Anyone know the reason why women love bl??? Or its majority of bl viewers are women???? An...

Tbh I could go on abt this for days on this topic but idk how to start bc there's so much to unpack abt it

Im both a bl and gl lover but from what ive seen it's bc since we live in a patriarchal society, (esp in japan back then) het stuff usually fell under very sexist tropes. So when bl FIRST started being created women were able to express taboo topics like sex thru characters that werent women, and ig it just developed from there and then it actually became something that helped with queerness too,
Theres actual reserch done ab this hahah u should prolly check those out cuz im not sure

as someone who reads a lot of shit on here i have to agree, theres a lot of hidden gems for bl where there's actual plot and little to no sex action but manhwas like jinx are just heavily popularized mainly due to the fact that people just enjoy seeing 2 illustrated men doing the deed with the bonus of some form of plot. it's geniunely boring to be reading something that has sex in it almost repetitively every few chapters. it's sad to see bl readers not respect gl because it's "fetishization" of actual female interactions/characters which is so hypocritical .

OMG???? GO GURL GO
GOOOOOOOOOO
LETS TALK ABOUT IT PUH LEASEEEE IM BEGGING U THERE HAS TO BE SOME DEEPER MEANING BESIDES A PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPLANATION ABOUT THIS

the author of manhwas are mostly girls too

Ts is so real.

The reason why women like BL so much can be due to a multitude of reasons, the main ones being:

1. Internalized misogyny: They don't realize it, but society paints women as useless and only good being a wife and a mother. This thought process is not just ingrained into men's minds, but women as well. And it's like school, it's hard to unlearn brainwashing once it's there, the only thing we can do to overcome it and learn for the better.

2. Sexualization of men in a homoerotic/ homosexual relationship: They like the sex aspect of a relationship, but not the romantic feelings or the meaningfulness or the hardships of a homosexual relationships, in this case, between two men. They sexualize men because people who are attracted to a sex (women to men, in this case) tend to do just that. Sexualize them. Men do it to women, men to men, women to men, women to women. It's just more common/ more heard of if you are attracted to the opposite sex.

I feel that it is very much possible for women to like BL without being problematic. It only becomes problematic if you are reading BL simply because of the sex, the sexualization of the sex role that they may take (for ex: I like the bottom because they are small, petite, cute, etc.) This is stereotyping at its finest, if the person hates when women are involved, if the person dislikes lesbian or straight romance/relationships.

Again, it's not all women who read BL that are problematic, but there is a large amount of the population.

(I am a woman btw)

Ok soo…. Im definitely thankful that u agree because I just believe that my beliefs are controversial and its hard cause people are just too easy to “offend” now a days. So its nice to see someone with an open mind. I mentioned juinx because it is an exact representation of the bl fandom thats the weird and bad side wanting to have a redemption arc when really hes complete trash and doesnt even deserve one, even seeing people comment that hes so funny so hot and hoping that he would be a better man is just complete bullshit to me. And what u said about bl fans not respect gl fans is new to me i personally never have seen this nor do i see gl fans much i do think its underrated compared to bl i dont even see any parts of the gl fandom, i also agree that it’s hypocritical.

Well yeah i said lust a lot so that correlated to what i said. This topic might be controversial but if u think logically it honestly just…. Idk how to say it but u gotta realize that theres a deeper meaning to this and what im saying is true people just dont realize it and its just came to a point the plots are not moral anymore but it has always been that way tbh i just hope people soon be open minded about it cause thats what i realized i read a lot and it consumed me because this website literally shows the homepage full of bl u type like ur mature btw lol its a compliment i type lazily so i dont care about the commas or apostrophes

Srry if this all over the place bc I'm trying to address all your points
So there's multiple things to consider from what you said, genres, women as readers, heteronormative relationships, conservative views from the cultures, women as a target audience and capitalism, and shock value

