Forum - View topicWhat is it about Yaoi that's so appealing? Topic 4 fangirls
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darkhunter
 Posts: 2992 Location: Los Angelas |
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Anyways, I always wonder why yaoi is so popular here. Lately 've been hearing a lot about yaoi books. What is about yaoi that make normal manga fangirl rush out and buy them. Is there a bond/love between two guys that is more fanscinating than with a guy and a girl. Is this what girls fantasize about? I don't buy yaoi and when I ask some female non-manga fan if they would ever check out yaoi, they would always say...ewww no.
I know girls wouldn't want to see two guys go at it with each other in real life. Also here in the United state, it's almost taboo to think of such thing, but okay for two girl to go at it? Is there any Yuri manga here in the state at all? This topic is mainly for the girls (or guys) who brought yaoi first hand and would like to share thier opinion and thier take on the matter. It's not for averge guys fan to speculate why girls like it. Who knows, maybe we all might learn something new about the trend and the appeal of it. |
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lianncoop
Past ANN Contributor
 Posts: 1705 Location: Indiana |
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Actually, I read something interesting in the book Manga: 60 years of Japanese Comics the other day regarding the appeal of yaoi. Keep in mind that this applies mostly to the Japanese female.
One theory is that girls are looking for a relationship against the norm...something to spice up the rigid girl/guy relationship and yaoi offers them that outlet. Usually in the homosexual portrayals, neither guy is portrayed as being dominant over the other. Other suggestions are: -during the adolescent age, girls find boys disgusting. In yaoi or any shoujo, males are portrayed as flawless pretty boys--in other words, perfect. -they associate with the bishounen more simply because Japanese women aren't nearly as busty as women are normally portrayed in manga. They almost have more in common with an effiminate hairless male than a big breasted, curvy woman. -homosexual men don't compete for another woman's affections and just compete for men. This would be ideal for a woman to have no competition for a guy unobtainable to any woman. -girls relate more to the guys because it's easier to picture them as women than actual hairy men. I guess this also makes sense since a lot of shoujo/yaoi are drawn by female artists. I dunno, seemed like interesting points when I read it. As far as American girls are concerned...I really don't have an explanation for that. Last edited by lianncoop on Tue Oct 26, 2004 1:21 am; edited 1 time in total |
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The Ramblin' Wreck
 Posts: 924 Location: Teaching Robot Women How To Love |
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^^
Actually, that probably pretty much sums it up. Leonard Nimoy once wrote about all the racy, erotic fan mail he got for his character Spock. He took them to a friend to ask why his character, a cold, emotionless, logical alien, was so appealing to these female fans. The response was "Because they could never win Spock." I will admit that for guys (at least, for me) looking at a pretty girl, like in say Maxim, an element of the attraction is that she is unattainable. I will venture out and say that a strong part of the fasicination is the "unattainable" aspect of bishonen/yaoi/shonen-ai. Or maybe not..... Ladies?? |
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jfrog
 Posts: 925 Location: Seattle |
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There isn't much yuri for sale in America because there's a glut of lesbian porn. I dunno...it tittilates them? Can you give any rational, well thought out explanations for any of the things that turn you on?
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jsyxx
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I think its more basic human nature at work here. I'm sure yuri or shoujo-ai titles would be popular among guys if they were actually sold in stores.
Last edited by jsyxx on Wed Oct 27, 2004 11:54 am; edited 1 time in total |
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darkhunter
Posts: 2992 Location: Los Angelas |
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I doubt it, guys might want to see something like that in thier manga but if they're just looking for girl on girl, then they will likely want to see real porn rather then read about it. Like I said earlier, I think girls prefer thier gay porn in art rather than in real life, but Liann makes a good point. Plus she read a lot of yaoi too. But it looks like we don't have any other yaoi fan that want to tell us why they like it. Why Doushiji consist of yaoi and other stuff. |
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jsyxx
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Nah, this is the same argument used against hentai. Live action vs. drawn is not really that much of an issue to anime fans are concerned I think. It woudln't just have to be porn though. I think fanboys would be open to the concept of having their action/scifi/fantasy manga/anime haveing yuri overtones or relationships. It might be more interesting than reading about the usual male protagonist/female protagonist relationships that are in every single manga out there. I believe this has been explored before, but more of it woudln't hurt. |
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Arachne
 Posts: 35 Location: Charlotte |
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Well before you look at yaoi, you need to go online and look for Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc fanfiction sites. If you can find any het (hetrosexual) fanfic sites, you'll be lucky. Slash, the term given to same-sex fanfiction, has been around since the 70's. You can blame it's beginnings on Star Trek, but every genre tv show, movie, or book has some sort of slash following. I myself found out what was slash back with the X-Files (on of the few fandoms that fully supported a het couple). I didn't get into slash until I found the X-Men, and now LOTR is my favorite fandom. Many slash fans then found yaoi, and it was a match made in heaven. The fact that it's something that you can buy and place on your shelf legitamizes it in a weird way. Slash and yaoi isn't something women can talk about in RL normally. It's not "normal" like the idea that all guys want to see two chicks doing it.
