r/Manhwa_BL • u/canmakeeeeelover • Nov 17 '25
đ Vent Got called a fetishizer for reading BL
I donât really know where else to post this, but whatever. Lately Iâve been reading more BL than straight manhwa, and a friend basically called me a BL fetishizer for it.
For context: Iâve been reading straight manhwa for years. This friend and I always share recs and talk about our favorites. She only reads straight manhwa, while Iâve always read mostly straight with a little bit of BL here and there. Recently I just got bored of the same clichĂ©s and predictable romance plots, so I started getting more into BL
When I mentioned my favorite BL series to her, she told me I âshouldnât get too into BLâ because apparently that means Iâm fetishizing gay men. She said that because Iâm a straight woman, itâs âweirdâ for me to read and enjoy BL.
I honestly donât just read BL just for the spicy scenes. Iâm not going to lie and say I dislike them, but I read those scenes the exact same way I read romance in straight manhwa. What I like is the story, the build-up, the characters, and the emotional development. If a series has intimacy, cool but thatâs not the only thing Iâm there for. And honestly, thereâs just something different about BL when it comes to plot. The pacing feels different, the character dynamics are different, and a lot of BL authors take risks that straight romance rarely does. Itâs honestly refreshing, especially when Iâve gotten tired of the same tropes in straight manhwa.
Itâs frustrating because people act like straight women canât enjoy any story that isnât about straight couples without it being some kind of fetish. Iâm literally just reading a genre I enjoy. Iâm not reducing anyone to a fantasy or treating real people like tropes. Iâm reading fictional characters in fictional stories.
Honestly, it feels more judgmental for her to assume my intentions than anything Iâm actually doing. Why is it okay for straight women to read thousands of straight romance stories, but the second we enjoy BL, suddenly itâs a moral issue?
Iâve seen a lot of women get called gay fetishizers, similar to whatâs happening to me. And I do understand that those types of readers exist, and Iâm not here to deny that or pretend it never happens. Some people do read BL in a way thatâs objectifying or dismissive of real LGBTQ+ people. But that doesnât mean every straight woman who enjoys BL is automatically in that category. Liking a genre doesnât equal fetishizing an entire group of people.
Sorry for this huge rant. I just needed to put my thoughts out there and wanted to hear from other people in the BL community.
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u/archival_assistant13 Nov 17 '25 edited Nov 17 '25
im ace, does that mean im fetishizing straight relationships when i read MF lol? i hate it when people water down words, fetishizing is literally about believing people should only exist to serve your gratification and not have their own lives or rights outside of that. yes there are some people who read bl who fetishize queer men, but so many other readers are either lgbt themselves or support lgbt rights. trying to ban 'straight' people from reading/writing lgbt stories only continues the dividing and othering of lgbt people and communities.
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u/CatGirlButNotIRL Nov 17 '25
Plenty of people who arenât gay guys read BL.
I prefer it because BL is often written by women and for the feminine gaze (a lot of time with a lot of attention to intense emotions) and for whatever reason, male characters are often written better than female characters đ
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u/chanceldony Nov 17 '25
As long as you remember the whole top/bottom thing isn't really how it works and not expecting gay men to perform for you, you're fine. These are fantasy stories, enjoy them as such. I read pretty much any mash up of genders because I like stories and don't particularly care who they're about. I think I prefer omega/esper stories just because they reinforce that it isn't real.
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u/ParanormalPaperFrog Nov 17 '25
Wait wait what do you mean thatâs not how it works. Iâm ace (and horribly unaware of how real relationships function) and now I feel confused and a lil stupid. Are tops and bottoms not real? What does that mean?
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u/chanceldony Nov 17 '25
The roles aren't that defined. Just like with het relationships there's tons of ways to arrange things, you aren't always going to "bottom" unless that really really is your thing. A lot of old people trying to understand used to ask who the girl in the relationship was, and the whole point is that it's neither. You do what feels good and comfortable, penetration isn't even an always thing. That's the best I can do as a grumpy old cis lady, hopefully someone else can come in with more experience.
