One thing I've never understood, ever, would be the appeal behind Yaoi.
What's the deal, folks? Why is it so interesting?
One thing I've never understood, ever, would be the appeal behind Yaoi.
What's the deal, folks? Why is it so interesting?
It's girls that like it.
From what I've gathered, they like the idea of pretty boys doin' it.
Or something.
So. . .it's like how guys dig girls making out and stuff, but the opposite? And only in anime?
Yeah, I think that's why.
Its really not that hard to figure out.
Ima gonna open this thread…as long as it stays an actual discussion and not a heckling/macro/smartass type thread
Girls like it for the same reason boys like Yuri.
Ima gonna open this thread…as long as it stays an actual discussion and not a heckling/macro/smartass type thread
You might as well close it, since it's one of those "…Duh." topics, anyway.
Yaoi is found "interesting" by people who enjoy eroticism between two males. Same reason why naked women are found "interesting" among heterosexual males. HOW SHOCKING.
You what I hate? The annoying Yaoi fangirls who pair every character toghether and act like their Fics are a great step foward for gay acceptance.
I don't get the fact that yaoi fans always put two guys that absolutely hate each other together. I don't get yaoi either
here's something to get a discussion started, and keep in mind that this is coming from a straight guy who KNOWS a lot of yaoi fangirls, but NOT a yaoi fan. so this is simply my observation. this was actually the reason why i decided to go to yaoi-con; i want to witness this phenomenon firsthand.
the whole "guys like girl-on-girl, so girls like guy-on-guy" thing doesn't really work well. the reason why a guy likes girl-on-girl is because they IMAGINE themselves being a part of it. it's a typical guy's fantasy to have sex with 2 or more girls (hence harem manga/anime), but when girls see some guy-on-guy action, they think it's hot, but they don't imagine themselves being involved in the sexual act.
another argument against that theory is that if you ask any random yaoi fangirl, 60-70% of the time, they'll say that they like yaoi ONLY in the realm of manga/anime. in other words, if you show them a clip of real gay porn (with real men and not anime men), most likely they'll go EWWW THAT'S GROSS.
also keep in mind that yaoi manga that exists out there tend to be drawn in SHOUJO style. not shonen. the boys are feminized, they are pretty and idealized, the way women fantasize their men to be. in reality, men are hairy and ugly, and none of us have those flowy hair with sparkly eyes, so for women, yaoi is like an escape from the ugly men of the world. it's their fantasy. japan and korea recognize this.
they realize that body hair is no longer "in". they realize that scruffs and all those things that used to be considered "manly" are no longer desired by the current breed of females, and that is why when you look at japanese or korean male singers/actors, they all shape themselves towards a more feminized look. sex sells, but pretty men sells a lot more.
believe it or not, yaoi fangirls have a tendency to shell out money like nuts. this behavior is different from how fanboys act. when guys see hentai doujins, we don't immediately shell out money for it, because we know that we can get our porn from somewhere else for free. when fangirls see pretty boys, however, they'll shell out their money. this is why there are a lot more yaoi artists out there than there are hentai artists. even straight guys have started going into the yaoi business to make money.
wow, its actually a well thought theory
^that actually made alot of sense to me
e1n pretty much hit it right on the nose there…
Being a yaoi fan myself, I can say that I can relate to most of that. Except to be honest, I actually prefer scruffy ruggedly handsome guys over androgynous pretty boys. I always love seeing Zoro portrayed looking manly like he should be <3
And yeah, honestly, real gay porn is not much of a turn-on imo...
Never in my life have I seen someone go so in-depth as to why we fangirls seems drawn towards yaoi. Epic job.
But on the subject of hairy men, every so often one or two come along that just seem to ooze sex appeal…. anime sex appeal. Example, Bleach is comprised almost entirely of various bishies, and then Isshin and Shunsui come along and it's just sort of like, "Hoshit! Scraggly men! Ain't seen any of them in a good long while."
And e1n amazes even myself with the utter truth.
To be honest with you, I know where to get my free yaoi too so I actually haven't spent a penny on the stuff. XD And my folders are over-flowing with it.
Also, once again being honest with you, I don't like doujinshi where men having flowing hair and look like girls. XD It bugs the crap out of me.
Never in my life have I seen someone go so in-depth as to why we fangirls seems drawn towards yaoi. Epic job.
But on the subject of hairy men, every so often one or two come along that just seem to ooze sex appeal…. anime sex appeal. Example, Bleach is comprised almost entirely of various bishies, and then Isshin and Shunsui come along and it's just sort of like, "Hoshit! Scraggly men! Ain't seen any of them in a good long while."
