Yaoi as a whole has always… uh, confused me. I sort of understand the appeal in it (like boys tend to say, “Two hotties are better than one!”) but why the heck do the fricking insane fangirls start squealing over Naruto and Sasuke cosplayers making out? It’s not REALLY Naruto and Sasuke; it’s just a mental substitute of sorts.
But cosplay rant aside, the same sort of fandomosity goes for yuri (as stated above) though the fandom is not quite as vocal. After pondering the motives of these fans, I’ve realized the reason for yaoi/yuri fandoms’ existences might be simple: jealousy.
(Mildly 14+-rated post within, and if any mention of yaoi or yuri offends you, best not to keep reading.)
So say you have a hot (or cute, sexy or mysterious) guy in a non-yaoi manga or anime. Say, in this case, the people who end up watching the show are horny loser fangirls, and they’re mainly interested in the hot guy, and they fantasize about him night and day, etc etc.
But then there’s the other characters in the show – say, in this case, another hot guy, two flaky pretty girls, and a genetic experiment chick. (Name the anime and you get coookies.) The fangirls start drooling over the other hot guy. However, they know they’ll never have either hot guy, since they are fictional characters and obviously do not really exist. In some cases, they may subconsciously realize that even if said hot character DID exist, they’d never be good enough for him.
So in the series itself, there’s almost always a possibility that a romantic twist will occur and a spark may ignite between a hot guy and one of the girls, right? But in this case, the fangirls don’t want that.
Why? Because they don’t want to see any other girl making out with, snuggling with (etc, etc) the hot guy they like, period. Jealousy.
Of course, the jealousy of the female characters might not be as strong, and therefore the yaoi support not as ridiculous strong, if one of the series’ canon females a.) can be related to by a fan (same age, appearance or personality, etc) or b.) is just very likable or admirable (Rukia in Bleach, for example) by more mature fans. Or a fan might invent an original character for use in fanfiction if they’re grossed out by guy-on-guy or they like making Mary-Sues.
So why support yaoi instead of just not supporting any hetero OTPs? Simple: horny guys are (for some people) easy/fun to look at. ^_^; Of course, you also have the more mature fans who support yaoi for what it really is (gay relationships) instead of smutty crap.
So what about canon yaoi instead of just fanfiction fantasies? Yaoi series are, essentially, porn for girls who don’t want to see a guy doing R-rated things with another (often more attractive) girls. Occasionally you get series that break the standard uke-seme smut plot and go for something more realistic and serious.
I’d almost dare to say that it’s the same sort of psychology in yuri fanboys. But I think the catty rivalry trend in girls (especially teenage/young adult girls) makes jealousy as a whole even more intense. Boys see porn as, well, porn. (I shouldn’t have to go into detail; besides, I’m trying to keep this post appropriate T_T; ) Girls can either try to relate themselves to the girl in porn, or if the porn star’s hotter than they’ll ever be, they’ll just go ‘Uh, whores suck; I’d rather watch two horny guys.’
Of course, maybe I have this somewhat wrong. I’m not exactly a psych major, after all; I’m in high school ^_^; Maybe the yaoi fangirl trend is just due to the oversexualization of attractive males in society, and it’s not really due to a girl’s inner insecurities. But I’m sure that jealousy is at least a small part of the subconcious machinations of a yaoi fan. (Or maybe someone already came up with this theory already and I just missed it ^___^;;; )
tl;dr : In addition to the whole ‘Two hot horny guys are better than one’ thing, fangirls like yaoi because they don’t want to see their favorite guy snogging a girl they don’t like or can’t relate to.
It’s actually pretty accurate.
It’s the same for Japanese pretty idol boys. The fangirls would rather see them either
a) being asexual
b) occassionally having a “gay” moment with one of their fellow group mates
cause if they hear/see the guy with another girl, they’ll go slit their wrists and send hate mail.
Most immature yaoi fangirls are ones who don’t know anything about relationships, never been in one, don’t want to bother getting a real man.
Most mature yaoi fangirls, have a boyfriend, know what it’s like to have a boyfriend or know how relationships work. Therefore, there’s no need for them to get pissed that a male in an anime ends up with a female that’s prettier because frankly they don’t care.
