Yaoi: Understanding the womanly obsession with men in love…with each other
3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D48&r=G" /% Leslie Ho — February 25, 2014
By Jasmine T.
“Stop fantasising about my brother. Any other man will do, right?”
When 18-year-old Misaki lashed out at his handsome tutor Akihiko, his hateful words would eventually return to haunt him. On his first visit to Akihiko’s apartment, he discovered a pornographic story featuring his own brother—and that Akihiko, an award-winning novelist, published homoerotic stories under a different pen name. Misaki, who identified as straight, was horrified. Their argument escalated into a tussle that never quite resolved itself, leading both men into a sexually charged relationship. For a time, Misaki fought his growing feelings for the brash, moody Akihiko. Spoiler alert: he failed completely.
Misaki and Akihiko’s story hails from the yaoi series Junjou Romantica. Yaoi, or boys’ love, refers to fictional media based on homoerotic or homo-romantic male sexual relationships, written by women for women . The combination of pretty boys and fantastically steamy plotlines from the protagonist couple and other gay couplings form the backbone of this enormously popular manga genre. Women everywhere—me included—clamoured for the next episode. Junjou was an unprecedented hit, holding the honour of the first yaoi title to enter the New York Times Manga Bestseller List.
With the mainstream media exclusively catering to the ideals of straight men, yaoi became an alternative genre dominated by women writers and artists. A female gaze is cast on the story’s characters and their relationships. Beyond the rather disturbing exclusion of women from yaoi storylines, one of the genre’s hallmarks is its host of bishonen —idealised young men with flowing hair, lithe bodies and sculpted faces.
Stories are usually led by a bright-eyed, innocent uke (the passive one, or the bottom) whose emotional struggles revolve around a possessive, seemingly uncaring seme (the dominant half, or the top). While the forbidden nature of a love between two men appeals to both straight and lesbian girls, a majority of stories stick to a heteronormative formula, and expresses a relationship dynamic familiar to straight women. As a result, the genre often fails to explore more substantial problems of two men pursuing a relationship in a largely homophobic society. Bara, on the other hand, is a genre written by gay men for men, and takes a deeper look at the pertinent issues of gay love. Its plotlines feature a more realistic cast of characters, from pot-bellied beefcakes to the scrawny dude with a stutter. Unlike yaoi, bara doesn’t shy away from the grim reality of homophobia in Japan, and recognises all of its consequences.
Curiously, yaoi enjoys wide acceptance in Japan despite the country’s decidedly traditional backdrop. This yaoi fan culture spans beyond comic books and Japanese fandoms, and exerts a particular influence on the Asian music industry.
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