That is pretty much what I said when I saw them too! <3 Shunsui is just too cute, he has the right amount of scruff that I like :wub:
And I must add, speaking of scruffy guys… My heart nearly jumped out of my chest when I first saw Aragorn in the first LOTR movie... It was like "DAMN, that is a SEXY man! O_O;"
BlackBeard is a sexy bear and you all want to give him a hug XD
BlackBeard is a sexy bear and you all want to give him a hug XD
indeed. fat hairy men is the way to go. =D
@pirateneko:
That is pretty much what I said when I saw them too! <3 Shunsui is just too cute, he has the right amount of scruff that I like :wub:
And I must add, speaking of scruffy guys… My heart nearly jumped out of my chest when I first saw Aragorn in the first LOTR movie... It was like "DAMN, that is a SEXY man! O_O;"
Isshin always suprises me with how manly he looks by just sitting around doing nothing. Even the filler animators manage to make him look more than decent. And Shunsui… He's like a teddy bear... a gigantic teddy bear. However, with such manly men around, I think we need some pretty boys on the set. Cue Ryuuken and Ukitake.
gasidgaiusdng ARAGORN. Scruff is absolutely delicious on that man, but I must admit to liking Boromir better. Because, honestly… come on... Sean Bean is made of sex and candy bars. Who doesn't love that?
Heso!
I must say that the thoughts that e1n had on why yaoi is popular make sense to me. I am not a fan of yaoi mainly because there is so much of it and so many times the pairs are of guys that just don't make sense to me. I think the fact that even with the really pretty guys in anime I see the reality to them so I think that is one reason that I am not drawn to yaoi. I also like to see a lot of proof that the two guys would be together as a couple. I mean I really don't see the Sanji and Zoro thing. Sanji likes women too much. From time to time I have seen guys in anime that I thought they would be better together. I can say the same about live action.
Now as to more rugged men in anime I think that there are some very interesting ones about. I rather like say Dutch in Black Lagoon and I like Isshin in Bleach. Although normally I prefer the softer looking guys like say Archer of Fate Stay Night. Do I want to read yaoi with them. I really don't.
I don't read much yuri either. I am much more a fan of the male and female pairings than either yuri or yaoi. It is just my own preference.
Anyway this has been a rather interesting thread on this topic with a great insight on why yaoi is so popular.
@e1n:
indeed. fat hairy men is the way to go. =D
:wub: I'm three missing teeth from BEING Blackbeard. I may have to hold you to it.
Honestly, I expect there's part of it being "sunshine and rainbows fantasies". Much as I can't expect to know how lesbian sex works (is that why my coaxial cables keep disappearing?), little fangirls probably don't know the mechanics of homosexual sex, which lets them produce a fantasy without all the oozy-slimy bits.
I'm still much more a shonen-ai (is it called sennin-ai when the characters are 18+) fan. Romance can survive even once sex reaches oozy-slimy understanding.
@e1n:
the reason why a guy likes girl-on-girl is because they IMAGINE themselves being a part of it.
No, not really. It's dumb to generalize men like that.
As previously stated, this entire thread can be summarized into one thing: "Because people like it." There's nothing more to it, and attempting to stretch this out into some kind of worthwhile discussion is utterly pointless. It's no different than asking "WHY DO SOME PEOPLE LIKE BLONDE CHICKS? WHAT'S UP WITH THAT? I DON'T GET IT."
BlackBeard is a sexy bear and you all want to give him a hug XD
there is just more to love
Isshin always suprises me with how manly he looks by just sitting around doing nothing. Even the filler animators manage to make him look more than decent. And Shunsui… He's like a teddy bear... a gigantic teddy bear. However, with such manly men around, I think we need some pretty boys on the set.
Cue Ryuuken and Ukitake.gasidgaiusdng ARAGORN. Scruff is absolutely delicious on that man, but I must admit to liking Boromir better. Because, honestly… come on... Sean Bean is made of sex and candy bars. Who doesn't love that?
Yes yes! Which is why I love pairing Shunsui with Ukitake <333
ooh yeah I like Boromir too, but Aragorn… my goodness. His voice made me melt~ :wub:
@pirateneko:
Yes yes! Which is why I love pairing Shunsui with Ukitake <333
ooh yeah I like Boromir too, but Aragorn… my goodness. His voice made me melt~ :wub:
The reason I love those two so much is because it's so damn PLAUSIBLE, considering that they've been best friends since pretty much forever. Didn't Shun call Uki handsome when he arrived to save Rukia? :wub:
Aragorn's voice seemed a bit too harsh during his first ten or so lines. "Are you frightened?" And Frodo's all "Hoshit!"
