Editorial: Yaoi. For fag hags or just fat fangirls?
I do believe I'll steal Hung's gimmick.
This yaoi revolution is an alien thing to me. One, because I don't much find myself thirsting for other manpenix, and two, because it hasn't really been probed that throroughly (job for the animenano podcast perhaps?).
Y'see, I've got quite literally millions of friends. Some male. Mostly female (because I am much of a macho guy). Now the dudes, they like to see chicks making out—I get that. But the girls? Can't say any of them have expressed interest in seeing men grope each other in funny places. Many actually seem to abhor it.
and I one up you a Rokugo, good sir.
So I'm curious, do FYGs dig all kinds of homoerotic male sex? For instance, is Brokeback Mountain considered "kakoii sugoii Pocky!~" or does it only apply when the participants of said gaysex0r are thinly drawn bishounen with large eyes and angular chins to split coconuts on? Do roses and cherry blossum leaves in the background make a difference?
The other question I have is yaoi actually developed for gay people in mind? Is there a bunch of burly gay men buying yaoi to read on the subway, or is it the Fat Yaoi Fangirls striking once again?
I believe these questions need to be answered for the good of the community. If you are a fat yaoi fangirl, fag hag, or hard gay, we want to hear from you.
posted by Crayotic Rockwell at 1:40 PM
19 Comments:
Uh, for one, FYGs don't exist.
And double standards don't exist either. *nodnod*
7:16 PM
I dunno, I've had quite a few female friends of various types that were into the whole yaoi thing to various degrees (of course, some of them were also very much into Harry Potter, so they might just be deranged). My best guess is that it has to do with the idea that the only times guys express their feelings is when they are blowing things up or getting it on, and you know, the more the better. (I think this also explains Gundam Wing, too)
8:21 PM
When I stumbled upon the Yaoi section at Comiket last Summer, I found it teeming with women - on both sides of the tables. All things considered, they seemed fairly normal. It was a bit of refuge from the rest of the hall, which was packed with... well, you know.
My experience with yaoi is fairly limited, but from what I've seen, it's typically loaded with bishounen. I've always figured that explains why a lot of female anime fans are fascinated with the stuff. The fact these pretty guys may be playing hide the salami with each other is beside the point. What's important is that they're pretty, they're plentiful, and there aren't any distracting girls around. It's also worth noting that, when it comes to ero-manga, there's little out there for a strictly female audience. Latching on to yaoi may be a matter of making do with what's available.
To a point, I think the male fascination with Yuri has a similar etiology. Are guys really THAT interested in two women pleasuring each other, or do they simply appreciate the fact that the focus is on women and women alone? After all, some guys are squicked out by the sight of a penis in pornography (for whatever reason).
8:24 PM
In regards to what Jeff said about yuri; I like yuri because what gets me off most is a girl being pleasured. Doesn't matter if it's a guy or a girl doing it, in terms of the sexuality of it al. Simply, on an aesthetic level, I prefer seeing a female anime character than a male one. Of course it can all depend- if they use a really cute bishie, that might be better than some generic PHLAG.
9:26 PM
Oh yeah, it's the attack of fanboy double standards again.
"Yaoi? It's such a peculiar phenomenon, something alien and really disgusting, and only socially deprived people should like it. Oh, but yuri, yuri ROCKS!!! Well, as long as it has nekkid girls gettin' it on."
By the way, yaoi is for women by women. It's not intended for gay men, not intended to depict gay lifestyle or people. It's just a female fantasy, and has as much ties to reality as "let me rub my ginormous boobies against your deliciously flat chest, oh my chere loli-chan."
~Kuromitsu
10:54 PM
I'm not sure if the "double standards" thing is aimed towards me or not, but I figure I should probably make clear the disclaimer:
"I have no issue with people enjoying whatever kind of eroticism they want."* - Crayotic Rockwell circa a couple of minutes ago
*(well, y'know as long as it's consensual I guess)
So if someone likes yaoi; hey, knock yourself out.
And Kuromitsu, with the last paragraph noting it as being purely fantasy.. so what you're saying is that a female Yaoicon (real word, who cares?) is more akin to a male Lolicon?
I'm not trying to twist your words, but I am saying it, because if the case was trying to illustrate yaoi as being no different from yuri.. I think we'd find that most male uh, yuricons are still all go for Hot Lesbian Action IRL.. whereas (I'm gonna hope) most lolicons just prefer to keep that to their anime.
Of course this is assuming that the man on man action is part of the appeal, and that it being sans estrogen isn't the real attraction, like Jeff Lawson suggests.
11:26 PM
It's not a rocket science. You're probably turned on by Yuri, other straight males don't. Some straight females are turned on by Yaoi, others don't. Some gay man like myself like yaoi, others don't. At the end of the day it's just a fantasy. There's no need for you to be surprised as to why some people like it because different people gets off at different thing.
"This yaoi revolution is an alien thing to me. One, because I don't much find myself thirsting for other manpenix, "
'Revolution'? According to whom? Anyway, you sound kind of curious about it to the point of writing a long article about it. So maybe you should try reading or watching some. What's the point asking about other people's opinion when you can get first hand knowledge by seeing it yourself. I recommend "Boku no sexual harassment" at least the guy are more masculine than other yaoi anime.
