Former U.S. Shonen Jump editor Jason Thompson has posted a thoughtful essay on yaoi at his livejournal site. After sitting down and reading a huge stack of the stuff, he comes up with some witty comments
Yaoi is yet another bombing raid on the already smoking ruins of the “women don’t like porn” myth.
and some interesting insights
All the 30+ shonen ai I’ve read is “perfect, idealized pair” relationship manga. Everyone, even the rapists and bad guys, loves the target of their affections with a deep, obsessive passion, never having second thoughts or feeling attracted to different people at the same time or getting confused or getting rejected or wimping out and giving up. In shonen ai, neediness and possessiveness are positive traits, when in real life, someone would probably be rushing these characters to a counselor. The sexual content, whether explicit or PG-rated (there is a wide range), is linked directly to the emotional content. There’s no casual sex in shonen ai manga (except occasionally offscreen and with peripheral characters).
Which leaves me (I haven’t read much yaoi) wondering just what is left to write about. With such a restrictive genre, there isn’t much room for plot complications. Maybe that’s why the series are so short.
Like other writers, Jason bemoans the fact that despite the same-sex relationships, yaoi sorts its characters neatly into semi and uke, dominant and submissive. But, he notes,
But the seme-uke relationships in shonen ai manga have one big advantage over straight porn, one big purposeful ambiguity; since both lovers are the same gender, it’s up to you, in your heart of hearts, to choose who you identify with more.
… which may explain the attraction.
Meanwhile, Tina Anderson says we’re analyzing the wrong things.
I want an article about BL/Yaoi as a genre in terms of the works that define it, and the creators in Japan who’ve made their titles marketable in the West. Ask me about Kizuna as a manga, but don’t ask me ‘what I find hawt about two beautiful men in a relationship’.
I think Jason does a good job of discussing both issues, the work itself and why people like it—and I’m not sure you can separate the two. All good writing is written with the reader in mind, after all, and that’s doubly true of genre fiction, which yaoi undoubtedly is. But I appreciate that it’s the prurient interest that is raising her ire.
I don’t see articles about the appeal of noir Seinen manga on the fans who read it? I don’t see every new license from Tokyo Pop being discussed by the media asking, Why do they read it?
I’d like to see an article like that. Maybe I’ll have to write one myself.
Hey Brigid, do you want to co-author? :)
I too have been wondering why there weren’t more articles that looked at whether yaoi is good at what they are for, rather than just pearl-clutching about what they are. I agree that there’s very much the “my goodness, women like this!?” factor to a lot of writing about BL/yaoi. There’s a reason to write about both factors — i.e. why the audience likes them (and they’re not all women, believe me!) and why it’s good or bad manga, outside of the genre identification.
Sounds good to me!
What really interests me—and you have a much better grasp of this than I do—is why people like the other genres—not just shoujo, which is obvious (to me), but those genres that are really foreign to us, like all those manga about helping spirits find their rest (Bleach, Kurosage Corpse Delivery Service).
When I was in college (a long time ago), I was speaking to a friend about YAOI and why it is so popular in Japan.
She said something to the effect of Japanese girls wanting to read a love story without putting themselves INTO the story as the female character. Sort of a romance-once-removed.
While I haven’t read much YAOI recently, I spent much of my college free-time reading YAOI doujinshi. I found that what really thrilled me when reading these stories is the dynamic between the characters and the passionately strong feelings – as if you could not stop them even if you tried. That kind of idealized love was intriguing to me.
Ardith
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The only this disturbing me about the LJ entry is… egads, another fan-cum-lately who thinks all BL is anything from DMP. 0_o.
One thing I did walk away with was that I’m still certain that Carl Gustav Horn knows less than 1% about female BL readers. LOL!
Ack! My misbehaving server sent a bad pingback! Sorry, the post isn’t ready to publish yet.
I’ve realized, though, that there are two types of “Ack! Women like this?” articles when it comes to YAOI… the “What’s the appeal of gay guys?” question and the “Wait, there’s rape fantasies, incest and bad behavior in YAOI, who’s fantasy is this?” article.
There was a college article that got linked around last year that talked to Korean YAOI fans, one said that she found it revolutionary to see a relationship where traditional gender roles were enacted, but the female role was taken by a man. I found that very interesting.
Brigid, I think you’re spot-on in noting the formulaic nature of most yaoi. I think, though, that part of the appeal of almost any genre – at least to its devotees – is in noting and appreciating what seem to “outsiders” to be the tiniest variations on their particular formula. Take so-called “cosy” detective novels for instance (almost exclusively written by women and published in the US). I haven’t read many, and those I have seem almost interchangeable – to me. But readers who follow these titles will buy anything by author X, while scorning author Y. Or skim almost any set of reader reviews of a “Regency romance” title on Amazon – there’ll be impassioned discussion of whether or not the dialogue is authentic, how this story of a-governess-and-a-dashing-duke differs from that tale of a-governess-and-a-wicked-marquis. The same for Hong Kong gangster movies, motorcycle magazines, roleplaying games and an infinite variety of other cultural products. The overall template is a given – readers know that certain vital elements will be present: the aesthetic (as it were) pleasure comes in seeing whether a creator has an original take on those elements, or can introduce new ones, or tweak them to produce an unexpected outcome.
At least, that’s *my* theory. Any others out there?
Re: formula – sorry, Lyle, of course you had that aspect pinned as well.
On this note: With such a restrictive genre, there isn’t much room for plot complications. Maybe that’s why the series are so short.
Actually, some of them go on for volumes and volumes! XD It’s when the characters become so popular that the mangaka must put them in different situations and drama’s, that’s where the good writing is taken out to thaw from what some consider to be, ‘the formulistic’ freezer. One needs only to look at series like Kizuna or Haru to understand this. Write about Haru, but write about the characters and what’s been going on with them for all 11 volumes. Pick up Kizuna and talk about the lives of the four men in that that’s been going on for 10 plus volumes. No, yaoi isn’t so restrictive that it’s short…it’s about relationships, some shallow some intense. And yes, it’s just like every other genre out there; there are one-shots and epics.
As for it all being so formula…well isn’t everything? And if it is, then why aren’t we just discussing everything? We’re not. We’re getting hung up on “why chicks dig it”, and “what is it about BL that makes a MAN like me read it.” 0_o. Come on. Let me look at these same dudes talk about Naruto or Inuyasha, or Bleach. These titles get talked about seriously; their characters are discussed and dissected. Their creators and their techniques are lauded or riled. Their plots are examined and detailed. Honestly, if the attention meter is pointing at BL, then can’t BL get the same sort of focus? If he’d just kept talking Antique Bakery and its manga-ka that would’ve been fine for me…but this whole spiel about why he reads it and what it’s all about…please, Sigmund… oy. ^^
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I like reading everything , especial is manga
I am very shy,so..what i don’t say