Boromir's voice was sexy and smooth the whole way through. I could seriously just sit around and listen to that man read from the phone book…
@Cyringohn:
No, not really. It's dumb to generalize men like that.
As previously stated, this entire thread can be summarized into one thing: "Because people like it." There's nothing more to it, and attempting to stretch this out into some kind of worthwhile discussion is utterly pointless. It's no different than asking "WHY DO SOME PEOPLE LIKE BLONDE CHICKS? WHAT'S UP WITH THAT? I DON'T GET IT."
u know…by disagreeing, u just contributed into turning the topic into a worthwhile discussion...
well personally, i never find yuri appealing, perhaps, i cant imagine myself being part of it.
Yep, e1n hit the nail dead on with that one.
But I for one really don't care for yuri. I like the chemistry between a man and a woman most.
@Cyringohn:
No, not really. It's dumb to generalize men like that.
And it's not dumb to generalize topics like this?
@Cyringohn:
You might as well close it, since it's one of those "…Duh." topics, anyway.
any topic can spawn an interesting discussion, it's just a matter of whether people are willing to make intelligent contributions to it.
@Cyringohn:
As previously stated, this entire thread can be summarized into one thing: "Because people like it." There's nothing more to it, and attempting to stretch this out into some kind of worthwhile discussion is utterly pointless. It's no different than asking "WHY DO SOME PEOPLE LIKE BLONDE CHICKS? WHAT'S UP WITH THAT? I DON'T GET IT."
then what's the point of having any discussion, ever? the answer "because people like it" is no different than answering "that's just the way it is" when someone asks "why is the sky blue?"
I never got why Yaoi, and pairings as well, are applied to shounen series, when there are tons of other manga and anime out there where pairings are actually relevant to the series.
Especially One Piece, which has no romantic themes whatsoever. So I never really got the point of pairing discussion. Just seems really pointless. Even for fun.
To me, Yaoi is the same thing as cosplay. Really abnormal, unnecessary things people do as fans of something.
Not to be an ass, I just can't understand it. It's like trying to understand how a serial killer thinks to me.
Heh very good post, I'm begging to understand the fandomness of Yaoi now.
Yea, I read E1n's initial post.
Didn't help.
Probably because I don't understand why fans draw hentai either(besides selling it). Let alone pay for it.
To be blunt, some of us just find it very hot
oh and I have to share this, it amuses me so:
I never got why Yaoi, and pairings as well, are applied to shounen series, when there are tons of other manga and anime out there where pairings are actually relevant to the series.
I think its more about lust than anything.
As for me I'm not particularly fond of yaoi, but having fangirl friends made kind of immune to the stuff. Sometimes its even hillarious.
Like there's this girl in my anthropology class who collects berserk doujins and almost boasts about it. As if the manga hadn't shown Gut's ass enough times already.
Oh God pirateneko, you just made my day!
Here is a fangirl of yaoi who actually likes real men doing it too. I shall quote Pablo Francisco on this: "Brokeback Mountain… they were two guys that were straight, but then they went to Brokeback Mountain, which soon turned into… Cornhole Canyon!" But yeah, mostly in anime/manga.
(on the topic of liking men that are not all bishie-like: Zaraki Kenpachi rocks my world)
I know it's been said countless times, but e1n impresses me with his theory.
And honestly, I don't think men like yuri because they imagine them being with two girls at once. I know I certainly don't. I like yuri for similar reasons that pirateneko likes yaoi. Dream girls that aren't portrayed as too feminine.
@pirateneko:
To be blunt, some of us just find it very hot
oh and I have to share this, it amuses me so:
Pffffffft, I totally saw that at sausagefestival the other day! Absolutely priceless!
@Cyringohn:
You might as well close it, since it's one of those "…Duh." topics, anyway.
I guess that means you have nothing to add to the conversation then, and you can happily ignore the topic.
By the responses so far, I'd say there's more to say than "duh". This is a discussion forum after all.
I have to say honestly, while I don't have any problem with yaoi, I find the whole subculture interesting but I have a hard time understanding the attraction. I'm just the kind of person that likes to psychoanalyze stuff, even if you can't ever extract a solid answer. It's fun.
And did I mention I also enjoy yaoi for the amusement factor? I love pairings that don't make sense, and that are just for making fun of the characters XD Like pairing Sanji and Usopp or the disturbing pairing of Zoro and Chopper…. both of which have been done and are often hilarious rather than erotic (well, there was that one SanUso doujin I have somewhere.....)
Still not grasping the concept of what makes someone just go " HEY! I should draw that guy eating out insert other character" while watching an anime, let alone shounen, but I don't think I need to.
It's just another one of those things I guess.
Not all yoai is graphic…a lot of it more on the mushy romantic side.