For manga:
"Lovers on a Dessert Island"
"Trial Love"
For Game:
"Hanamachi Monogatari"
I hope those are enough to quench your thirst.
4:02 AM
This whole "Gays sucks, lesbians FTW!" amuse me. Come on, they are both same kind of people who love their own gender. And girly bishies are far from real gays, just girl's fantasies as one anon said.
5:06 AM
>crayotic rockwell
I do think that in the end yaoi is no different from yuri (or rather, hot lesbo action, since that's what we're talking about here - yuri is actually a subgenre of shoujo, just like yaoi), and the reason yaoi fans don't carry their kink IRL is simply because there's no RL equivalent of yaoi.
The thing most people on the Western front usually forget is that yaoi =/= gay porn. They're completely different, as yaoi is written and aimed at females (straight or not). Most yaoi fans I know find gay porn disgusting or at least squicky because it's aimed at a male audience so it's fundamentally different from something aimed at women. (For this reason it's easy to tell the difference between a hardcore yaoi manga and gay porn drawn by a male mangaka.) It's not just that real guys are not pretty enough - it's that gay or not, men are men and so they get turned on by different things than women. That's why I wouldn't really say that yaoi fans are like lolicon guys, either, because the two situations are rather different.
5:43 AM
The previous post was by me, I forgot to sign it.
~Kuromitsu
5:44 AM
Also, dudes don't like lesbians when the lesbians in mind are electricians and construction workers.
8:15 AM
I actually know a yaoi fangirl, and well... she's fat.
Innocently reaching into her pencil case one day to retrieve a pencil, I find nothing less than a small comic of hardcore yaoi.
So, Fat Yaoi Fangirls do exist!
5:20 PM
Sorry to break up the discussion a little, but I was sort of wondering where http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/9038/post1lr1.jpg came from (The first picture featured in the aritcle this is a comment for). As for my opinion on the matter, i haven't really thought about it...all a matter of taste I guess...
10:54 PM
Why, if I'm not mistaken, I think I just blatently stole it from one of several posts on Hung's Basugasubakuhatsu anime blog that used it.. I think lolikitsune's blog uses it for a badly stretched header now as well.
As for it's origins.. probably came from danbooru
11:17 PM
I love it when people say Source: 4chan or Source: danboru. :-P Either way, that looks like a cool blog and i've been skimming it...so...thanks :-P
1:19 PM
i must say that you are the most audacious bitchy jerkwad of a macho man in the world!!!!! i am myself a yaoi fan and i am not gay i am strait and yaoi is sought after so much not for its sexual pretenses but for the more romantic parts which are BTW classified in a different group labled "shonen-ai" and for its less mainstream veiws infact alot of the yaoi mangas are hard to ind becasue they do not usually advertise the yaoi part on the covers o yaoi manga not to mention that yaoi fangirls are not in any way all fat: all of my good girlfriends are yaoi fans and they are not anywhere near "fat" in fact some of them are a bit too skinny but that is besides the point i guess what im trying to say is unless you have good reason to be ragging on something (and "i dont think its very smart that there are people who are obsessed" is not a good reason) than shove it!!!!!!
6:41 PM
I'm a yaoi fangirl! And so are many of my friends...
We vary in shapes and sizes... Not too skinny and not too fat. :) I don't think there's a certain stereotype we yaoi fangirls truly follow.
9:50 PM
I for one love to read yaoi more for their storylines (many of which are of romantic love and some are comical). Also I am one of the few females who is into having sex with more than one person, whether two guys, one guy and one girl or two girls at the same time. I don't limit myself as most people do. To me it's more natural. I do think however that people who are into group sex just for the fantasy aspects of it are disgusting because they don't really care for the extra person in the group. Men in particular are notoriously disgusting in this area because the majority only want lesbian coupling and they don't care for either one or the other or both of the females. I can't do that. I care too much for peoples' feelings, emotions and their lives to just "use" them like that. People aren't things to be used and abused like some blow up dolls, many are fragile beings who need extra love (for many reasons, not just one or two). It's too bad many of us humans live in societies that honors and even glorifies selfishness and dishonor. The "me" culture, if you will, doesn't even respect one to one partnership so how can multiple partnerships even work or survive. I guess that is why the Japanese created love dolls. Have all the partners you want without the effort, great personalities and life giving forces of the real thing, how boring ones life must be to live such an existence.
As for yaoi girl stereotype, yea... the ones I've seen are mainly overweight or obese. There are a few, just a handful could be called normal weight or underweight (skinny to waifs). I know one gal who thinks men are overall all disgusting but likes to read yaoi. O_O I despise men who uses people but I don't hate them all, many of my best friends are men, so this gal creeps me out and is the nastier side of yaoi fangirls (another group of people I hate; the nastier fangirls not them all).
9:31 PM
I know skinny, normal and fat yaoi fangirls. They're not all fat, lol.
Anywho, I personally hate yaoi but love boys love (shounen ai, slash, ext). It's because for me to watch/read something that's sexual, there would have to be a strong connection between the two characters. And no, that doesn't mean meeting a couple days back and instantly "falling in love". Bleh. I don't even read/watch shounen ai manga or anime because... idk, I just don't. I mostly read stuff on fictionpress.
But yeah, they're not all fat. My best friend whose a rabid fangirl is skinnayyyy (:
2:06 AM
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