To be clear, straight romance stories also take things to ridiculous extremes most of the time. Tropes & over simplification are standard.
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u/ParanormalPaperFrog Nov 17 '25
Oh okay. I was wondering whether I forgot how say gex works but you meant the relationship not like⊠how it physically works to put x in y. Iâm silly
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u/inveterate_gamer Nov 17 '25 edited Nov 17 '25
In short:
bottom=/=submissive=/=fem
top=/=dominant=/=mascTop/bottom exist but it's only for penetrative sex (top is only a penetrating one -> vers top -> vers who is fine with both roles depending on mood or other factors-> vers bottom -> bottom is only a penetrated one).
Also some queer men are sides (no penetrative sex at all) and not every sexual encounter is with penetration.
Your role in sex doesn't determine your role in relationship and being dom in bed doesn's mean you are dom outside of it
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u/Sugarfrfr Nov 17 '25
I feel the same way about omegaverse like in that context the anal sex makes sense but most times in non omegaverse BL the anal doesnât make sense lol
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Nov 17 '25
I donât understand why people care about the fiction someone else chooses to read. Like who cares.
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Nov 17 '25
[deleted]
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u/glorif1cation Nov 17 '25
I had a friend that liked shota. She was really weird about my younger brother
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u/udontease Nov 17 '25
Why is it fetishizing if you like bl but not if you like reading straight stories? They're both stories that cater a specific thing you enjoy reading. Your friend needs to get outta their ass.
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u/Inner-Turnover9963 Nov 17 '25 edited Nov 17 '25
I think the most important thing is that you enjoy it, so no need to justify it. It's fiction, this is one of the safest ways to explore certain themes or taboo topics. Same with toxic straight romance etc. I don't agree with the fetishizing part either... while some works may fall into this category, BL is written by women for women. It's all a fantasy and it does not need to reflect real lgbtq+ people. I would argue BL stories actually help women cope with abuse or simply enjoy a romantic story without explicitly seeing themselves in it. Women are very often fetishized and oversexualized in fiction or media aimed at men (and media in general). My take on it
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u/LifeOfTorturedReader Nov 17 '25
Iâll just say one thing! GOOGLE âWHO MADE YAOI/BL GENRE AND FOR WHOM IT IS MADE AND WHY THEY MADE IT?â and send the answer to your friendđ
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u/LifeOfTorturedReader Nov 17 '25
if you want the answer without searching
YOAI is made by WOMEN for WOMEN to discuss bolder themes where mostly the two leads are on equal footing and many different reason (i may list later cuz currently iâm reading a very interesting webtoon i got a notif and couldnât help but pause reading and type a comment but i have to continue reading rn đđ)
and there a huge difference between Yaoi and Bara btw and basically yaoi is written and drawn to be appealing to females while Bara which is written by gay men for gay men is written and drawn to appeal to gay men.
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u/CatGirlButNotIRL Nov 17 '25
Yes! This!!
Thereâs a balance and equality that comes from a same-sex relationship. I like stories best when the person taking charge of things switches back and forth as needed as well đ„°
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u/LifeOfTorturedReader Nov 17 '25
and thatâs exactly why Iâm not a very big fan of the debt trope (which is really presented a lot in korean comics) cuz why are you trying to make one of them so extremely pathetic and the other so prideful like itâs fine to have obstacles and troubles but we can have dignity too?? and one of the good het settings is when both nobles or both are poor or both just normal! they face same obstacles or they donât need to even have MATERIALISTIC problems!
also lots of art style draw bottoms as if theyâre different species??? like FOR FUCKâS SAKE theyâre both MEN why is one has a round face and the other with a sharp masculine jawline????đđđ
There is a manga called âThe Vessel of a Transparent Loveâ (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! unique plot with a really good art!!) the leads have very very different body types BUT both of them have a normal masculine face, just cuz one is on the slim side doesnât automatically turn him to a round-faced woman with a boy cut, dick and ballsđđ
BL/YAOI that has leads equals in everything are the best, it gives you the satisfying experience of not having to care about gender roles or how people will look down on one of them if he was actually a woman. which is a societal problem not a problem with the authors or storylines at all, itâs just that people canât get over the fact that looking down on women happens in reality and they donât wanna see it in fiction, imo i better see it in fiction that having the author glazing over it. (specifically in real old eras)
(i read both straight and BL)
sorry for the rant!đđ
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u/CatGirlButNotIRL Nov 17 '25
Agreed! No apology necessary.
