I mean, that’s how it is in real life too. East Asia is a very weird place when it comes to homophobia. On one hand, average people are mostly chill and don’t generally care in places like Japan and SK (well, youngsters in the latter); on the other, though, it’s more of “I don’t care if it’s some stranger but it’s different if it’s someone I know/relate to”, there’s all the taboos and teasing&bullying, not to mention the governments’ positions on the matter. Not even gonna talk abt China bc it’s a dead end for fellow gays.
oh and the amount of BL content coming from east asia is unfortunately not an indicator of how accepting they are of irl LGBTQ+. Literally knew a fujoshi who loved yaoi but thought irl gays were disgusting; another fujoshi who was okay w gays but not lesbians; ANOTHER fujoshi who loved to cross dress but thought trans people were disgusting. Sad, really.
sad thing is anyone could be like that; my stepmom has a gay friend but (used to) think lesbians were gross. thankfully, she’s not like that anymore and she accepted me when i came out
Yeah 100% its so sad to watch Cirrus turn from a survivor to a perpetrator. Definetly hard to read.
Oh I totally agree. I'm not sure where you're from, but the homophobia doesn't present as any less overt in these countries tbh. The don't ask, don't tell with the heapings of societal pressure to fit in with heteronormative standards. It's intense and upsetting.
I was commenting on how non accepting homophobic context is the status quo for heaps of these stories. I think it just reflects the context of the authors themselves.
I guess I was also pointing to the fact of how there's so many secrets for these characters, it's easy for people to (I guess jokingly) comment about communication, going to therapy etc. But how do they untangle any of it - when nobody gets to talk about shit in the first place.
And yes, I think that yaoi is really just fetishized fantasy content for loads of people. I don't think it really correlates with societal acceptance of LBGTQ+ people.
true true, especially the communication thing - most people in real life don’t even get to talk to others about their problems or “secrets”, let alone a therapist.
Also I’ve lived both in countries where you can be persecuted for being openly homosexual and countries that are so open and accepting that it’s tear inducing. The difference is drastic. And, funnily enough, there’s more people who fetishise LGBTQ+ in countries with a high % of homophobia.
Anyhow, I’m glad to see that the times are slowly changing as mental care becomes more and more commonplace and more and more people stop caring about others’ romantic life. ︶︿︶
dude my mom went from calling me
abnormal for liking guys too to openly sharing her sexual experiences with other women in the past LMFAO
This is really sad. I think the author depicts pretty well how CSA can have such significant long lasting impacts on one's mental health, ability to form healthy relationships, capacity to trust, to understand boundaries. Just how it impacts healthy development.
The idea of keeping 'shameful' secrets, its all so horrible. Nobody, no child should have to carry that burden.
It also makes me sad that in so many mangas/manwhas there's this obvious societal homophobia. Kissing someone of your own gender shouldn't have to be a 'secret'. I feel for both of them there's this huge weight of internalised shame, for their difficulties with their mental health, their sexuality, their pasts. It actually makes me super sad haha, I guess it's good if the story makes me feel something.