{{Short description|Fanbase of the homoerotic fiction genre}} [[File:Yaoicon cosplayers.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.3|Two female cosplayers dressed as Roxas and Sora from ''Kingdom Hearts'' at Yaoi-Con in 2008]]
Boys' love (BL), a genre of male-male romance media originating in Japan that is created primarily by and for women, has a robust global fandom. Individuals in the BL fandom may participate in activities such as attending conventions, creating and/or posting to fansites, and creating fan works such as fan fiction and fan art.
In Japan, fans of BL are referred to as {{nihongo||腐女子|fujoshi}}. Translating literally to "rotten woman" or "rotten girl", used by BL fans as a self-deprecating identity label. The term {{nihongo||腐男子|fudanshi|{{lit}} "rotten boy"}} later emerged to describe male fans of BL.
==Demographics== Most BL fans are either teenage girls or young women. The female readership in Thailand is estimated at 80%,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Keenapan|first=Nattha|url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/FEATURE%3A+Japanese+%27boy-love%27+comics+a+hit+among+Thais.-a078783534|title=Japanese "boy-love" comics a hit among Thais|work=Japan Today|date=2001-08-31}}</ref> and the membership of Yaoi-Con, a convention in San Francisco, is 85% female.<ref name="mon amour"/> It is usually assumed that all female fans are heterosexual, but in Japan there is a presence of lesbian manga authors<ref name="Yaoi Debate"/> and lesbian, bisexual, other or questioning female readers.<ref name="Bent">{{cite journal | last1 = Welker | first1 = James | year = 2006 | title = Beautiful, Borrowed, and Bent: "Boys' Love" as Girls' Love in Shôjo Manga | journal = Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society | volume = 31 | issue = 3| page = 3 | doi = 10.1086/498987 | s2cid = 144888475 }}</ref> Recent online surveys of English-speaking readers of BL indicate that 50-60% of female readers self-identify as heterosexual.<ref name="Levi">{{Cite book | first = Levi | last = Antonia | editor-last = West | editor-first = Mark | contribution = North American reactions to Yaoi | title = The Japanification of Children's Popular Culture | year = 2008 | pages = 147–174 | publisher = Rowman & Littlefield | isbn = 978-0-8108-5121-4}} </ref><ref name="Pagliassotti BL West"/> It has been suggested that Western fans may be more diverse in their sexual orientation than Japanese fans and that Western fans are "more likely to link" BL ("Boy's Love") to supporting gay rights.<ref name="Pagliassotti BL West">{{Cite journal|author-link=Dru Pagliassotti|last=Pagliassotti|first=Dru|date=November 2008|url=http://www.participations.org/Volume%205/Issue%202/5_02_pagliassotti.htm|title=Reading Boys' Love in the West|journal=Particip@tions|volume=5|issue=2 Special Edition|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081214162350/http://www.participations.org/Volume%205/Issue%202/5_02_pagliassotti.htm|archive-date=2008-12-14}}</ref> Much like the BL readership base, the majority of BL fanfiction writers are also believed to be heterosexual women. The reasoning behind this trend is sometimes attributed to patriarchy- that women who write BL fanfiction are in fact acting out heterosexual fantasies through these male figures.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kustritz|first=Anne|date=September 2003|title=Slashing the Romance Narrative|url=http://www.asu.edu/courses/fms351vm/total-readings/fms351-L14-reading01.pdf|journal=Journal of American Culture|volume=26|issue=3|pages=371–384|doi=10.1111/1542-734X.00098|access-date=21 April 2016}}</ref>
Although the genre is marketed at women and girls, men of all sexualities also form part of the readership<ref name="mon amour"/><ref name="Levi"/><ref name="bonking">{{Cite journal|last=McLelland|first=Mark|url=http://blogs.arts.unimelb.edu.au/refractory/2006/12/04/why-are-japanese-girls%E2%80%99-comics-full-of-boys-bonking1-mark-mclelland|title=Why are Japanese Girls' Comics full of Boys Bonking?| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080415173709/http://blogs.arts.unimelb.edu.au/refractory/2006/12/04/why-are-japanese-girls%E2%80%99-comics-full-of-boys-bonking1-mark-mclelland/ |archive-date=2008-04-15|journal=Refractory: A Journal of Entertainment Media|volume=10, 2006/2007}}</ref><ref name="Yoo">{{Cite web |title=Online discussions on Yaoi: Gay relationships, sexual violence, and female fantasy |url=https://apha.confex.com/apha/130am/techprogram/paper_42542.htm |access-date=2023-04-21 |website=apha.confex.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Boon|first=Miriam|url=http://www.xtra.ca/public/viewstory.aspx?AFF_TYPE=3&STORY_ID=3062&PUB_TEMPLATE_ID=2|title=Anime North's bent offerings|date=24 May 2007|journal=Xtra!