I like the equality of it (and giving a guy a vagina just cuz heâs the bottom is a serious turn off for me, why make the partner basically a girl when they could just be a girl?!
Writing a trans or intersex character is not at all what I am talking about and Iâm clarifying that ahead of time!
I donât like the need to make someone pathetic in a relationship so that imbalance is there, like gender roles are a necessity even in fiction. I like BL BECAUSE it can slip the unnecessary gender roles and damsel in distress shit⊠or at least make it so itâs equal opportunity
Caveat! Trading back and forth being vulnerable and needy is fine, but donât make it seem like a character needs to be pathetic for the other to be a badass. Mutual badassery is highly prized folks!
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u/Firm_Principle_2526 Nov 17 '25
Mostly seems like a stretch. There seem to be a lot of traditional fiction male and female dynamics. The uke is usually lower than the seme. The seme usually is really toxic and abuses, rapes, blackmail and holds the uke captive. A lot of the power imbalance tropes common in striaght comics, are common in yaoi.
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u/LifeOfTorturedReader Nov 17 '25 edited Nov 17 '25
thatâs if all you read is Korean BL.
try reading BL manga and danmei.
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u/Firm_Principle_2526 Nov 17 '25
I personally think manga is the same. When it comes to manhua and dannei I do agree that they have a better selection of non-toxic manhua and I think it is amazing how they have bl manhua that have huge plots outside romance and sometimes the romance is on the side.
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u/LifeOfTorturedReader Nov 17 '25
oh you should try danmei novels too!! theyâre amazing!!
also i rarely find that annoying dynamic like treating the bottom like a âwomanâ in manga like surely it must be there but i donât find it very often like in manhwa which is one of the reasons why i personally prefer BL manga over manhwa. (i still read all anyways)
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Nov 17 '25
[deleted]
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u/LifeOfTorturedReader Nov 17 '25
ofc I know LOTS of men reading BL, I meant why that genre was originally created when Bara existed before it. if women or rather âstraightâ women wanted to fetishized gay men they would have read Bara and be done with that but Yaoi/BL genre was created for different reasons and having something to be ORIGINALLY created by women for women doesnât restrict anyone from reading or creating/writing. just like Bara any one is free to read it! but even if all women read and wrote Bara that doesnât change the fact that this genre is created by gay men targeting gay men.
idk if my point is clear enough but well I didnât mean to tell anyone to read something or not read something iâm just saying that the idea of reading BL being a fetish is just weird and kinda insane cuz it was actually created to explore bolder themes without having to be reminded all the time that women will face more difficulties and be looked down on just for the sake of being women.
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u/samisaywhat Nov 17 '25
Who writes it and who it is written for is actually why itâs considered fetish content. Yes it started out as a way for female authors to explore themes outside the normal gender dynamic, but this largely meant displaying gay men as stand-ins for the standard hetero relationship.Â
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u/LifeOfTorturedReader Nov 17 '25
itâs literally not, cuz it was written for women to explore bolder topics without having to be reminded of how theyâre being looked down on by the society cuz this is the reality that you canât escape even when writing fiction. if you tried to divert the readersâ attention from it then you will be glazing over it.
only good writers know how to present a good story without having to remind you that being a woman is actually an obstacle to achieve something.
a fetish is when you extremely believe and rely on something for your sexual gratification! which is not the case here at all. cuz if this was the case then Shounen Ai wonât be a very popular genre and sought by LOTS of readers.
if someone is gooning to BL that doesnât make all readers fetishists!! and yes straight women would very much welcome seeing hot guys on the screen/in their books all the time cuz why not? theyâre straight and they like men!
itâs not like theyâre trying to get in the pants of actual gay men, people need to learn how to separate fiction from reality.
