Naturally it depends on the author, you can just put any people regardless of everything to fill that villain role. Not only in BL, in shoujo that actually is pretty common thing. I'll say it's just the easy choice albeit cliché to put a girl as the annoying person.
Don't forget, this' BL. You're hoping to see two guys hook on, so a woman is natural enemy to the story thus the easy choice. If it's a guy, it's going to be a jerk most likely. Not always.
Anyway you're overthinking and please don't generalize stuffs on a whim, it's called prejudice.
Actually I major in gender studies, I am not overthinking and I am very aware of the context in which the characters are presented and represented. Also I speak from MY experience with thousands of BL and other manga and comic genres. They also don't have to cast the woman (bitchy, senseless, mean female character with no depth) as the villain, though I agree, it is the lazy, easy choice.
Agree with you 100%! I say this all the time, it’s also common in a lot of other genres and media which is so sad. And if it’s a dude that’s the annoying one or the villain, it’s typically someone “ugly” or “fat” or whatever cuz if it’s someone hot then it’s not the same unfortunately :/
Yes so so so true! Agree with what you’re saying 100% about the male gaze(oh how I hate the male gaze) and the stereotypical weak, shallow, bitchy female character. I was so immediately cautious when they introduced the female character because I’ve been conditioned into thinking of female characters as a plot device for the author to introduce negativity (jealousy, envy, bad behavior, etc). And I am so grateful this was not the case! I wish this is how it was in so many other mangas too (or all media really). Am very grateful for a human depiction of a woman, as a friend and a side character with their own life. Other authors need to take note!
I don’t think this is overthinking at all. I’ve read hundreds of mangas and I constantly see this trend of female characters being depicted as just caricatures of, as OP put it, hyper sexualized depictions of women through the male gaze. They’re bitchy, they’re rude, they’re superficial and only care about appearances, they’re overly interested in feminine and cute things, they’re sly, their whole existence is centered either on looking good or finding a boyfriend. I understand it’s BL so obviously the focus will be on male characters. But it’s not like we exist in a bubble where only men exist. Friends, coworkers, family members, acquaintances, staff. There are so many places in a persons life where women simply exist. I wish that BLs would just also depict those relationships and show women as people with their own regular lives.
Idk. Sorry if this went too overboard lol, I understand you’re just speaking about manga villains who often tend to not be very well written anyway. This is just me ranting because I’m frustrated by the lack of good female character depictions in media. I just wish there was more of it and more of treating women like normal humans!
I know this doesn't really have anything to do with the plot or general story but I loved how the woman character was just a normal person. To often lately, I have seen so much misogyny (intended or not) in the bl that I have been reading and it is almost as if the women characters aren't even people, they've just become these hyper sexualized depictions of women through the male gaze. So it was a breath of fresh air to see a woman just be a cool friend and co-worker and not some hyper feminine representation of a weak, bitchy, or otherwise shallow female character. Food for thought I guess. Side note this was SO CUTE!