oh this is a bit hard to explain but i think bcs they talk about "perverted mind" then it depends on yourself? bcs whether you read yaoi or not, whether you read and watch porn or not, it always depends on how you process the things you look at, and the way you're thinking. there are people who read yaoi or het smut but can't be considered as pervert bcs they aren't there for only the smut and sex and didn't think of the sex scenes as smth that makes them horny (even tho horny doesn't immediately makes you a pervert tho). and so as ex : i know someone who has a perverted mind bcs of the way they talk, they talk about adult stuffs, etc and that's describing enough of what they thought in their mind so it's a pervert..?
Similar to what @nickname mentioned, it honestly depends WHY you read it. Read it for the plot? You're not a pervert. Read it for the porn and gain sexual pleasure from it? Yes. Both? Yes. By definition a "pervert" is a person whose sexual behaviour is regarded as abnormal and unacceptable. Reading yuri/yaoi/smut for the sole purpose of enjoyment and NOT SEXUAL AROUSAL does not make you a pervert.
Okayy i think i get it and hum i really appreciate that you don't think horny=pervert.
And now with your definition i think that if i really try to apply it to me... well maybe i am a pervert. But i also think i have trouble accepting that cause i'm an extreme introvert and in your exemple what makes a pervert is also linked to their words/actions , which is isn't my case cause there's no way i'm saying it out loud... you know?
Yess i realise that it's okay as long as i like it without bothering anyone, but i can't help but feeling kinda embarassed or guilty about it, whenever it's mentionned out loud or in real life , probably cause most of the people i know wouldn't be so chill about it ( even though i'll try to make it so they never have to know about it) .
Sooo when i think about it alone it's totally fine and i can enjoy the weirdest yaoi in peace, but as soon as i can feel someone else wondering what i enjoy reading so much, i realise "oh you dirty human, everything is terribly wrong, go feel guilty for hours now"
well i don't think horny = pervert bcs that's just a human's natural case but like @homocoitus said, if it's an abnormal and unacceptable sexual behavior (by wide meaning) then i consider it as a perverted act. and, beside words and actions, the way you're thinking can also express your pervertness. like, me and my friends, we often throw dirty jokes towards e/o, that somehow effected my mind, sometimes i see smth and thinking of dirty jokes, dirty stuffs, adult stuffs, etc. lol esp when i read a word that has nothing to do with smth dirty but then my dirty mind misread it as other dirty word, that's show me how perverted i am when i can think about dirty things without even trying ()
btw i get it that it's hard to believe it yourself that you're a pervert. especially if the circle you're in isn't a circle where you can just casually throw dirty jokes and being pervert isn't smth to be ashamed of. i somehow have experienced that feeling, and i'm not much of an extrovert myself but now i made up my mind, i think being pervert is just a normal thing as long as you do no harm towards other people. and if people shaming you bcs you're a pervert, that's not your problem but it's their problem.
(i typed a lot, sorry. and what i said is purely just my opinion so if someone find it wrong, feel free to correct me)
oh i know your feeling. i can say what i said just know easily bcs my friends can accpet me just the way i am. but if i put myself in your condition, ik it'll be hard too. i don't know if this can help, but for me it's better to just continue liking what you like without give a fuck about other people and if being ignorant is also difficult, still don't push yourself to stop liking what you like. the simplest way is to put your guard on and never tell people what you like, never let them know what you read and like
Someone recently told me "it's okay you don't have a perverted mind" and then i felt some kinda guilt, and i thought that maybe i do,
which made me wonder is reading yaoi being perverted?