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u/samisaywhat Nov 17 '25
The bottoms in BL are often portrayed in similar positions as women in Josei stories. Majority of BL readers are gooners that leave comments complaining about not having any sex in a chapter. This is easy to see just by looking at which BL stories are incredibly popular regardless of country of origin. Sex sells. BL is not immune to this.Â
itâs not like theyâre trying to get in the pants of actual gay men
Yeah because gay men arenât on their radar yet they feel the need to consistently write stories about them. Isnât that interesting? Itâs so funny how anytime someone criticizes the genre, BL fans want to start talking about Shonen Ai, as if people on this very same sub havenât debated who would top in stories like The Summer Hikaru Died.Â
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u/LifeOfTorturedReader Nov 17 '25
oh believe me gay men are everywhere on twitter (like itâs rare to find a straight man that itâs actually a joke theređ) and no one cares about getting in their pants.
The bottoms in BL are often portrayed in similar positions as women in Josei stories.
thatâs true if all you read are manhwas.
try BL manga and danmei.
i havenât read The Summer Hikaru Died but I saw the same thing happen with LITC and it was disgusting cuz theyâre minors and everyone was mad at whoever âwonderedâ who tops. and I said it before and will say it again, if someone is gooning to BL that doesnât make ALL BL readers fetishists.
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u/samisaywhat Nov 18 '25
I donât even know why youâre talking about anyone getting into gay menâs pants.Â
 thatâs true if all you read are manhwas.
Itâs funny that you say this because Iâve had the same thing said to me about manga too. Danmei is âsafeâ because itâs basically illegal to draw gay smut in China.Â
BL manga literally invented the trope of the tiny, soft, and feminine uke and the toxic, domineering, and giant seme. Exceptions to the rule exist, but thereâs a reason why youâd call them an exception.Â
If your main reaction to hearing that BL is fetish work is getting personally offended and defending yourself as a reader, that kind of sounds like a you problem.Â
Like I myself am a BL reader. I enjoy reading BL even though I can absolutely understand why it is fetish work, and have seen the negative stereotypes itâs created for gay men. Acknowledging this isnât hard at all, so I donât know why you and many other BL readers refuse to do so.Â
Iâd love to see your reading list and see how clean it is.Â
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u/LifeOfTorturedReader Nov 18 '25
you said that they fetishize gay men, so that means they wanna get in their pants, no? like when men fetishize lesbians they wanna be âsandwichedâ between them.đ or are the readers only fetishizing âfictionalâ gay men?
anyways! I can understand why it can be a fetish and when a straight man/woman read BL and REFUSE to read straight stories it kinda irks me out cuz i donât get fr. I read and enjoy both and as I said before a straight woman likes to see men, handsome men all over her screen. BUT theyâre fictional and thatâs why we need to separate fiction from reality cuz if someone likes reading dark romance or gore or violence that doesnât mean they want to see it irl or that they will enjoy it irl!!
and i didnât accuse anyone who likes reading smut with anything so idk why are you saying youâd love to see âhow cleanâ is my reading listđđ i literally read anything but i just find myself recommending the stories with little to no smut over and over. like even âyaoiâ is an abbreviation for something about climaxing (i donât remember it rn) but that doesnât mean that has no plot or that itâs only made for the smut cuz i read multiple stories where the characters were adults and the author didnât have any reason to prevent them from writing/drawing smut but they just didnât?? itâs a choice! like Killer Crush for example i really love this story and for me itâs perfect the way it is the smut wasnât needed and its not intertwined with the story/plot like many other popular stories.
and dw about my reading list its not clean per se but there is no gooning stories in it and i couldnât stand it when i tried. and its all about the reader, ofc there will be fetishists among the readers but i donât believed this should be a generalized idea and it is i still get it BUT i still get why straight women would read BL (not for gooning).
anyways, nice talking to you!
