Hey Everyone, Recently I came across some yaoi and was pretty stunned by how un-LGBTfriendly it actually was. I spent some time researching different opinions on the subjects and found there were many other people who share my opinion that yaoi is, well, pretty creepy (you know, rape being okay and all that really caught me off guard). But many of these people - often gay themselves - were rebutted by the yaoi fanbase with the response that it wasn't 'made for them' to begin with. My question is; are we allowed to complain about unfair or unhealthy treatment of gay people in the media even if it is directed to someone else( in this case straight women, mostly)?
Oh hell yea. I don't think it matters who the "intended audience" is with this kind of thing. Plus, you have a right to complain about most anything. I have noticed (because I'm an internet dweller and of course I'm going to find these things) that it's not just yaoi that has the whole rape being okay thing. It seems like it's in yuri as well, and possibly the majority of hentai media. It seems like rape being portrayed as arousing and the victim eventually becoming into it is very common in hentai, and I think that's pretty f****d up. It also seems like the rape in hentai is a forced sexuality thing, at least when it comes to yaoi and yuri (e.g. a non-hetero girl forcing a hetero girl into sex). There are some good creations in yaoi and yuri media but it tends to be extremely hard to come by or made by people who aren't being published. Thus, we get the really gross stuff as the most common example. And it's horrible. Horrible horrible horrible.
The rape gets me so bad! As an avid yaoi reader, I detest the rape! Although I do downplay it at times- if the characters are meant to be together, I'll just suck it up. If not, it's simply detestable. It's morally wrong, and even though it's yaoi/yuri, where it's fictional, I find it super annoying how everyone goes gaga over the rape and even ask for more and threesomes. = = To each his own, but rape is rape, no matter where. It's not romantic, it's not a way to win someone over, and it's not socially acceptable. It shouldn't be so popular, in the very least. = =
Honestly, I am okay with yaoi, despite not personally being obsessed with it OR yuri. Both are just side-genres to me: I don't look to see if something's yaoi before watching it. If I find some, great, but usually it's all by chance. I am interested in the themes of the story more often than the actual story. For example- Sekaiichi Hatsukoi? That's probably one of my favorites, but only because of the fact it talks about the book publishing/selling business. I am highly interested in books, so that struck me as pretty cool, despite being more of a normal novel person, not graphic novels. X_X Anyway, that's not really relevant. The main topic here is that rape is a common theme in yaoi/yuri, right? From what I've seen, I can agree with this, but can I also ask how this is detrimental to the gay community? I mean, Game of Thrones is extremely popular, and it contains tons of rape. X_X I don't think people are condoning rape when they see it being acted out on TV. Personally, I find it disgusting, but I don't find it more disgusting than watching my characters get murdered, tortured, etc. It's another human tragedy, but it's no more tragic than any of those other horrible things humans do to each other. Now... Do I think it's that gay people are associated with it? Yeah! All humans, straight, gay, bi, etc can rape, so having it more prevalent with gay characters is pretty disturbing, but you have to realize that most of the viewers are straight. We've lived in a homophobic world for so long, so it shouldn't be shocking when you see at least mildly homophobic things being shown in stories involving gay people. Not all the people who enjoy the show condone the behavior of the character's, and not everyone will be ignorant, but sadly there will be some who think these fantasy stories are close to reality, if not the reality for gay men and women. Overall, what I think of when I see this rape-thing being portrayed in a show/movie I watch is that it's sad, but I won't crush any of the other viewer's fantasies by telling them this show sucks, or how much I hate it. I understand when other people do it, but when it comes to what a character does in any sort of show, I usually stay to the sidelines, because at the end of the day that character is just as fictional as whatever they're doing. I think any show that portrays rape/murder/torture in a negative light is awesome, but even in that weird, perverted fantasy setting where they try to twist the story into a love story... What's the harm? A few people will be misinformed? Maybe, but I think most people actively seeking out yaoi/yuri already know something about the gay community and will know how to separate fantasy from reality. I... I just had to get my two cents in. I don't really have a definite opinion on this, but I thought the topic sounded interesting, so I just started typing up a response.