|access-date=21 April 2009|archive-date=15 March 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080315223544/http://www.xtra.ca/public/viewstory.aspx?AFF_TYPE=3&STORY_ID=3062&PUB_TEMPLATE_ID=2|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="modern"> {{cite book | last = McLelland | first = Mark | title = Male homosexuality in modern Japan | publisher = Routledge | year = 2000 | page = 249, note 18 | isbn = 0-7007-1300-X}}</ref>. In one library-based survey of U.S. yaoi fans, about one quarter of respondents were male;<ref name=Brenner> {{cite book | last = Brenner | first = Robin E. | title = Understanding Manga and Anime | publisher = Libraries Unlimited | year = 2007 | page = chapter 3 p. 137 | isbn = 978-1-59158-332-5}}</ref> online surveys of Anglophone readers place this percentage at about 10%.<ref name="Levi"/><ref name="Pagliassotti BL West"/><ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/42772149|jstor = 42772149|title = Gay Men as Women's Ideal Partners in Japanese Popular Culture: Are Gay Men Really a Girl's Best Friends?|last1 = McLelland|first1 = Mark|journal = U.s.-Japan Women's Journal. English Supplement|year = 1999|issue = 17|pages = 77–110}}</ref> Lunsing suggests that younger Japanese gay men who are offended by gay men's magazines' "pornographic" content may prefer to read yaoi instead.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lunsing|first=Wim|title= Beyond Common Sense: Sexuality and Gender in Contemporary Japan |publisher=Kegan Paul International|location= London and New York|year=2001|isbn=0-7103-0593-1}}</ref> That is not to say that the majority of homosexual men are fans of the genre, as some are put off by the feminine art style or unrealistic depictions of homosexual life and instead seek "Gei comi" (Gay comics), manga written by and for homosexual men,<ref name="Yaoi Debate">{{Cite web |title=Intersections: Yaoi Ronsō: Discussing Depictions of Male Homosexuality in Japanese Girls' Comics, Gay Comics and Gay Pornography |url=http://intersections.anu.edu.au/issue12/lunsing.html |access-date=2023-04-21 |website=intersections.anu.edu.au}}</ref> as gei comi is perceived to be more realistic.<ref name="pedagogy">{{Cite web| last1=Wilson| first1=Brent| last2=Toku| first2=Masami |url=http://mtoku.yourweb.csuchico.edu/vc/Articles/toku/Wil_Toku_BoysLove.html |title="Boys' Love," Yaoi, and Art Education: Issues of Power and Pedagogy |year=2003}}</ref> Lunsing notes that some of the narrative annoyances that homosexual men express about yaoi manga, such as rape, misogyny, and an absence of a Western-style gay identity, are also present in gei comi.<ref name="Yaoi Debate"/> Some male manga artists have produced yaoi works, using their successes in yaoi to then go on to publish gei comi.<ref name="Yaoi Debate"/>
Authors of BL present themselves as "fellow fans" by using dust jacket notes and postscripts to chat to the readers "as if they were her girlfriends" and talk about the creative process in making the manga and what she discovered she liked about the story she wrote.<ref name="Mizoguchi2010">{{cite book|last=Mizoguchi |first=Akiko |title=Comics Worlds and the World of Comics: Towards Scholarship on a Global Scale |date=September 2010 |publisher=International Manga Research Center, Kyoto Seika University |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 |access-date=29 October 2010 |location=Kyoto, Japan |chapter=Theorizing comics/manga genre as a productive forum: yaoi and beyond |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314101249/http://imrc.jp/2010/09/26/20100924Comics%20Worlds%20and%20the%20World%20of%20Comics.pdf |archive-date=14 March 2012 }}</ref>
===Numbers=== In the mid-1990s, estimates of the size of the Japanese yaoi fandom were at 100,000-500,000 people;<ref name="Yaoi Debate"/> at around that time, the long-running yaoi anthology ''June'' had a circulation of between 80,000 and 100,000, twice the circulation of the "best-selling" gay lifestyle magazine ''Badi''.<ref name="McLelland BL websites"/> Most Western yaoi fansites "appeared some years later than pages and lists devoted to mainstream anime and manga". As of 1995, they "revolved around the most famous series", such as ''Ai no Kusabi'' and ''Zetsuai 1989''; and by the late 1990s, English-speaking websites mentioning yaoi "reached the hundreds".<ref>Sabucco, Veruska "Guided Fan Fiction: Western "Readings" of Japanese Homosexual-Themed Texts" in Berry, Chris, Fran Martin, and Audrey Yue (editors) (2003). ''Mobile Cultures: New Media in Queer Asia''. Durham, North Carolina; London: Duke University Press. {{ISBN|0-8223-3087-3}}. p.73</ref> As of 2003, on Japanese-language internet sites, there were roughly equal proportions of sites dedicated to yaoi as there were sites by and for gay men about homosexuality.<ref>{{Cite book|last=McLelland|first=Mark|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bkbkMXkX8J0C&pg=PA52|chapter=Japanese Queerscapes: Global/Local Intersections on the Internet|editor-last1=Berry|editor-first1=Chris|editor-first2=Fran|editor-last2=Martin|editor-first3=Audrey|editor-last3=Yue|year=2003|title=Mobile Cultures: New Media in Queer Asia|location=Durham, North Carolina; London|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=0-8223-3087-3|pages=52–53}}</ref> On 16 November 2003, there were 770,000 yaoi websites.