Why Yaoi doesn't get any backlash?

I don't think a portion of people who think that specific way on a larger scale (worldwide and USA wise-doubtful it's "popular" in states like Texas or Florida) would create the impression a lowkey niche sub-genre like bl doesn't get backlash, but to each their own.

Anyway, unrelated to the question, but imo I'd much rather have someone be really open about their sexuality than hide it and repress themselves. Possibly being over the top and not fitting others taste makes less damage than ruined mental health and trauma.

Honestly I think it's because any sort of representation is seen as progressive. See the latest Spider Man video game for an example of western cringe getting a free pass.

@Nutella71 I don't think you understood me correctly. Point 3. is actually happening in the USA, at least in the progressive states. Otherwise that population would be around 1% in size like it always was. Being LGBT is slowly becoming much less of an sexual attraction/identity thing and more a fashion. And as it slowly transforms into the new hip fashion, the people in those circles are defending any sort of perceived representation, no matter if abusive or not. They defend it not because they need validation in their sexual preferences or even their identity but because they defend the fashion, much like how band stans do for their favorite band. Yaoi is part and parcel of the fashion nowadays, hence why no backlash.

@Lucifrost the only ones who think of bl tropes as anything close to progressive are probably fujoshis who just want to fetishize it or the ones who genuinely don't care about what goes on in a story.

That being said, none of these extremists can be the representative of the public opinion, most people dislike it, even if they are gay, bi or lesbian, in fact.

They just aren't that popular so obviously, and most of the readers ARE the weird fetishizers who WANT to see this.

Most of the yaoi are bad, yes, and most people who don't read just for the "porn with story" do know this.

@Blueberry173 Depends what you're looking at, really. Obviously if you're reading (on purpose or not) works of authors who only make porn with plot stories, it'll seem it's all there's to it. But especially today there's a wider array of choice: plot focused bl with or without sex, just pure porn, oneshots, manhwa, manhua...idk just my two cents.

Your use of the term SJW already tells me what I need to know about your sincerity here, but if you want a real answer, yaoi absolutely gets a lot of flack for this stuff. Granted it's not as common as criticism of isekai, but that's also because isekai is a far larger genre with more eyes on it. If those types of yaoi animes had the same audience numbers as something like RE:Zero or Mushoku Tensei then more people would be calling it out. This problem was also much worse in the 2000's/early 2010's, but recently there have been a lot more examples of yaoi/BL anime done right. Banana Fish is a good example, as well as something like SK8, even if it didn't feature much explicitly gay content. Just because you don't see "SJW's" complaining about it doesn't mean no one is. Just a couple of searches on Youtube produced multiple video essays on problematic BL's by people I'm sure you'd label SJW. Do some more digging before you make such wide and sweeping statements.

Probably because BL is neither popular nor plentiful.

@Fail_Man_X, it is very popular and plentiful, you are wrong.

Because some people have already decided that LGBTQ stuff is not acceptable, so you wont find any deeper analysis of its media from their end.

Do queer people criticize media that represents them? They absolutely do, and they definitely call out the questionable,disgusting and negative parts. But then again, if you never followed those content creators you would never know. If your exposure is only the reactionary slactivists on X or TikTok that object to any criticism, then you dont really have a wide enough perspective of the subject matter.

There is a lot to be discussed about the history of the treatment of lesbians vs gay men in society and media, and how disproportional it always was and still is. Or the nature of what type of queer media was allowed beyond the censors. Or how its was treated in east asian countries prior and after westernization. Far more to talk about than the Forum threads will allow and the people commenting here are open to understand and learn.

Heck, MAL still doesnt have a Bara tag, it lumps everything under Yaoi, as if what women like in gay male relationships is always the same as what men like.

@Memore Was that supposed to be a joke? Because "ha ha" if it was, and "what are you taking about?" if it wasn't

@Davitaph

I think the most prominent SJW website would be https://www.animefeminist.com/, I barely see them pointing the problematic aspects of Yaoi genre and sometimes, they unironically praise them

@Fail_Man_X, no, it is true, not a joke.