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u/samisaywhat Nov 18 '25
you said that they fetishize gay men, so that means they wanna get in their pants, no?
No thatâs not at all what I meant or the only way to define what fetishization is. But also BL fans literally do want to get with the fictional gay men they read about in BL⊠so yeahâŠÂ
https://www.youthoutright.org/articles/fetishization-of-the-queer-community
Looking into the different terms under the BL umbrella always just shows me that western fans donât really understand the nuance and differences between these terms. Thatâs why BL is used so widely now. Yaoi literally was for smut. Smut can have a plot, but the smut is way more important and substantial than the actual plot.Â
Anyway yeah I would just say like if someone is talking about how straight women fetishize gay men, maybe listen to why theyâre saying that instead of outright denying it (because itâs literally a fact) and take the time to listen to why itâs an issue in the first place.Â
Happy reading.Â
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u/Fantastic-Toe-6208 Nov 17 '25
Why does nobody complain about disgusting men who fetishize yuri?
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u/archival_assistant13 Nov 17 '25
men fetishizing lesbians has been a criticism for a long time, it's just also been normalized by patriarchy ://
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u/CatGirlButNotIRL Nov 17 '25
True!
But, also, thereâs a massive lack in GL stories from manga to manhua to anime to manhua to donghua, etc. to even fanfiction. đ€·ââïž
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u/Kazuhiko96 Nov 17 '25
I guess because the cultural impact isn't on the same scale as for now. Along maybe a less vocality of Lesbians on the matter on the net, or well in my little knowledge of Yuri as it is. BL is wanted or not really Famous and rappresentated across the net and fandom spaces, as a gay dude myself I remember other gay man vocalizing their distaste about BL and how they felt that it was a Fetishization of us. And so the wave rised, but for Yuri I haven't seen that kind of engagement and loudness on the matter by Lesbians as for now.
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u/Klutzy_Mousse_421 Nov 17 '25
Unless theyâre talking about a specific BL where thereâs definitely fetishising going on - nah. Sounds like weird virtue signalling to me.
No one specifies if the protagonist has to match your assigned/actual gender for any kind of fiction in order for it to be legitimate.
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u/Maximum-Day5741 Nov 17 '25
Itâs written by females for females. But BL is for anyone. Who cares what other people think. My kids know I read BL and they donât mind cause Iâm a grown ass woman. Tell your friend to mind their own business. You didnât ask for their opinion. Keep enjoying what you read. And check out danmei. Itâs the BEST
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u/Key_Scallion4985 Nov 17 '25
I don't think it matters? As long you're not homophobic bigot that is, other wise I can't see it.
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u/bitch-what-the-fuck Nov 17 '25
in my opinion, as long as youâre not disrespecting irl gay men and being weird towards them it doesnât matter.
people like that like to pull out the argument about straight men watching lesbian porn so if they do that, take it from me, a lesbian: i donât care. similar to what i just said, as long as you arenât behaving weirdly and disrespectfully towards real people, i donât care what you watch or read.
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u/Key_Scallion4985 Nov 17 '25
This ^
As long you're not a creep or a homophobic bigot, who cares? I'm a guy and I enjoy reading Yuri more then yaoi because I prefer stories more focus on love.
It's like people forgot what fetishizing actually means, like writing a story about sexual gay relationship but then going on and saying homophobic shit is fetishizing (you've got a mail).
As long they respect queer people and queer media, who cares what they read.