For starters "Boys Love" is an umbrella term that holds the genres "shonen ai" (romantic gay stories for all ages) and "yaoi" (outdated term for sexual gay stories). So like I think your initial point shoundnt be to say "bl is turning more abt sex" but that yaoi overall is gaining way more popularity than ever and is overshadowing shonen ai stories to the point that the all genre is perceived as plain heternormative gay porn. WHICH I AGREE WITH BTW

now it's true that the majority of BL readers are women and there's multiple theories and studies abt it. The most famous one is that it's because of how women are represented in media, usually they don't identify with the ideal of them also bc people unconsciously project themselves into the character so it makes it the more uncomfortable. Gay stories allow them to enjoy the romance w/o projecting themselves into it and also see it more abt two people falling in live instead of a person falling in love and the other seeing them as an object

You may read the last part and think that also happens in BL AND ON GL and that's also true bc despite this stories being abt two people of the same sex, they writters are mostly cishet and also from very conservative countries with very conservative gender roles. The result is that people assign the role of the woman to one of the men to the point that is literally a just a straight couple w the same genitalia. This is an issue mostly on the creators fault, most readers complain to this day abt how they always make the bottom (bc yk that's "the woman") look like a 14 y/o fragile woman

Now, women as a target audience it's smth rlly interesting as a whole, in other industries women are known as a the hidden gem and often the back bone of their business. Basically if you cater to women you know you'll get your money lol. This is specifically obvious with romance stories and BL is no different. However how I said before women have a thing for BL which the industry understands and exploits as much as it can. If women had this fixation for smth else, that smth will also be as satured in content like BL is

Shock value is smth that is being use A LOT in the recent years and perfectly shows why today is so normal to open a new BL and the 1st chapter being already porn. Again, women will buy and read BL regardless but won't it catch your eyes if the story started rlly bold? Yeah that's THE logic that most authors are following rn. No one is surprised anymore either bc it just shows they no longer have the ability to create meaningful pieces so they just a rlly diluted romance full of sex to attract viewers

I'm missing like 80 points but I'm kinda of a mess trying to put them together so maybe I'll comment back later

I try my best ╥﹏╥

I wasn't trying to undermine what you were saying, more like putting an explanation for the people who don't get it. Also, there's nothing wrong with the way I type nor was I trying to make it seem that I was better than you for using commas. I do it for me so I can properly organize my thoughts. Sorry if I offended you ig :)

Ykw I think I lowk read your comment wrong mb

It's simply because they are hot men

I like the power imbalance of the seme to uke, and the toxic-ness of it all. I would like straight stuff too, if I could find toxic straight works. I have a very specific preference and I find that yaoi is the only genre that fulfills it.

Also women live vicariously through the ukes. Ukes are drawn in a more girless way compared to the manly seme. The ukes are smaller too compared to the tops.

Because straight women like men. Simple as that. Put two of em together and that's 2x the fun.

Also women live vicariously through the ukes. Ukes are drawn in a more girly way compared to the manly looking seme. The ukes are smaller too compared to the tops.

Lol that's what I wrote it just that simple. It doesn't have this deep meaning to it.

Idk why other women read it but I primarily read bl because I think it has better romance in the stories than straight romance ( not to say there isn't any good straight/ yuri romance). Maybe because it has more of the romance I want to see in my life ( besides the toxic stuff), or maybe I just want to read something angsty that gives me the feels. And straight/ Yuri romance doesn't get me in my feels like that. When sex scenes come up in manga I'm literally not even thinking about sex but more so the intimacy of the characters. Ig you could say I'm desensitized to it a little?

I also think the reason such " horrible" stories like jinx get put on a high horse is because we all want to see what the redemption arc is going to look like. When a story is sweet from the get go we know the outcome. I personally like both types of stories. Sometimes I'm in the mood for something that I KNOW is going to need a redemption arc like Painter of the night but sometimes I wanna read something light and cute. And while I do think to many bls have used rape to further their plots, sometimes I think its ok to have those types of things in the stories. Sorry I don't know if I answered your question and sorry it's so long

To be honest, I don’t even like BL because I hate when the bottom has a dick and is muscular. I prefer rounder, smaller, and softer bodies for the submissive role. I am a female and that does have something to do with that preference, since I find the female body way more attractive than male bodies due to familiarity.

Someone else said that women tend to identify with the uke role, and that holds some truth to me as the ukes I tend to like most reflect some of my own traits. However, I prefer to identify with the seme instead because I like control and power. Sorry if TMI.

I have a preference for straight but that genre doesn’t have the kind of thing I’m interested in. I’m forced to read BL in a way.