In my case, I root for any kind of good/amusing relationship in any series I watch. Gay or straight lulz
I think AB.net hates our blog now. How to fix? x.x
Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s it too. Oh the number of times I’ve seen a girl write, “I wish so-an-so would die” just because they want the heroine’s boyfriend for themselves. Scary.
I’m not really a yaoi fan, but I know enough fangirls (yaoi or otherwise) to pretty much think the jealousy issues solves the mystery, at least among the ones between 15 and 18. If they’re older than 18, they should have either grown out of yaoi, or be into it for what it is.
The immature girls under 15 still seem to have enough imagination to put themselves in the main girl’s role and crap. Or they make badly-written fanfiction featuring themselves as a fantastic Mary-sue. Then they move onto yaoi once they discover it because it’s just so much easier. And over 18, well, I really hope they’ve figured things out by then. Not saying there aren’t exceptions too all of that age-grouping, but I haven’t met too many.
And as far as the yaoi “strictly porn” kind of stuff goes, I tend to think girls (above 18, again) are just thinking about seeing man parts. That’s all they want and so that’s all they get. It’s pretty much the same with guys and their yuri, right? It’s just the actual relationships that probably bring more of their jealousy out…unless the girl is really irrational.
You and I already discussed this… Since I’m not a yaoi fangirl, I’ve really got no room to speak, but I’ll give it a shot anyway.
I think part of it is jealousy, but I think part of it is their desire – as females – to see a relationship develop with tenderness and caring. This probably also causes all the Mary-Sue stories out there too, yaoi or het. (Remember Ami-chan’s comic?)
Then again, they could just be after the mindless smut. Who knows? Not me, that’s for sure.
@Hinano: I would type out an equally detailed response to tell you how right you are, but… well, it’s simple enough to say you obviously get it too ^___^; I didn’t realize the bit about the idols, though. That’s interesting.
@Crisu: … idk my bff jill *shot* Um, yeah, I’ll look into it.
@FuyuMaiden: Ehehehe, not necessarily 18+ only; I’ve seen dirty-minded underage fujoshi ^_^;;;;; But you’re right; it’s the actually love in the relationship (not always just the smut) that causes the jealousy.
As a yuri fangirl, personally, girls look better then guys imo. That’s all.
But I think what you say is mostly true.
tl;dr: People are obsessive.
Izzat rite?
As a fangirl I understand the idea of placing yourself into the story but…I have a limit. From the standard of pornography I prefer male on male sexuality to heterosexual relations because the woman does tend to hog the spotlight. A uke is very much the star of the yaoi show in all his amazing male beauty.
I like yaoi but i’m not squealing fangirl so i don’t really get that either…
i guess i just like sex in them especially non-con, kinks…
i watch hentei too so i definitely have no problem seeing a girl XD
i like unrealistic sex i suppose (but no tentacles!)
Personally,I only read because I can picture them as genderless.I love yuri more,but with a lack of it,I go for what I can get.I just really find it hard to picture any kind of heterosexual couple without feeling queasy.As long as I don’t have to SEE male body parts or SEE a het couple,I’m happy with the romance.Although,It’s probablly cause I just don’t find men that attractive.And because anime isn’t very showy when it comes to masculinity.Sorry for any and all insults to men.
I’ve been a yaoi fangirl for about 3 years now and I love it for the cute boys and stories^^. I think jealousy plays a part but a very small one and I think my friend Imaginary Boy says it best:
“As far as females are concerned, this is a bit more complicated. Stereotypically, a homosexual relationship is dramatic, intense, passionate, and “exotic” to those not partaking in one. It comes as no surprise why girls gravitate towards yaoi for these very reasons.
Yaoi contains the basic premise of various sources that most females are typically drawn to: love, drama, passion, heartbreak, and so forth. These elements — combined with males — equate to an ideal form of entertainment for an average female.
I also look at it from a male perspective regarding lesbianism. A typical male teenager will tell you that lesbians are “hot” or that they enjoy the visual stimulation of seeing two females together in an intimate manner. I suppose it all has to do with the human mind, fantasy, imagination, and wonderment of something that is foreign.
Just my two cents. ”
There’s more comments from fangirls/boys at the url below
http://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+4493
Oh and is the anime Black Cat?