PRETENTIOUS-ASSED ESSAY NUMBER TWO:
IT IS HOT WHEN A MAN SLEEPS WITH ANOTHER MAN AM I RITE
PEOPLE I EXPECT TO COMMENT:8
Yaoi is porn.
Yaoi is porn aimed primarily at heterosexual women.
Now, let me clarify something. There's nothing wrong, to me, with pornography of most forms. As long as the person involved was able to consent, I'm usually okay, which rules out things like child pornography and bestiality.
What is wrong is how yaoi has become, for many, a social and political statement. Some women and girls seem to view the pursuit and promotion of yaoi as more than an extreme enjoyment of erotic materials, but as a statement encouraging love, acceptance, and understanding towards homosexual men by the populace at large. What has been forgotten is that Yaoi is a fantasy. Yaoi is porn. Yaoi often exploits stereotypes about gay men (and even creates its own genre stereotypes to exploit) for the sake of entertaining its female audience. Yaoi generally focuses on the escapades of beautiful, intensely dominant or submissive men who dress in a feminine or provocative manner, for the sake of entertaining its female audience. What it boils down to is a story-book fetishization of a group of people - in this case, gay males, since people often seem incapable of distinguishing between the reality of gay men and the fantasy.
That is not to say that it is unusual in its innacurate and socially questionable stereotyping of a group - men have long fetishized lesbians in a similar sense. However, they stop short of yaoi fans in that they typically realize that it is, in fact, just pornography, and do not expect real-life lesbians to in any way resemble the sort of lesbian they dream of. That is the step that yaoi fans need to take for their entire community, as their fanaticism pressures young, insecure gay men into adopting not just the premade social role of the "Flamer" - but also of the "uke" or the "seme". While gay men may not do this to attract the romantic attention of females, that does not meant they are free of the female's social influence, particularly that of the "fag hag", who will love him forever just for being gay if he'll only take up one of her favorite gay stereotypes and wear it like it were his own.
In conclusion, I believe the perception of yaoi as anything but objectifying pornography (completely acceptable as long as it is only pornography and seen as such) is damaging to the younger portion of our society as a whole. Yaoi fans need to rethink how they view yaoi in the social context and realize that not all gay men are pretty, slim, intelligent, or intentended for them to stare at and drool over, and nor should they be, as they are their own men.
They are not made for you to gawk at.
IT IS HOT WHEN A MAN SLEEPS WITH ANOTHER MAN AM I RITE
PEOPLE I EXPECT TO COMMENT:8
Yaoi is porn.
Yaoi is porn aimed primarily at heterosexual women.
Now, let me clarify something. There's nothing wrong, to me, with pornography of most forms. As long as the person involved was able to consent, I'm usually okay, which rules out things like child pornography and bestiality.
What is wrong is how yaoi has become, for many, a social and political statement. Some women and girls seem to view the pursuit and promotion of yaoi as more than an extreme enjoyment of erotic materials, but as a statement encouraging love, acceptance, and understanding towards homosexual men by the populace at large. What has been forgotten is that Yaoi is a fantasy. Yaoi is porn. Yaoi often exploits stereotypes about gay men (and even creates its own genre stereotypes to exploit) for the sake of entertaining its female audience. Yaoi generally focuses on the escapades of beautiful, intensely dominant or submissive men who dress in a feminine or provocative manner, for the sake of entertaining its female audience. What it boils down to is a story-book fetishization of a group of people - in this case, gay males, since people often seem incapable of distinguishing between the reality of gay men and the fantasy.
That is not to say that it is unusual in its innacurate and socially questionable stereotyping of a group - men have long fetishized lesbians in a similar sense. However, they stop short of yaoi fans in that they typically realize that it is, in fact, just pornography, and do not expect real-life lesbians to in any way resemble the sort of lesbian they dream of. That is the step that yaoi fans need to take for their entire community, as their fanaticism pressures young, insecure gay men into adopting not just the premade social role of the "Flamer" - but also of the "uke" or the "seme". While gay men may not do this to attract the romantic attention of females, that does not meant they are free of the female's social influence, particularly that of the "fag hag", who will love him forever just for being gay if he'll only take up one of her favorite gay stereotypes and wear it like it were his own.
In conclusion, I believe the perception of yaoi as anything but objectifying pornography (completely acceptable as long as it is only pornography and seen as such) is damaging to the younger portion of our society as a whole. Yaoi fans need to rethink how they view yaoi in the social context and realize that not all gay men are pretty, slim, intelligent, or intentended for them to stare at and drool over, and nor should they be, as they are their own men.
They are not made for you to gawk at.
VIEW 10 of 10 COMMENTS
it NEEDS to be heard
(and then they can stop yelling at guys who like lesbian porn)
[Edited on Jul 19, 2005 2:03AM]
Anyway, I hope you appreciate a little criticism.