<ref name="yaoi redrawing">{{cite journal|last=McHarry |first=Mark |url=http://www.guidemag.com/temp/yaoi/a/mcharry_yaoi.html |title=Yaoi: Redrawing Male Love |journal=The Guide |date=November 2003 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080417001927/http://www.guidemag.com/temp/yaoi/a/mcharry_yaoi.html |archive-date=2008-04-17 }}</ref> As of April 2005, a search for non-Japanese sites resulted in 785,000 English, 49,000 Spanish, 22,400 Korean, 11,900 Italian and 6,900 Chinese sites.<ref name="WorldofYaoi">{{Cite journal|last=McLelland|first=Mark|url=http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1152&context=artspapers|title=The World of Yaoi: The Internet, Censorship and the Global "Boys' Love" Fandom|journal=The Australian Feminist Law Journal|year=2005|volume=23 |pages=61–77 |doi=10.1080/13200968.2005.10854344 |s2cid=144134070 }}</ref> In January 2007, there were approximately five million hits for 'yaoi'.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.capstrans.edu.au/resources/events/2007/aior-oct-2007.pdf |title=Roundtable: The Internet and Women's Transnational "Boys' Love" Fandom |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080721140810/http://www.capstrans.edu.au/resources/events/2007/aior-oct-2007.pdf |archive-date=2008-07-21 }}</ref> Hisako Miyoshi, the vice editor-in-chief for Libre Publishing's manga division, said in a 2008 interview that although Boys Love is more well known to the general public, the number of readers remains limited, which she attributes to the codified nature of the genre.<ref>{{cite book|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=fr}}</ref>
=== Events === {| class="wikitable sortable" ! Event name !! Status !! Location !! Years active !! Notes |- | Ahn!Con || Inactive || Kansas City, Missouri, USA || 2013-2016 || <ref>{{citation|title=Ahn!Con 2016 Information | AnimeCons.com|work=AnimeCons.com|access-date=2025-07-01|url=https://animecons.com/events/info/6265/ahncon-2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250522195902/https://animecons.com/events/info/6265/ahncon-2016|archive-date=2025-05-22}}</ref><ref>{{citation|title=Ahn!Con | My WordPress Blog|language=en|work=ahncon.com|access-date=2025-07-01|url=https://ahncon.com/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250701211253/https://ahncon.com/|archive-date=2025-07-01}}</ref> |- | AiKon Bonn || style="background-color: #7cfc00;" | Active || Bonn, Germany || 2019-ongoing || <ref>{{Cite web |last=Bonn |first=General-Anzeiger |date=2022-07-17 |title=Nur für Erwachsene: Manga-Fans treffen sich zu Convention im Bonner Basecamp |url=https://ga.de/bonn/stadt-bonn/manga-fans-treffen-sich-zu-convention-im-bonner-basecamp_aid-72915143 |access-date=2023-05-07 |website=General-Anzeiger Bonn |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{citation|title=AiKon Bonn 2024 Information | AnimeCons.com|date=2024-01-01|work=AnimeCons.com|access-date=2025-07-01|url=https://animecons.com/events/info/23596/aikon-bonn-2024}}</ref><ref>{{citation|title=Aikon Bonn | Die Con der Liebe: für Fans von Shounen-Ai, Shoujo-Ai, Boys Love, Girls Love, Yaoi, Yuri, Bishounen und Cuteboys!|language=de|work=www.aikon-bonn.de|access-date=2025-09-06|url=https://www.aikon-bonn.de/}}</ref> |- | Bishie Con || Inactive || St. Louis, Missouri, USA || 2009-2011 || <ref>{{citation|title=Bishie Con to Be Held in St. Louis in November 2009|language=en|work=Anime News Network|date=2025-07-01|access-date=2025-07-01|url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/press-release/2009-01-08/bishie-con-to-be-held-in-st-louis-in-november-2009}}</ref><ref>{{citation|title=Bishie Con 2011 Information|date=2011-01-01|work=AnimeCons.com|access-date=2025-07-01|url=https://animecons.com/events/info/2950/bishie-con-2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240719060952/https://animecons.com/events/info/2950/bishie-con-2011|archive-date=2024-07-19}}</ref> |- | BishounenCon || Inactive || Warwick, Rhode Island, USA || 2017 ||<ref>{{citation|title=BishounenCon – BishounenCon! presented by Juné|language=en|work=www.bishounencon.com|date=2017-03-03|access-date=2025-07-01|url=https://www.bishounencon.com/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190109171656/https://www.bishounencon.com/|archive-date=2019-01-09}}</ref> |- | BLush || style="background-color: #7cfc00;" | Active || Philippines || 2012-ongoing || Formerly "Lights Out: Philippine Yaoi Convention"<ref name=":0" /><ref name="BLush-LightsOut">{{citation|title=About BLush Convention|language=en|work=BLush Convention|date=2019-11-19|access-date=2025-07-02|url=https://blushcon.org/about-blush-convention-2/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250218161536/https://blushcon.org/about-blush-convention-2/|archive-date=2025-02-18}}</ref> |- | Citrus Con || style="background-color: #7cfc00;" | Active || Online || || <ref>{{cite web|access-date=2025-06-20|language=en-US|title=About Citrus Con|url=https://www.citruscon.com/about|website=Citrus Con}}</ref> |- | Doki Doki City || Inactive || Mexico City, Mexico || || <ref name=":0" /> |- | Flame Con || style="background-color: #7cfc00;" | Active || New York City, New York, USA || 2017-ongoing || <ref>{{citation|title=About - The World's Largest Queer Comic Con|language=en-US|work=FlameCon.org|date=2016-08-14|access-date=2025-07-01|url=https://www.flamecon.org/about/}}</ref> |- | Fufu Fest || Inactive || Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico || 2019 || <ref name=":0" /><ref>{{citation|title=FuFu Fest|language=en|work=sites.google.com|access-date=2025-07-01|url=https://sites.google.com/view/fufufest/}}</ref><ref>{{citation|title=Queering Fandoms from the Periphery? A Conversation between Queer Fan Event Organizers in Mexico and the Philippines|language=en|work=Mechademia|publisher=www.academia.edu|doi=10.5749/MECH.13.1.0119|first1=Kristine|last1=Santos|first2=James|last2=Welker|date=2020-01-01|volume=13 |page=119 |access-date=2025-07-01|url=https://www.academia.edu/44938156}}</ref> |- | FujoCon || Inactive || Online || 2020-2022 || <ref>{{Cite web |title=Scarlet Beriko Announced as FujoCon 2021 Guest of Honor |url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/press-release/2021-05-12/scarlet-beriko-announced-as-fujocon-2021-guest-of-honor/.172719 |access-date=2023-05-07 |website=Anime News Network |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{citation|title=What is FujoCon? — FujoCon|language=en|work=FujoCon|access-date=2025-06-23|url=https://www.fujocon.com/what-is-fujo-con|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250222093859/https://www.fujocon.com/what-is-fujo-con|archive-date=2025-02-22}}</ref> |- | FujoshiCon || Inactive || Chile || 2015-2020 ||<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{citation|title=FujoshiCon (@fujoshiconcl)|language=en|work=Instagram|access-date=2025-06-23|url=https://www.instagram.com/fujoshiconcl/}}</ref><ref>{{citation|title=FujoshiCon (@fujoshi_con) / X|language=en|work=X (formerly Twitter)|date=2020-11-16|access-date=2025-06-23|url=https://x.com/fujoshi_con}}</ref> |- | La Mole || style="background-color: #7cfc00;" | Active || Mexico City, Mexico || || <ref name=":0" /><ref>{{citation|title=AniMole 3 - La Mole Convention|language=es|work=La Mole Convention|date=2025-04-04|access-date=2025-07-01|url=https://lamole.com.mx/?utm_source=AnimeCons.com&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=FanCons.com}}</ref> |- | Lights Out: Philippine Yaoi Convention || Inactive || Philippines || 2003-2010 || Reestablished as BLush in 2012<ref name="BLush-LightsOut" /> |- | OOPS-Sommer Fest || Inactive || Mexico || || <ref name=":0" /> |- | Yaoi-Con || Inactive || Santa Clara, California, USA || 2001-2017 || <ref>{{Cite web |title=Yaoi-Con 2017 Information |url=https://animecons.com/events/info/8261/yaoi-con-2017 |access-date=2023-05-07 |website=AnimeCons.com}}</ref> |- | Yaoi Expo || Inactive || Burbank, California, USA || 2019 || <ref>{{citation|title=Yaoi Expo 2019 Information | AnimeCons.com|date=2019-01-01|work=AnimeCons.com|access-date=2025-07-02|url=https://animecons.com/events/info/12797/yaoi-expo-2019}}</ref> |- | Yaoi Expo PH || style="background-color: #7cfc00;" | Active || Philippines || || <ref name=":0">{{citation|author=Fen Garza, Kristene Michelle Santos, James Welker|date=2020|issn=2152-6648|issue=1|pages=1, 3, 8|periodical=Mechademia|title=Queering Fandoms from the Periphery? A Conversation between Queer Fan Event Organizers in Mexico and the Philippines|volume=13}}<!-- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator --></ref><ref>{{citation|title=Yaoi Expo|language=en|work=www.facebook.com|access-date=2025-07-02|url=https://www.facebook.com/yaoiexpo|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201227225533/https://www.facebook.com/yaoiexpo|archive-date=2020-12-27}}</ref><ref>{{citation|title=(公式) Yaoi Expo PH 🔞 (@YaoiExpoPH) / X|language=en|work=X (formerly Twitter)|date=2025-06-09|access-date=2025-07-02|url=https://x.com/yaoiexpoph?lang=en}}</ref> |- | Yaoi North || style="background-color: #7cfc00;" | Active || Toronto, Ontario, Canada || || Part of Anime North<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2023-12-10|date=2014-06-05|language=en-US|title=About Yaoi/Yuri North|url=https://yaoinorth.com/about-yaoiyuri-north/|website=Yaoi/Yuri North}}<!-- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> |- | Yaoithon || style="background-color: #7cfc00;" | Active || Montreal, Quebec, Canada || || Part of Otakuthon<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2023-12-10|language=en-CA|title=Yaoithon|url=https://www.otakuthon.com/2023/programming/yaoithon/}}<!-- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> |- | YaYuCo || style="background-color: #7cfc00;" | Active || Germany || || <ref>{{citation|title=What is YaYuCo? | YaYuCo|language=en|work=www.yayuco.de|access-date=2025-07-01|url=https://www.yayuco.de/yayuco/about/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250417234749/https://www.yayuco.de/yayuco/about/|archive-date=2025-04-17}}</ref> |- | Y/Con || style="background-color: #7cfc00;" | Active || France || || <ref>{{cite web|access-date=2023-12-10|date=2023-12-07|language=fr-FR|title=Accueil|url=https://y-con-france.com/}}<!-- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator --></ref><ref>{{citation|title=About us - Y/CON|language=en-GB|work=Y/CON|date=2024-01-22|access-date=2025-07-01|url=https://y-con-france.com/en/about-us/}}</ref> |}
== Fan preferences ==
