said that "even in Japan, reading boys' love isn't something that parents encourage" and encouraged any parents who had concerns about her works to read them. Although in Japan, concern about manga has been mostly directed to shōnen manga, in 2006, an email campaign was launched against the availability of BL manga in Sakai City's public library. In August 2008, the library decided to stop buying more BL, and to keep its existing BL in a collection restricted to adult readers. That November, the library was contacted by people who protested against the removal, regarding it as "a form of sexual discrimination". The Japanese media ran stories on how much BL was in public libraries, and emphasised that this sexual material had been loaned out to minors. Debate ensued on Mixi, a Japanese social networking site, and eventually the library returned its BL to the public collection. Mark McLelland suggests that BL may become "a major battlefront for proponents and detractors of 'gender free' policies in employment, education and elsewhere."

See also

Notes

  1. In careful Japanese enunciation, all three vowels are pronounced separately, for a three-mora word, Template:IPA-ja. The English equivalent is YAH-oy.
  2. First serialised in Shōjo Comic in January 1976, Kaze has been called "the first commercially published boys' love story", but this claim has been challenged, as the first male-male kiss was in the 1970 In the Sunroom, also by Keiko Takemiya. In 1982, Shōsetsu June ("Novel June"), a sister magazine to June began publication. Its content is text-only stories with male romance. Nagaike believes that the true "revolution" in BL culture was when it began to be commercially published en masse in the 1990s. As of the mid-1990s, Shōsetsu June outsold June. As of 2008, June was still running, although the target audience's ages have widened and the style of stories has changed from being "soft love" to more overtly pornographic. Matt Thorn says that Kaze was "the first shōjo manga to portray romantic and sexual relationships between boys", and that Takemiya first thought of Kaze nine years before it was approved for publication. Takemiya attributes the gap between the idea and its publication to the sexual elements of the story.
  3. This character has been called an "Osoi uke" ("attacking uke"). He is usually paired with a "Hetare seme" ("wimpy seme").

References

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