@Memore Right....How many BL are airing this season? How many aired in all of 2023?

I think a 2nd gay tag would be more useful than the 2 harem and 2 idol tags the database currently has.

@Lucifrost Mostly stating this cause Bara media is different from Yaoi. Yaoi is gay male content made by women for women, Bara is gay male content made by men for men. Pretty definitive distinction, but they also have different approach to these relationships, different visual sensibilities, length, etc. Classifying them separately only helps the database site.

@Lucifrost Mostly stating this cause Bara media is different from Yaoi. Yaoi is gay male content made by women for women, Bara is gay male content made by men for men. Pretty definitive distinction, but they also have different approach to these relationships, different visual sensibilities, length, etc. Classifying them separately only helps the database site.

@Technopunk To be honest, I tend to be wary of Bara because it usually indicates the art style more than anything else, which means there are tons of muscled men that I don't find attractive. I also find it annoying that Bara assumes you have to like overly muscled men if you're a guy, or you're supposed to enjoy stories about overly muscled men. I don't like them! I like skinny and slim guys, often more feminine than masculine. While a lot of Yaoi may have tropes aimed at women, I'd almost always prefer it to Bara purely from aesthetic perspective. But there are exceptions, of course, like with things titled as "Yaoi" that are created by men, without any of the usual tropes and with a more pleasing (for me) aesthetic compared to typical Bara. It's also not entirely uncommon for BL visual novels that are developed by men and/or women to have a wide variety of different guys and not being explicitly targeted at male or female demographic, regardless of how trope-y a particular piece of media may or may not be at its core.

Also, where is the Yaoi tag people keep talking about? Am I missing something? Isn't everything on MAL categorized under the umbrella term of BL now? I'm confused.

@-YaoiBoy- Bara doesnt just have overly muscled men, but the dynamic is different than how women write men. I have yet to find a Yaoi male author with more feminine approach to writing and characters (and even if I did, I probably would not like that content), but the ones I have heard about are all Bara writers. You have your own tastes, but not everyone does, and it would be good to have better distinctions, especially since top gay men manga that pop up are ones done by female authors. In general MAL needs better search options and categorization tags.

Yaoi tag is BL on MAL, it means the same thing.

I don't think it's a matter of not being able to criticize LGBT stuff, since I've seen these types of people go after yuri before. There certainly does seem to be a negative bias from these kinds of people towards lesbian stuff as opposed to the gay stuff as far as I've noticed. If I had to guess why they would target yuri more, I imagine it would be because men actually like yuri. Therefore it must be exploitative in some way.

@Technopunk, no, it also means Shonen-ai without Erotica tag.

@Memore
The way it's used in Japan should be considered the correct one. BL is gay fiction for a female audience (though it also appeals to some males). Yaoi is a subgenre of BL, lacking in plot and usually more on the erotic side. Shounen-Ai is stuff for Shotacon, doesn't have to be gay it can be straight so it doesn't really even fall into the same category. Somehow the terms took on their own meaning in the West.

@-YaoiBoy-
That is because Bara is a Western term. It just means rose in Japanese and isnt a genre apparently from some info i am finding. It is used in English to describe gay muscular hairy men. Also yeah there is no "Yaoi" tag on MAL anymore since they made official tags more accurate to Japanese meaning (except slice of life las t i checked is wrong). However i think MAL has user generated tags still so some of the old ones remain but more hidden.

@traed, not always, Shonen-ai means without 18+ scenes, that is all.

@Memore
Shounen Ai to mean a type of gay romance is a Western invention from a misunderstanding. That meaning didnt come from Japan.

@-YaoiBoy- Bara doesnt just have overly muscled men, but the dynamic is different than how women write men. I have yet to find a Yaoi male author with more feminine approach to writing and characters (and even if I did, I probably would not like that content), but the ones I have heard about are all Bara writers. You have your own tastes, but not everyone does, and it would be good to have better distinctions, especially since top gay men manga that pop up are ones done by female authors. In general MAL needs better search options and categorization tags.

Yaoi tag is BL on MAL, it means the same thing.