Thorn noted that while some fans like both equally, fans tend to either prefer BL or non-BL shōjo manga.<ref name="Confused">{{cite web |last1=Thorn |first1=Rachel |author1-link=Rachel Thorn |title=What Shôjo Manga Are and Are Not: A Quick Guide for the Confused |url=http://matt-thorn.com/shoujo_manga/whatisandisnt.php |website=Matt-Thorn.com |access-date=March 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151118080220/http://matt-thorn.com/shoujo_manga/whatisandisnt.php |archive-date=November 18, 2015}}</ref> and Suzuki noted BL fans have a preference for BL over other forms of pornography, for example, heterosexual love stories in ladies' comics.<ref name="Suzuki 245">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.245 {{ISBN|0-8476-9136-5}}, {{ISBN|0-8476-9137-3}}.</ref> Jessica Bawens-Sugimoto feels that in general, "slash and yaoi fans are dismissive of mainstream hetero-sexual romance", such as "the notorious pulp Harlequin romances".<ref name=Bawens-Sugimoto/> Deborah Shamoon said that "the borders between yaoi, shōjo manga and ladies' comics are quite permeable", suggesting that fans of BL probably enjoyed both homosexual and heterosexual tales.<ref name="Shamoon p.86">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. 86</ref> Kazuma Kodaka, in an interview with ''Giant Robot'', suggested that the Japanese yaoi fandom includes married women who had been her fans since they were in college.<ref>{{Cite journal | last = Camper | first = Cathy | title = Boys, Boys, Boys: Kazuma Kodaka Interview | journal = Giant Robot | issue = 42 | pages = 60–63 | year = 2006 | issn = 1534-9845}} </ref> Dru Pagliassotti's survey indicates that loyalty to an author is a common factor in readers' purchase decisions.<ref name="Pagliassotti BL West"/> Yōka Nitta has noted a split in what her readers want - her younger readers prefer seeing explicit material, and her older readers prefer seeing romance.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Totilo |first=Stephen |date=March 10, 2006 |title=Japanese Comics With Gay Themes Attracting Young Female Readers |url=https://www.mtv.com/news/b7ckck/japanese-comics-with-gay-themes-attracting-young-female-readers |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421223220/https://www.mtv.com/news/b7ckck/japanese-comics-with-gay-themes-attracting-young-female-readers |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 21, 2023 |access-date=2023-04-21 |website=MTV |language=en}}</ref> There is a perception that the English-speaking yaoi fandom is demanding increasingly explicit content,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chavez |first=Ed |date=Oct 30, 2007 |title=Yaoi-Con and BL, No Longer "Niche" |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/new-titles/adult-announcements/article/2119-yaoi-con-and-bl-no-longer-niche.html |access-date=2023-04-21 |website=PublishersWeekly.com |language=en}}</ref> but that this poses problems for retailers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Yaoi Explosion |url=https://icv2.com/articles/comics/view/9523/a-yaoi-explosion |access-date=2023-04-21 |website=icv2.com |language=en}}</ref> In 2004, ICv2 noted that fans seemed to prefer buying yaoi online.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://icv2.com/articles/comics/view/5972/yaoi-titles-strong-online-sales|title=Yaoi Titles Strong in Online Sales|website=icv2.com}}</ref> Andrea Wood suggests that due to restrictions placed on the sale of yaoi, many Western teenage fans seek more explicit titles via scanlations.<ref name=Wood-06>{{cite journal | last1 = Wood | first1 = Andrea | year = 2006 | title = "Straight" Women, Queer Texts: Boy-Love Manga and the Rise of a Global Counterpublic | journal = WSQ: Women's Studies Quarterly | volume = 34 | issue = 1/2| pages = 394–414 }}</ref> Dru Pagliassotti notes that the majority of respondents to her survey say that they first encountered BL online, which she links to half of her respondents reporting that they get most of their BL from scanlations.<ref name="Pagliassotti BL West"/> In 2003, there were at least five BL scanlation groups.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Donovan, Hope |chapter=Gift Versus Capitalist Economies | editor-last=Levi|editor-first=Antonia|editor2-last=McHarry|editor2-first=Mark| editor3-last=Pagliassotti|editor3-first=Dru | title=Boys' Love Manga: Essays on the Sexual Ambiguity and Cross-Cultural Fandom of the Genre| publisher=McFarland & Company | date=2010|isbn=978-0-7864-4195-2|page=14 }}</ref> Japanese fan practices in the mid to late 2000s included the concept of the feeling of ''moe'', which was typically used by male otaku about young female characters prior to this.<ref name=Galbraith>{{cite journal|last=Galbraith|first=Patrick W.|year=2009|title=Moe: Exploring Virtual Potential in Post-Millennial Japan|journal=Electronic Journal of Contemporary Japanese Studies|url=http://www.japanesestudies.org.uk/articles/2009/Galbraith.html}}</ref>
