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owlectomyChiyoda Yuuki. "The secret enjoyment of a kifujin or ochoufujin
(Both are terms for an older fan of yaoi/BL; I don't really know what the cutoff for 'older' would be, but in the article she is talking about people who started to get into it in the 70s when Hagio Moto and Takemiya Keiko were publishing a lot of stuff. "Fujoshi" is the general term for a woman who's a serious yaoi/BL fan.)
I'm not sure to what extent I agree with her about the fragmentation of the "shoujo" audience and the shift away from true love and soulmates in shoujo; I guess I don't read enough recent shoujo to be able to say one way or the other, but there does seem to be more shoujo lately that's outside that framework of "you fall in love ONCE and that's your soulmate FOREVER and that's the most important thing in the world."
There are at least 2 main strands of BL readers -- there's those who got into it through doujinshi of shounen manga like Slam Dunk and Captain Tsubasa, where you have "youthful passionate friendship" turned up to the next level; and there's the JUNE readers who were more into this whole conception of decadence and immorality (at least, being decadent and immoral from the point of view of the characters, and I think there's some really interesting stuff that goes on with this in Song of the Wind and Trees and Heart of Thomas).
The "fujoshi boom" started in the mid-2000s when shoujo seemed very fragmented as a category; few big hits, and the big hits that did exist were the ones that had media tie-ins and wide audiences outside young women. There's a breaking apart of mass culture.
According to Yoshinaga Fumi, the origin of modern BL is not in Hagio Moto, Takemiya Keiko, and the other "24-gumi" -- Chiyoda agrees but thinks that modern BL is a new thing inspired in part by nostalgia for those older shounen ai works.
Modern shoujo manga are not as focused on "true love" and finding your soulmate as they used to be; there's more sexual liberation, and a decoupling of love and sex; but BL still has a really strong emphasis on true love, and also looking for an ideal of "partnership" that's not predicated on being a wife and mother.
There's also an element of reassurance about being loved "just the way you are"; women have anxiety about looking feminine enough, and so it can be reassuring to see men who love their partners just the way they are, body hair and all.
(Both are terms for an older fan of yaoi/BL; I don't really know what the cutoff for 'older' would be, but in the article she is talking about people who started to get into it in the 70s when Hagio Moto and Takemiya Keiko were publishing a lot of stuff. "Fujoshi" is the general term for a woman who's a serious yaoi/BL fan.)
I'm not sure to what extent I agree with her about the fragmentation of the "shoujo" audience and the shift away from true love and soulmates in shoujo; I guess I don't read enough recent shoujo to be able to say one way or the other, but there does seem to be more shoujo lately that's outside that framework of "you fall in love ONCE and that's your soulmate FOREVER and that's the most important thing in the world."
There are at least 2 main strands of BL readers -- there's those who got into it through doujinshi of shounen manga like Slam Dunk and Captain Tsubasa, where you have "youthful passionate friendship" turned up to the next level; and there's the JUNE readers who were more into this whole conception of decadence and immorality (at least, being decadent and immoral from the point of view of the characters, and I think there's some really interesting stuff that goes on with this in Song of the Wind and Trees and Heart of Thomas).
The "fujoshi boom" started in the mid-2000s when shoujo seemed very fragmented as a category; few big hits, and the big hits that did exist were the ones that had media tie-ins and wide audiences outside young women. There's a breaking apart of mass culture.
According to Yoshinaga Fumi, the origin of modern BL is not in Hagio Moto, Takemiya Keiko, and the other "24-gumi" -- Chiyoda agrees but thinks that modern BL is a new thing inspired in part by nostalgia for those older shounen ai works.
Modern shoujo manga are not as focused on "true love" and finding your soulmate as they used to be; there's more sexual liberation, and a decoupling of love and sex; but BL still has a really strong emphasis on true love, and also looking for an ideal of "partnership" that's not predicated on being a wife and mother.
There's also an element of reassurance about being loved "just the way you are"; women have anxiety about looking feminine enough, and so it can be reassuring to see men who love their partners just the way they are, body hair and all.
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(no subject)
6/5/13 18:09 (UTC)(no subject)
7/5/13 01:42 (UTC)(no subject)
7/5/13 18:37 (UTC)\o/! I am so sick of those psychological problem papers. Also read the next post and really wish I had more to read about shoujo paneling and style!
(no subject)
9/5/13 01:06 (UTC)(no subject)
9/5/13 17:00 (UTC)I have, and ever since then I've really wanted to see someone going into way more depth with it. (Ahaha, that reminds me of seeing Alison Bechdel being interviewed and the interviewer talking about the innovative! and special! use of cinematic techniques in the paneling. orz)