So the question is why do some women like slash and yaoi. There are a ton of different reasons, just as many as there are women that like it. Some would say that two pretty boys together are hot. I mean look at the boys CLAMP creates. Suburu and Sei-chan are hot together. A slash example would be after the LOTR movies, everyone started Aragorn and Legolas stories, when the stories based off the books would be Legolas and Gimili. But after watching the movie, who would what to picture Gimili? Another reason would be the emotional attachments that two men can have. Everyone knows that "men are from Mars and women are from Venus", so reading a Frodo/Sam, or Merry/Pippin (my OTP), lets women read about male emotions, something most men try to hide from us. These are just theories like i said. Every woman likes something different. Sometimes I want something funny and cute- so I pick up "Eerie Queerie", maybe I want some thing hot- last volume of "Fake", and maybe I want something emotional- "Banana Fish". So I guess there's your answer- there is no one reason. Last edited by Arachne on Wed Oct 27, 2004 2:09 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Arachne
Posts: 35 Location: Charlotte |
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[quote="lianncoop"]Actually, I read something interesting in the book Manga: 60 years of Japanese Comics the other day regarding the appeal of yaoi. Keep in mind that this applies mostly to the Japanese female.
One theory is that girls are looking for a relationship against the norm...something to spice up the rigid girl/guy relationship and yaoi offers them that outlet. Usually in the homosexual portrayals, neither guy is portrayed as being dominant over the other. [quote] Actually I have to disagree with this. One of the complaints many slash fans have about yaoi is the fact that there is always one top and one bottom. Sei-chan is always a top and Suburu is always a bottom. As much as I love yaoi, it in fact reenforces many male/female roles in society. A better arguement for breaking free of normal sex roles would be the gender-switch. Like "Girl Got Game", or "Kiss Me, Kill Me". These are girls breaking out of traditional female roles and to the surprise of the males around them, the males find themselves attracted to the girls anyway. |
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che_guevara
Posts: 102 Location: Near Boston |
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I hate this topic. A LOT of girls have told me they enjoy homosexual sex between two guys, although maybe not as much as some guys enjoy lesbian sex.
And BTW, I'm a heterosexual male and I greatly enjoy shonen ai and yaoi, as long as they have an underlying plot and good characters. All you have to do is look beyond the surface. I REALLY DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY HETEROSEXUAL GUYS SHUN SHONEN-AI. They're just doing it to look tough and not allow others to doubt their sexual orientation. Shunning homosexual manga based on the homosexuality is very similar to shunnin interracial relationships if you haven't had one. |
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darkhunter
Posts: 2992 Location: Los Angelas |
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All it's asking if why are girls (and some guys like you) interested in yaoi because it's so popular here in the state and japan. Don't get so defensive like it's targeting you. It's not a homosexual hate thread, but more to understand the trend. |
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Vicwic
Posts: 9 Location: UK |
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OK - yaoi fangirl here!
Now these, of course, are my views only..... I'm the only yaoi reader that I know, must of the other women I know who are potentially inclined that way - and that seems to be a lot - are into slash fanfiction (reading and writing) or real-life man-on-man action. As one said, 'there is nothing sexier in this world than two cute men kissing'. For me this follows into yaoi - sexy guys doing stuff together. I prefer it when both men are adults and/or more equal - I'm not so into the stuff where one partner is a lot younger/more submissive. I like looking at attractive men (real or drawn), I like looking at attractive naked men. And where one man good, two men better (and hot) - though more than that, I get confused! There is also the fact that with man/woman relationships the roles tend to be more predictable. With two men these are less defined, more interesting - it can be fun to see a man being wooed by a man in the same way that we are. It gives an interesting perspective and can often be sexy too! It can also be nice just reading about two men being close and affectionate or passionate with each other - without all the normal macho crap. I get bored with sexy and desirable being linked to women. In yaoi and gay stuff, it's the men who are which is great. |
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jfrog
Posts: 925 Location: Seattle |
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I don't think that's always true. I don't like shounen-ai because I find it to be ridiculous and highly unrealistic, not because I'm a bigot. That's why I read Love and Rockets. 
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Spica
Posts: 14 Location: Classified. |
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I have to agree with Vicwic that one of the most appealing things for me, about yaoi and shonen-ai is its originality.Traditional male female relationships do tend to get very boring and predictable after awhile,and shonen-ai/yaoi is a good way to liven things up.
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Sakura no Miko
 Posts: 83 Location: Sunny California |
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Ehehe, as a pretty big yaoi--well, shounen ai, really--fan, let's see...
Hmmm...well, I guess the best way to explain it is thus: girls read yaoi, and then go on to write yaoi. Yaoi is an almost entirely female fandom. Essentially, yaoi are the feminine ideal. I read somewhere that the guys in yaoi are essentially a blend of the best female and male traits. So girls can identify with the "masculine" traits of bravery and strength, while still identifying with the "feminine" beauty, romance, ect. For example, yaoi guys can be rescued, then go right back and rescue. And since gay romance is something most girls can't experience, they can imagine it as being however they want it to be--romantic and flowery, rough and tumble, or some strange combination of the two. Then there's the whole factor of seeing many, many good-looking guys together, without the interference of girls... :p I dunno. That's all I can think of. Personally, I just find yaoi writers to be better overall in the fanfiction realm. But that's just my opinion... 
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