Women don't generally think that way (not saying all men do either, but anyway). They're going to see some kind of relationship between two characters and decide there's romantic chemistry going on first. It's not any different from girls who are fans of heterosexual anime pairings. It's not like I just suddenly decided to draw Usopp and Nami making out, out of the blue
I'm just not sure what it is that really draws some girls into yaoi fandom so much. Why are two anime guys together more appealing than a heterosexual pairing for some? A lot of yaoi fans I've encountered like both, but I've seen some that seem to want to pair a character up with every male but be dead against any females in the story.
I'm gonna try and speculate here, because I don't really understand the attraction, either… Other than it's attractive.
I think a large part of it's because we aren't men. With yuri or het, it's sort of like, "Pffft. I could go find a guy/girl and do that if I felt like it." Yaoi's interesting because it's not something we're able to understand/experience.
Being a girl, most of my favorite characters also tend to be guys. Manly men are nice, but there's also that "you always hurt the ones you love" factor, and it's rather easy to pity the adorable little bishie variety of guys who have some horrible backstory or something. Once you get to thinking about it, it sort of like... I don't know how to explain this at all... "Hey! These guys are my favorite characters! Pile on all the angst and drama and make them both pitiable at the same time!"
So, yeah, in the end I prefer shounen-ai as opposed to just hard corps buttsecks because of the... emotion that weaves its way into the story.
.....Goddamn, this topic is difficult...
I think a large part of it's because we aren't men. With yuri or het, it's sort of like, "Pffft. I could go find a guy/girl and do that if I felt like it." Yaoi's interesting because it's not something we're able to understand/experience.
So maybe a little bit of mystery/exotic/taboo type of factor?
I think that maybe I don't get into it for sort of that reason…because I don't really understand it and it's something I'll never experience. I feel on the "outside" of it.
Although I also tend to favor male characters, and the less manly ones at that.
This video summaries what I think of a thread like this.
uK92NYwBMts
@e1n:
then what's the point of having any discussion, ever? the answer "because people like it" is no different than answering "that's just the way it is" when someone asks "why is the sky blue?"
Because there's plenty of topics that can't really be answered with that reply.
However, asking why a sexual practice is interesting is about the silliest question ever. We can sit here and talk and talk and talk about it, coming up with generalizations and other crap, but it ultimately leads to one single factor: people are attracted to it.
As previously stated, the question is exactly the same as asking why some guys like girls with blonde hair. "WELL, I BELIEVE THIS STEMS FROM AN INNATE ATTRACTION TO THE COLOR YELLOW, POSSIBLY DUE TO A SUBCONSCIOUS LIKING OF THE SUN AND BLAH BLAH…" Er, no. Those people like blonde hair.
Your entire post consisted of utter common sense, and things that have nothing to do with the discussion, posts.
+"Yaoi is drawn in a style that girls read."
+"Most yaoi characters have no body hair and are pretty, because girls don't like real men."
+"Girls buy yaoi."
+"Guys like yuri because they like having a threesome."
Yeah, that's nice. But it doesn't even answer the question. Why? You can't logically explain why a demographic has a sexual attraction to what it does. Not without stereotyping everybody into some kind of Idiocy Lump that can't think for themselves.
Do girls masturbate to Yaoi?
I'm just the kind of person that likes to psychoanalyze stuff, even if you can't ever extract a solid answer. It's fun.
If you were to actually use Fruedian psychoanalysis on this topic, you'd be met with completely stupid theories like, "Girls don't have a penis but always wanted a penis, which is also why girls marry men; they subconscious crave to see what they don't have." (Which is close to what Wyoming was saying)
If I were to use a more modern psychoanalysis, I would probably offend a few of the people who read these silly, silly comics.
Also, IMHO, hentai in general is just a way to substitute for the sex you so desperately crave but are not getting.
Why the hell would we use Freudian Psychoanalysis?
We might as well use Phrenology.
You see, the shape of a female cranium denotes a "ass-sex" bump that indicates interest in the subject within that section of the brain.
Even I am not entirely sure why I like it. It's something I read in my free time, I'm actually the type that does like the hardcore stuff, but I don't particularly like real porn (not just with gays >_>). Even though I don't necessarily draw the sex, you could ask me why it even crossed my mind to draw, say, Ace and Luffy in school girl outfits or Ace in one of Sugar Stephanie's cute clothes. I'd answer with "For the lulz, and it would be hot to draw"
I don't like JUST guys like Ace or Luffy, but actually do like Shunsui, as mentioned before. Not just the pretty boys are adorable ;) Also, in response to Cosmic, I sometimes go pairing happy just for the mental image, but I like the girls in most series.