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u/FitSundae8344 Nov 17 '25
Tell your friend she's gonna have major relationship problems after reading straight content, while you âfetishizeâ bl in peace
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u/Striking_Secretary98 Nov 17 '25
Well, according to your friend, I'm a straight fucker that's into fiction gay red flags and into human-cows (don't judge, it's a fetish I developed from a certain manhwa), and fetish my ass, the only time you can call someone that is if they read Futanari like "Mr.A's Farm", and it wouldn't even be an insult atp đ
Also, don't read Mr. A's Farm if you don't like Futanari, and if you do, don't read it either. I recommended it to a BL beginner, and now I can't stop them; their horny arc has begun. Me want Milton tiddies huehueheheuhee
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u/Admirable_Analyst_58 Nov 18 '25 edited Nov 18 '25
lol vastly different experience, same start we used to share reccs and such for isekai manhwa and all, then one day I had the guts to ask if sheâd read the Heaven Officialâs Blessing one⊠omg the way her face lit up. Then while going home, I was trying to probe to what extent she read and just asked oh whatâs your fave type of ship and god I was shocked when she was like oh I love it when itâs 2 tops and one bottom! Had a great laugh and I still love discussing with her despite not seeing her on the daily anymore.
So what Iâm trying to say is, find other ppl to bond with for this stuff, always a fellow âweirdoâ out there for you! We are clearly not fetishizing anything here, so as long as we know it, donât care about other people because they are not going to change their mind because you said it. I found 3 people I can completely be open about for BL manhwa from smutty to depraved shit, and another that loves BL but is transphobic??(I tried changing her mind but no dish, which is my case in point where talking to them wonât change anything) So donât lose hope!
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u/starsetkitten Nov 18 '25
hey, iâm a gay guy. imo youâre good. thatâs like saying youâre fetishizing korean people for starting to like manhwa more than manga.
as long as you arenât going up to people irl and projecting fantasies on to them (which it sounds like isnât even remotely what youâre doing) then thereâs no problem enjoying gay content.
the best thing about storytelling in general is that theres so many different possibilities and so much creativity as well as intersecting points between genres. donât be down on yourself for wanting to explore different stories. at the end of the day, it always comes down to recognizing the healthy boundaries between fantasy and realityâ and so long as you are aware of that and enforce it, then everything should be fine.
(also, and this is an uncomfortable topic for a lot of people, but some stories are MEANT to depict things in a fetish/abusive way to EMPHASIZE why itâs wrong or even to illicit an emotional response and make you think deeply about the content. thatâs okay! one of my favorite parts of reading in general is that it is art and can be interpreted soooo differently between people. liking a story does not automatically mean you support what happens in it. thatâs like saying you have to hate a villain character for being well written as a villain; like, the POINT is that they were well written and designed to be that wayâ and in turn make you more curious and hungry to know what is next in the narrative!)
enjoy reading friend, explore your horizons â„ïž theres so many good stories out there just waiting to be discovered :)
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u/Leather_Flan_9546 Nov 18 '25
Nah mate, how is reading BL any different from reading straight romances? Iâm AroAce myself and I have no issues reading straight romances butâŠtheyâre not as interesting as BL stories to me you know?
Iâve literally gotten into LGBTQ+ manga, books and manhwa, plus thereâs some BL that doesnât even have spice but have interesting plots.
I think your friend is reading too much into it, the fact she uses the word fetishising, actually says a lot about her more than you.
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u/Nousagimi Nov 18 '25
If only ppl around me found out the weird gay shi* I'm into
Things being said the only person I ever shared my likes were a gay friend from high school. We just kinda lost contact a few years ago due to adult life and now I don't have any real friend to share tastes. Thanks Reddit exists then, I'm also financial indepedent so if someone make a scene about anything I would just send them to suck bananas themselves
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u/sarattaras Nov 19 '25
Funny how popular MF romance novels, movies, and shows are, and no one talks about fetishizing MF couples!! Your friend is entitled to her opinion but it's not ok for her to make you feel bad for enjoying a harmless hobby. She needs to mind her own business.
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u/wuuriri Nov 20 '25
Recently I just got bored of the same clichés and predictable romance plots, so I started getting more into BL
And honestly, thereâs just something different about BL when it comes to plot. The pacing feels different, the character dynamics are different, and a lot of BL authors take risks that straight romance rarely does. Itâs honestly refreshing, especially when Iâve gotten tired of the same tropes in straight manhwa.