Robin Brenner and Snow Wildsmith noted in their survey of American fans that gay and bisexual male fans of yaoi preferred more realistic tales than female fans did.<ref>{{cite book|last=Brenner|first=Robin|title=Mangatopia : essays on manga and anime in the modern world|year=2011|publisher=Libraries Unlimited|location=Santa Barbara, Calif.|isbn=978-1-59158-908-2|author2=Wildsmith, Snow|editor=Perper, Timothy|editor2=Cornog, Martha|page=106|chapter=Love through a Different Lens: Japanese Homoerotic Manga through the Eyes of American Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Other Sexualities Readers|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/mangatopiaessays0000unse/page/106}}</ref>
Shihomi Sakakibara (1998) argued that yaoi fans, including himself, were homosexually oriented female-to-male transgender people.<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> Akiko Mizoguchi believes there is a "shikou" (translated as taste or orientation), both towards BL/yaoi as a whole, and towards particular patterns within the genre, such as a "feisty bottom (yancha uke)" character type. Her study shows that fans believe that in order to be "serious" fans, they should know their own preferences, and "consider themselves a sort of sexual minority". She argues that the exchange of sexual fantasies between the predominantly female yaoi fandom can be interpreted to mean that although the participants may be heterosexual in real life, they can also and compatibly be considered "virtual lesbians".<ref name="Mizoguchi2010" /> Patrick Galbraith suggests that androgynous beautiful boys contribute to the appeal of yaoi amongst women who are heterosexual, lesbian or transgender.<ref name="Galbraith 11">{{cite journal|last=Galbraith|first=Patrick W.|title=Fujoshi: Fantasy Play and Transgressive Intimacy among "Rotten Girls" in Contemporary Japan|journal = Signs|year=2011|volume=37|issue=1|pages=211–232|doi=10.1086/660182|s2cid=146718641}}</ref>
The small Taiwanese BL fandom has been noted to be against real-person BL fanfiction, banning it from their message board.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Chiang|first1=Feichi|title=Counterpublic but obedient: a case of Taiwan's BL fandom|journal=Inter-Asia Cultural Studies|date=21 June 2016|volume=17|issue=2|pages=223–238|doi=10.1080/14649373.2016.1170311|s2cid=148386228}}</ref>
== ''Fujoshi'' and ''fudanshi'' == {{anchor|Fujoshi_and_Fudanshi}} {{nihongo|''Fujoshi''|腐女子||lit. "rotten girl"}} is a Japanese term for female fans of manga, anime and novels that feature romantic relationships between men. The label encompasses fans of the yaoi genre itself, as well as the related manga, anime and video game properties that have appeared as the market for such works has developed. The term "fujoshi" is a homophonous pun on {{nihongo|''fujoshi''|婦女子}}, meaning "woman", created by replacing the character {{nihongo|''fu''|婦}} for woman, with the character {{nihongo|''fu''|腐}} for rotten. The name was coined by 2channel in the early 2000s, where it was used in a self-deprecating fashion.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/view/462|title=The possibilities of research on "fujoshi" in Japan|first=Midori|last=Suzuki|journal=Transformative Works and Cultures|date=21 November 2012|volume=12|via=journal.transformativeworks.org|doi=10.3983/twc.2013.0462|doi-access=free}}</ref> The term carries a sense of being a "fallen woman".<ref>{{Cite book|author=Kotani Mari|chapter=foreword to Saitō Tamaki "Otaku Sexuality"|editor-first1=Christopher|editor-last1=Bolton|editor-first2=Istvan|editor-last2=Csicsery-Ronay Jr.|editor3=Takayuki Tatsumi|pages=224|url=http://www.upress.umn.edu/Books/B/bolton_robot.html|title=Robot Ghosts and Wired Dreams|year=2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605115230/http://www.upress.umn.edu/Books/B/bolton_robot.html |archive-date=2011-06-05|publisher=University of Minnesota Press|isbn=978-0-8166-4974-7}}</ref> An issue of ''Yureka'' which examined fujoshi in detail in 2007 contributed to the spread of the term.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/IJBS/article/view/29588|title=Enjoying Manga as Fujoshi: Exploring its Innovation and Potential for Social Change from a Gender Perspective |first1=Hiromi |last1=Tanaka |first2=Saori |last2=Ishida |date=25 January 2015 |journal=International Journal of Behavioral Science |doi=10.14456/ijbs.2015.5 |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=77–85 |via=www.tci-thaijo.org}}</ref>
Older fujoshi use various terms to refer to themselves, including as {{nihongo|''kifujin''|貴腐人||"noble spoiled woman"}}, a pun on a homophonous word meaning "fine lady", and {{nihongo|''ochōfujin''|汚超腐人}}, which sounds similar to a phrase meaning "Madame Butterfly", possibly taken from a character nicknamed {{nihongo|''Ochōfujin''|お蝶夫人}} in the 1972 manga series ''Ace o Nerae!'' by Sumika Yamamoto.<ref name="bangin_classification">{{cite web|url=http://bangin.wordpress.com/2007/07/25/the-classification-for-%E8%85%90%E5%A5%B3%E5%AD%90fujoshi/|title=The classification for 腐女子 [fujoshi] |last=bangin|date=July 25, 2007|publisher=Japanese words of anime fans, by anime fans, for anime fans|access-date=2009-08-06}}</ref>
