Hey guys,
I found this interesting topic while Internet surfing. Apparently, there is this manga (Japanese comics) genre called Yaoi or Boys' Love. This is a successful media in Japan and is targeted towards a female market. The authors are mostly women too. The genre presents "homoerotic or homoromantic male relationships." Some of these manga may not contain strong sexual content, but some features soft porn and even graphic sexual scenes.
This really came as a shock to me because I always assumed pornographic media as male-dominated. But here is a medium that is made by women, for women. I wonder what feminists can say about this. When it comes to pornography, there is always the argument about the objectification of the woman's body. But in this case, it is the reverse.
By the way, Yaoi is so popular in Japan that they make live-action movies and anime versions of the comics.
What do you think?
I agree. Yaoi/ Boys’ Love differs from conventional pornography in that it isn’t primarily for the male gaze, doesn’t exhibit false sex myths, objectify women or include heterosexual partners. On the Wiki site you hyperlinked I found a quote from Mariko Ohara (a science fiction writer) who claimed that she couldn’t enjoy “conventional pornography, as it had been made for men”. Imagining the potentialities of alternative (gender) differentiations would allow females to observe Yaoi, distancing their bodies from it- from their own “objectification”. This reminds me of the video clip to the song ‘All is Full of Love’ by Bjork which I’m sure everyone has seen. Although this isn’t pornography as such, it still represents the idea of watching something erotic which strays away from conventional ways of reading porn and the body. Yaoi is a good example of how women can liberate themselves through a less dominant medium (comic books).
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