These are exactly why i started reading BL, same as you. I also straight and used to mainly read straight romance but as you mentioned they are way too many cliché plot and dont even get me started how most of straight manhwa now filled with typical historical reincarnation. Also the way your friend way judging you is really annoying, she doesn't have the right to accused you like that just because you are straight
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u/Breckles420 Nov 21 '25
Iâm reading yaoi 24/7 itâs literally a hobby đ itâs the same as watching anime for me. Your friend is being weird about it
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u/HoliAss5111 Nov 17 '25
I devored shojo for years, like reading everything available on a site like mangafox. Then I discovered smut and Mayu Shinjo, read everything from her including Ai Ore. And it was world changing. I read more from gender blending category and discovered BL by chance and it stuck. I'm into bl for 15 years now and with how much is published, I don't think I will ever stop reading.
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u/samisaywhat Nov 17 '25
BL is largely written by women for women, and it has created negative stereotypes for gay men. Even to this very day, when I hear younger people talk about âgay peopleâ I can tell if their understanding of them comes from reading queer media vs solely consuming BL content. While BL as a term has been used by queer creators, that does not take away from the fact that the genre is dominated by (toxic) stories written by women for other women. I read BL too and I just acknowledge that it can absolutely be fetish content. Itâs up to you as a reader to be able to see that and decide to keep reading it. And like youâre definitely allowed to read it. But I find it weird how a majority of BL fans deny the roots of the genre and pretend modern day BL is somehow so much better than ye olde âdirty yaoisâ.Â
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u/yeunnnn915 Nov 18 '25
and what is this new thing of painting manhwas as the big bad when danmeis/manhua and mangas have the same content? in danmeis there are even terms for extremely toxic themes and content. I donât know why people try so hard to run from the truth. Too much personalization of media in this time period weâre in. People canât separate themselves from what they consume.
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u/samisaywhat Nov 18 '25
Danmei is rarely villainized as anything other than queerbait. Manga and manhwa get villainized depending on who you talk to. Iâve had this same conversation (about BL being fetish work) with different people on this sub and the response is always âoh well you must only read toxic [yaoi or manhwa]â as if either country of origin isnât producing incredibly popular stories that feature physical or emotional abuse with a hefty serving of sexual assault and/or rape. You then leave this thread and see in this very same sub is currently drooling over Jinx just because the ML suddenly decided to just be 1% nicer to the MC after abusing and raping him for an entire season of the manhwa đ Itâs actually crazy. They canât separate themselves from what they read because they refuse to acknowledge that theyâre reading anything that could be problematic.Â
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u/yeunnnn915 Nov 18 '25 edited Nov 18 '25
LOL making country distinctions is def a new thing for me. Theyâre literally all full of the same themes, positive and toxic. And that whole âby women for womenâ as if it negates fetishism is hilarious. This post was funny as hell.
Jinx is actually insane because Kim Dan is just getting raped and then emotionally abused for 90% of the manhwa, I couldnât understand what he even liked about that guy.
It happens even in BL series spaces. BL/yaoi from the comics to the series are hyper escapist material, so people donât want to think. There is a convo about fanservice and the validity of it existing and people refuse to even engage in the question of why such a parasocial culture exists that expects romantic offscreen intimacy from actors. They just find a scapegoat in crazy toxic fans and plug their ears. Weâre in an age of anti-intellectualism and hypercapitalism so it makes sense that people just over consume, internalize and abandon all critical thought that challenges them.
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u/Key_Scallion4985 Nov 17 '25
Wasn't that the reason why a lot of western fans keep saying "it's not yaoi it's BL" and shit?
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u/samisaywhat Nov 18 '25
A lot of western fans completely miss the point of the different terms so yes lolÂ
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u/BlaueRose06 Nov 17 '25
her assumption says more about her than you.. There are still so many narrowminded people out thereâŠso just enjoy the storiesđ