According to a 2005 issue of ''Eureka'', in recent times ''fujoshi'' can refer to female otaku in general, although it cautions that not all yaoi fans are otaku, as there are some more casual readers.<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> As ''fujoshi'' is the best-known term, it is often used by the Japanese media and by people outside of the otaku subculture to refer to female otaku as a group, regardless of whether they are fans of yaoi or not. This usage may be considered offensive by female otaku who are not yaoi fans.<ref name="bangin_classification"/>
Men who, like fujoshi, enjoy imagining relationships between characters (especially male ones) in fictional works when that relationship is not part of the author's intent may be called {{nihongo|''fudanshi''|腐男子||"rotten boy"}} or {{nihongo|''fukei''|腐兄||"rotten older brother"}}, both of which are puns of similar construction to ''fujoshi''.<ref>{{Cite book | last1 = Ingulsrud | first1 = John E. | last2 = Allen | first2 = Kate | title = Reading Japan Cool: Patterns of Manga Literacy and Discourse | publisher = Rowman & Littlefield | year = 2009 | isbn = 978-0-7391-2753-7 | page = 57 }}</ref> Bara manga author Gengoroh Tagame has said that men may choose a fudanshi label because it is more socially acceptable than coming out as gay.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Kazumi Nagaike|title=Boys' Love Manga and Beyond : History, Culture, and Community in Japan|date=2015|publisher=University Press of Mississippi|location=Jackson|isbn=9781626740662|chapter=Do Heterosexual Men Dream of Homosexual Men?: BL Fudanshi and Discourse on Male Feminization|page=192}}</ref> However, the sexual orientation of fudanshi is not necessarily gay, as heterosexuals also enjoy reading BL.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Zheng |first1=Guang-Quan |last2=Lee |first2=Ya-Ching |title=Do Only Fujoshi Enjoy Tanbi? A Study of Chinese Fudanshi's Motivations for Liking Tanbi CP in Domestic TV Series |journal=Mass Communication Research |year=2022 |volume=153 |issue=153 |pages=141–194 |doi=10.30386/MCR.202210.0019}}</ref> There also exists a lesser known gender-neutral version used by nonbinary or x-gender people, {{nihongo|''fujin''|腐人||"rotten/spoiled person"}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=fujin |url=https://fanlore.org/wiki/Fujoshi#Etymology |website=fanlore.org |access-date=13 November 2025}}</ref>
Around 2020, fans began adopting the term "shipper" from English-speaking fandoms for its versatility, as it could be used for fan-preferred pairings of different genders.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://blnews.chil-chil.net/newsDetail/23639/ | title=外国で「腐女子」何という？グローバルにBL文化を探索！ | trans-title=What do you call a "fujoshi" abroad? Exploring the global BL culture! | language=ja | work=Chil-Chil | date=2020-06-29 | accessdate=2022-06-04}}</ref>
===As characters=== {{transliteration|ja|Fujoshi}} and {{transliteration|ja|fudanshi}} are used as characters in mostly {{transliteration|ja|otaku}}-themed anime and manga, particularly those aimed at women. Popular titles include ''Tonari no 801-chan'', ''My Girlfriend's a Geek'', ''Kiss Him, Not Me,'' ''The High School Life of a Fudanshi'', and ''Sasaki and Miyano''.<ref name="Galbraith 11"/> On the other hand, ''BL Metamorphosis'' and ''Princess Jellyfish'', which both contained {{lang|ja-Latn|fujoshi}} characters and were aimed at a female audience, were praised for their female-centric view on the {{lang|ja-Latn|fujoshi}} subculture.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-64505-295-1 | title=Bl Metamorphosis, Vol. 1 | work=Publishers Weekly | date=2020-04-23 | accessdate=2021-02-06}}</ref> A TV series featuring a policewoman who is a {{lang|ja-Latn|fujoshi}}, ''Fujoshi Deka'', has been broadcast.<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|issue=20|url=http://intersections.anu.edu.au/issue20/nagaike.htm}}</ref>
==''Yaoi'' and slash== Besides commercially published original material, Japanese yaoi also encompasses fan-made dōjinshi, fan art, computer games, etc.; a large percentage of the dōjinshi offered at Comiket are yaoi stories based on popular anime and manga series.<ref name="out of hand"/> This may be seen as a parallel development to slash fiction in the West. Although shōjo manga stories featuring romances between boys or young men were commercially published in Japan from the mid-1970s, and soon became a genre in their own right, the spread of yaoi through the Western fan community is generally linked to the pre-existing Western slash fiction community. In the mid-1980s, fan translations of the shōjo manga series ''From Eroica with Love'' began to circulate through the slash community via amateur press associations,<ref name="out of hand">{{cite book|year=2004|first=Rachel|last=Thorn|author-link=Rachel Thorn|chapter=Girls and Women Getting Out of Hand|title=Fanning the Flames: Fans and Consumer Culture in Contemporary Japan|editor-first=William W.|editor-last=Kelly|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=9780791460320|page=175}}</ref><ref name="Sequential Tart Translations">{{Cite web|last=Lee|first=Tammy|date=May 2001|url=http://www.sequentialtart.com/archive/may02/johnson.shtml|title=Tantalizing Translations - M.J. Johnson|work=Sequential Tart}}</ref> creating a "tenuous link" between slash and yaoi.