Discussion Why is BL more popular among women?

Discussion in 'Novel General' started by Cloudland19, Apr 2, 2022.

  1. Cloudland19

    Cloudland19 Well-Known Member

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    Question::Why is BL more popular among women?


    This question is purely asked to know the perspective of various female individuals as to know their replies to questions such as 'why are you female BL fans?', 'What's the attractive stuff you find in yaoi genre?' etc.

    Not that men don't or can't like BL, but I wish to know a female opinion on this topic. That doesn't mean the males can't give their view on this topic. Lol. Please go ahead and drop your thoughts.

    As a fellow female BL reader I have my own thoughts and as for me I would love to go with it if recommended a good piece of BL novel. Here I wanna know your view on 'What is it that drives women crazy while watching two men madly in love?'


    Bonus::I wonder if males go for GL as Females go for BL. Any idea?


    .. ... ______________ ... ..




     
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  2. kgggdkp2012

    kgggdkp2012 Void ReapeR(8th grade syndrome patient)

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    No idea :hmm: but good question.
     
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  3. Beer_Kitty

    Beer_Kitty Just a very very drunk kitty that likes beer

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    As a male kitty, i still prefer yuri than BL.

    And i dont know why females like to put males in a cringey situation like BL.
    in fact me and my bros dont like talking about our own genitals since it leads to jokes about who is gay or BI. Also its a myth that we compare our genitals.
     
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  4. Liedral

    Liedral Well-Known Member

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    As a man, I prefer regular male-female couples. GL isn't exactly my thing, but I can understand the appeal of watching two attractive females in love.
    I imagine, that to women, BL is just seeing two attractive and hot males going at each other. Something like twice the hot is triple the fun. It makes me cringe, but that's just my guess.
     
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  5. Okachinami

    Okachinami Active Member

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    probably because most females are attracted to men, so two men doing the deed is better than a man than a woman, especially since many 'bottoms' in the relationships are always femine, cute, snarky, but somehow still smaller than the 'top'. It is very obvious at that point that it is written with women in mind, since the bottom is most often than not the main protagonist and we see his perspective most of the time...

    I think it is also evident how less women, watch yuri, however men might watch yuri on average more

    (but in the yuri case, i think its not as extreme as it is in the yaoi case, women also read yuri and men also read yaoi)
     
  6. Cloudland19

    Cloudland19 Well-Known Member

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    Your guess is right in many cases. :LOL:

    I really do agree with this.
     
  7. 0000000

    0000000 I B SMILING!

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    Same as guys liking lesbians, who doesn't like the things they liked doubled?
     
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  8. Lois.

    Lois. ❲.❳ Wooosh.

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    Well as someone who reads gl, bl and bg I think they just all have their own separate appeal it's kind of hard to explain what it is exactly but the diversity is really fun.

    A theory of mine is that maybe sometimes the stigma of same sex couples being "wrong" or disliked usually, may add to the thrill and it's no secret that unless in a place for it supporting or being part of homosexuality is still frowned upon though things are less bad nowadays.

    A lot of times bg couples in books also end up with a male being dominant wherein in bl the male is both dominated and dominating which may seem a lot less intimidating as a female.

    (Theres also the fact that most bl are also made by females so it appealing to females isn't that far off either.)
     
    Last edited: Apr 7, 2022
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  9. Amaruna Myu

    Amaruna Myu ugly squid dokja (●´∀`●)

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    I have no interest in seeing a beautiful women get all the guys, might as well see all the good looking guys get together. it can be said to be jealousy of some sorts

    but even though I like bl, it doesn't automatically mean I like all types of bl, similar to although I don't read bg much now, there are occasionally nice manga I read
     
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  10. missluna

    missluna 《Melon Seed Eater》

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    I admit that I like seeing handsome and beautiful men, the same goes for women. And that I'm so used to seeing a heterosexual pairings everywhere that I want to know what it's like between two people of the same-sex. And that the I don't like the depiction of some women in some stories that's why I tend to browse bl novels. And that males written on bl novels tend to show more emotions.
    WE'RE HUMANS!! WE HAVE EMOTIONS!! WE'RE NOT 2D CHARACTERS!!
    But the ones that are meant for a light read tends to stick to the normal heterosexual trope :blobneutral:
    Edit: Here's a link from reddit asking the same question as yours. I hope it helps. https://www.reddit.com/r/boyslove/comments/lx0iuv/why_is_bl_more_popular_among_women/
     
    Last edited: Apr 2, 2022
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  11. MidstNost

    MidstNost 【 Reigen's Saltshaker 】【 Lingtian Raider 】

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    I'm a fudanshi (guy that loves reading BL) so idk how it is with women, but a common reason I've heard is that it's usually triggers some jealousy towards female readers if it's a girl doing it with hot guys or something (which i can't understand. why can't they just imagine themselves as the girl?) so yeah
     
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  12. Amaruna Myu

    Amaruna Myu ugly squid dokja (●´∀`●)

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    I havent really thought of why I don't imagine myself as the female character
    so here's my view: I don't do self inserts of novels I read, only novels I write. since the story is written from the author's perspective, I find myself as a bystander who can't relate to the protagonist. hence actions she does and bullshit that happens resulting in people falling for her just make no sense to me. I would rather those stuff happen to guys as I have more tolerance for hot guys than hot girls.
    I hope that explains my perspective
     
  13. Senros

    Senros Well-Known Member

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    :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO: that's actually quite similar to me, only that there aren't many characters that really annoy me. But yeah, I totally get what you mean. Characters that make you want to smash your head against a wall repeatedly are really annoying, but if you are attracted to them you can let more bs slide lol.