<ref>{{cite web|last=Thorn|first=Rachel|author-link=Rachel Thorn|url=http://www.matt-thorn.com/shoujo_manga/girls_stuff/gs94-03-08.html|title=Girls' Stuff, May (?) '94|access-date=2009-04-21|archive-date=2008-08-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828140622/http://www.matt-thorn.com/shoujo_manga/girls_stuff/gs94-03-08.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Although the English-speaking online yaoi fandom is observed to increasingly overlap with online slash fandom,<ref>{{Cite thesis|last=Youssef|first=Sandra|url=http://www.yuuyami.com/luce/thesis.pdf|title=Girls who like Boys who like Boys - Ethnography of Online Slash/Yaoi Fans|type=Honours Thesis for Bachelor of Arts|publisher=Mount Holyoke College|year=2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222205945/http://www.yuuyami.com/luce/thesis.pdf |archive-date=2012-02-22 }}</ref> slash fiction has portrayed adult men, whereas yaoi follows the aesthetic of the beautiful boy, often highlighting their youth. Mark McLelland describes this aesthetic as being seen as problematic in recent Western society.<ref name="WorldofYaoi"/> Yaoi fans tend to be younger than slash fans, and so are less shocked about depictions of underage sexuality.<ref name="McLelland BL websites">{{cite web |url= http://motspluriels.arts.uwa.edu.au/MP1901mcl.html |title= Local meanings in global space: a case study of women's 'Boy love' web sites in Japanese and English |last= McLelland |first= Mark |date=October 2001}}</ref> Jessica Bauwens-Sugimoto detects a tendency in both yaoi and slash fandoms to disparage the others' heteronormativity, potential for subversiveness, or even the potential for enjoyment.<ref name=Bawens-Sugimoto>{{Cite journal |last=Bauwens-Sugimoto |first=Jessica |url=http://www.imageandnarrative.be/index.php/imagenarrative/article/viewFile/123/94 |title=Subverting masculinity, misogyny, and reproductive technology in ''SEX PISTOLS'' |journal=Image & Narrative |volume=12 |number=1 |year=2011 |access-date=2011-03-22 |archive-date=2018-04-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180412200606/http://www.imageandnarrative.be/index.php/imagenarrative/article/viewFile/123/94 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|Anime and manga}} *Anime and manga fandom *Yaoi paddle *Fag hag *Fan loyalty *Fan service *Shipping (fandom) *Glomp *Odagiri effect *Otome Road
==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name="mon amour">{{cite magazine |last1=Solomon |first1=Charles |title=Anime, mon amour: forget Pokémon{{mdash}}Japanese animation explodes with gay, lesbian, and trans themes |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_RGUEAAAAMBAJ/page/n87/mode/2up |access-date=3 December 2020 |magazine=The Advocate |date=14 October 2003 |pages=86–88}} [https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Anime,+mon+amour:+forget+Pokemon--Japanese+animation+explodes+with...-a0110809191 Alt URL]<!-- archive-date is based on earliest Wayback entry --><!-- archive link is text-only version of article -->{{cbignore}}</ref>
}}
==Further reading== *[http://fujyoshi.jp/ fujyoshi.jp] - Includes a glossary of fujoshi-specific terminology. *{{cite web|url=http://archive.metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/777/pop.asp|title=Fujoshi: The "rotten girls" of Ikebukuro take center stage|last=Galbraith|first=Patrick|work=Poplife|publisher=Metropolis|access-date=2009-06-11|archive-date=2011-07-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707121506/http://archive.metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/777/pop.asp|url-status=dead}} *{{cite news|url=http://www.riverfronttimes.com/2009-12-09/news/girls-who-love-boys-who-love-boys-inside-midwest-first-celebration-yaoi-screaming-never-stops/1|title=Girls Who Love Boys Who Love Boys: Inside the Midwest's first celebration of all things yaoi — where the screaming never stops|last=Levitt|first=Aimee|date=8 December 2009|work=Riverfront Times|access-date=18 January 2010|archive-date=5 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121005150242/http://www.riverfronttimes.com/2009-12-09/news/girls-who-love-boys-who-love-boys-inside-midwest-first-celebration-yaoi-screaming-never-stops/1/|url-status=dead}} *{{cite web|url=http://neojaponisme.com/2009/06/04/everybodys-fujoshi-girlfriend/|title=Everybody's Fujoshi Girlfriend|last=Treyvaud|first=Matt|date=June 4, 2009|publisher=Néojaponisme|access-date=2009-06-11}} *{{Cite journal | last1 = Zanghellini | first1 = A. | title = 'Boys love' in anime and manga: Japanese subcultural production and its end users | doi = 10.1080/10304310902822886 | journal = Continuum | volume = 23 | issue = 3 | pages = 279–294 | year = 2009 | s2cid = 145003102 }} *{{cite book|author1=Jeffry T. Hester|title=Boys' Love Manga and Beyond : History, Culture, and Community in Japan|date=2015|publisher=University Press of Mississippi|location=Jackson|isbn=9781626740662|chapter=Fujoshi Emergent: Shifting Popular Representations of Yaoi/BL Fandom in Japan}}
{{Fan fiction}} {{Japanese subcultures}} {{Fandom}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yaoi Fandom}} Category:Anime and manga fandom Category:Female stock characters in anime and manga Category:Boys' love