    Though my thought process is more like: "Oh, that's really hot. Noice! Give me more!" Not wishing to be the partner of the hot character or self inserting and idk if that's a good thing. Isn't that just being a voyeur? They aren't people, sure, but it's more or less process... when I thought about that and how much of a pervert I was, it was a bit depressing. It's not an everyday thing to realize I'm really depraved. Oh, well, I got to know myself better so it's alright :D

    Anyway, about the topic of the thread. Like some have said, I think it's similar to guys liking lesbians. It's one hot character that you are attracted to doing another really hot character you are also attracted to. 2 for the price of 1, in a way. I've heard that there are also guys that only watch that kind of "entertainment", because they don't want to see a guy while they "play" and enjoy themselves. If you flip the burger and maybe add some complexity, you'd get the reason why women enjoy bl more than men do. Also, some guys find the act of two guys doing it off-putting. I can handle it if it's manga (comic form) or animated, but if it's two real dudes... nope, I'm out. I have nothing against homosexual relationships, but it weirds me out to see them do those things in real life. To me, it's easier on the eyes if it's two hot girls having some actions. I'd guess for heterosexual women it's easier on the eyes, if it's two hot guys getting it on.
     
  14. errantknight

    errantknight Active Member

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    I think there are as many reasons as there are people, which is why some wildly popular BL novels have people who dislike them with just as much fervor. Me, I'm nonbinary and a BL or LGBTQ novel that I find well written (according to my own tastes) often speaks to me more than m/f novels which I equally often find full of both misogynistic and misandristic tropes.

    That being said, I have a hard time finding BL that I like, too. I'm not down with dubcon, noncon or rape being presented as either being meaningless, just another kind of flirtation, not the rapist's fault because of plot reasons or a forgivable lapse in judgement. I find the fetishization of sexual position, the use of sexual position to demonstrate a power dynamic, or characterization based on preferred sexual position disturbing (not just a BL problem, but is also seen in a lot of western m/m romance novels, generally seen in novels by straight female writers, and less so in 'own voices' LGBTQ novels). There's also way too much heteronormativity where the relationships mimic cliche m/f relationships in all but pronouns and how many penises there are in a sex scene.

    This being the case, I prefer novels where the characters treat each other as equals, where characters care more about each other's happiness and wellbeing than dominance or getting their dicks in something, and where there's as much or more plot than romance, allowing character to show skills, character development and reasons to care about each other beyond physical attraction. Since these novels are far harder to find than I wish, I have to assume that my reading preferences are not most, though, lol. Even when I find novels I like, I have to stay away from the extras because of 'fan service' that freaks me out.

    From online opinions, I know that some women like to see male characters put into the same demeaning, powerless or forced situations that females are put in, both in novels and in life, finding that cathartic. Some women enjoy the break from sexism. Some women are there just for the hot guys. Some women probably enjoy male characters being presented as cute and nonthreatening. So...yeah, as many reasons as there are people, male, female and nonbinary, and when you find a novel that virtually everyone likes, it's probably pretty damn special.
     
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  15. Zombiiecat

    Zombiiecat Well-Known Member

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    I read both M/F and M/M and there's F/F side characters in those stories too.

    What led me to reading BL?
    Easy. Annoying female characters. Also, I like strong main characters. Not too OP or a damsel in distress or a character who can't solve their own shit.

    They make good stories but the female characters??? Annoying as hell. So that makes me read stories with a Female MC so I know that she is not stupid.

    ***Alot of things annoys me too when I read those. Like, why does it take so long for them to confess? Like that's the whole story! By the time they confess, there's only 20 chapters left before its over. Aaauuurrrrgggh.***

    In conclusion, I like to read anything with any pairings as long as the story is engaging with good characters, doesn't matter the genre. If it's comedy, okay, make me laugh or crack a smile. Sad shit? Make me sad and empathetic. You got it.
     
    Last edited: Apr 4, 2022
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  16. Efu-sama

    Efu-sama Well-Known Member

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    It's simple. Girls like guys (mostly).
    Especially since a lot of BG romance is about weak, squeamish, clumsy girl who somehow take the attention of an amazing guy. Or even, make two amazing guys fight for this remarkably ordinary girl. That's just meh. Why not make these two guys bang each other? Lol

    That's just my idea (I dislike girlish bottoms, so I'm not the party who re-imagine the bottom as me)
     
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  17. Zombiiecat

    Zombiiecat Well-Known Member

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    100% AGREE!!!!
     
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  18. shinsam

    shinsam Well-Known Member

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    I like BL because, just like what the others have already said, it has a different kind of appeal. But on a more personal note, the knowledge that not everyone acknowledges this kind of story brings me(or us, if I may assume) to a kind of climactic pleasure. There are more hair raising thrill, warm feeling, evil dominance and a lot of dirty ice cream in the plots. And for me, there is a feeling of rarity in a sense, there really is not much bl novel out there but when you read one, its just good. But anyway, as long as the story is good, it can't be always BL. BL is just a different kind of gem.
     
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  19. lazykitty_99

    lazykitty_99 Well-Known Member

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    I prefer bl due to better stories when compared to bg genre of novels on nu. I am into strong fls not those soft tender types but most novels in bg genre has those brain disabled fls . Even bl has those mcs but better stories (still can't stand even in bl)
    In bg novels half of chapter is how beautiful fl/ml is which I can't stand in any genre.
    I tried gl but again whole chapter is filled with flowery words on their beauty with two fls just imagine flowery words :blobtired:.
    My bro likes gl genre but I can't stand it . I like bl genre but my bro can't stand bl .his words "ewww"
     
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  20. Kaylee

    Kaylee Well-Known Member

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    should this be answered by women, men or other?