I’ve been wanting to write this for a while now, seeing how lgbt ban/censorship in Chinese media becomes a very hot topic now i want to address this issue
Because my background on humanity studies and graduation paper about social discourse regarding homosexuality in japan, and also my hobby to explore BL fiction/movies in asian countries i’m really interested on comparing the ‘fujoshi’ discourse in Japan, China, Thailand, and also my own country Indonesia
Lets skip Japan the orign of all this fujoshi and yaoi stuff, you can check that in some other time and place, if we start that it will go on and on
here some reference for the newbies
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaoi_fandom
http://en.rocketnews24.com/tag/fujoshi/
some good articles>>
Click to access mclelland.pdf
Manga Studies #3: On BL manga research in Japanese by Jessica Bauwens-Sugimoto
The logic of yaoi
http://www.kyotomm.jp/english/info/symposium3.php
lets start with the current hot Topic Chinese Danmei
CHINESE DANMEI AND FUJOSHI
Danmei is the Chinese equivalent of Yaoi
This is a very good article about yaoi/danmei and fujoshi culture evolution in China compared to its native Japan>
How one Japanese subculture has evolved in China
One thing that is common in the fujoshi/yaoi fandom are their fondness to create homoerotic fanfiction as their creative outlet. Many of them involved characters from yaoi or regular drama , anime or stories.Or even certain idols CP (couple/pairing) that have certain chemistry. This attitude first came from ‘bromantic’ ‘gayish’ fanservice from Korean and Japanese idols that was proven effective among fangirls.
But then many many talented BL Danmei fiction writers emerged with their own OC (Original Character) Story and getting more popular multiplying the population of Fujos
Some example of their fiction provided in this link> http://bltranslation.blogspot.co.id/
This large ‘girls gone wild’ fujos perhaps alarming for Chinese conservative government.
in 2014 about 20 girls were arrested because of publishing homoerotic slash fiction on the Internet
Earlier this year, during a nationwide clampdown on online pornography, some 20 writers, allegedly under contract with “illegal erotic novel Web sites,” were arrested in Henan province, China, and numerous Web sites with explicit written and visual content were shut down. Most of these writers were young women, many of whom, according to footage from Phoenix TV, a Hong Kong broadcaster, were in their 20s, oblivious to the fact that they were breaking the law. The incident followed a similar spate of arrests in 2011 — again of young female writers.
The women were all writers of gay fiction, known as dan mei, which over the past two decades has gained a vast and dedicated following in China, a country where homosexuality is still heavily stigmatized.
……. Focusing on male-to-male romance, dan mei (which may be literally translated as “indulgence in beauty”) has surprisingly spawned an exclusive fan base: Its readers and writers are nearly all straight young women and girls.
source :http://www.advocate.com/print-issue/current-issue/2014/11/11/where-slash-fiction-makes-dangerous-words
indonesian article>> http://jurnalotaku.com/2014/04/27/20-fujoshi-ditangkap-di-china-karena-telah-membuat-fan-fiction-homoerotis/
This restriction however doesnt slow down the hungry fujoshi’s market, in that same year 2014 a web series Like Love from a Danmei novel by Angelina”I still love you even if you are men”became a hit pushing a new genre of Danmei drama
the promotion gay app Blued (chinese grindr) also provide some great mini series for LGBT and fujoshi
After that another author CJD create a web series adaptation first with Counter Attack (falling in love with your rival aka Nixi) in which i fall in love with the main cast CP WangQing and FengJianyu but that was another long long story.
After being successful with her experiment with CA, she decided to shift to her other Novel Addicted which become a bigger hit.
But then boom the series got “too popular” for the government to ignore
they got banned for circulating because they are viewed as inappropriate and promoting gay culture some sort of anti western thing
Last week the Chinese government pulled a popular drama, Addicted, from being streamed on Chinese websites as it follows two men in gay relationships, causing uproar among the show’s millions of viewers.
The government said the show contravened the new guidelines, which state that “No television drama shall show abnormal sexual relationships and behaviours, such as incest, same-sex relationships, sexual perversion, sexual assault, sexual abuse, sexual violence, and so on.”
……China’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television told television producers it would constantly monitor TV channels to ensure the new rules were strictly adhered to.
The clampdown follows an increase in cultural censorship in China since Xi Jinping came to power in November 2012.
http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/mar/04/china-bans-gay-people-television-clampdown-xi-jinping-censorship
The irony is do the Chinese government realize that actually BL and yaoi are very east culture not western, and also if we look back to history the separation of sexual orientation were actually coming from the west?
THAILAND FUJOSHI MARKET CASHING THE PINK DOLLAR
I view thailand as a fujoshi heaven, unlike in China this emerging Fujoshi market is valued as a money machine, while the lgbt community itself already a big market for BL genre movies or series
a gay couple Both and Newyear and some other ‘real’ gay couple enjoyed their popularity among fujoshi and endorsing lots of commercial products (skincare etc) to their instagram follower.
They also have famous Fujo author one of them was P’ Hed , her novel “love sick the chaotic lives of blue shorts guys” that was popular with the netizen become a bigger hit when adapted into a TV series “Love Sick The Series”
Pushing similiar youth BL drama booming in the tv trying to re do LoveSick popularity
a review of lovesick and the social discourse>> http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/boys-in-love
INDONESIAN FUJOSHI CONTRADICTION
In Indonesia the situation are also complicated. The major religions in Indonesia especially Islam and Christianity are againts homosexual, and religion is a big , sacred. very important thing in the live of most Indonesian citizen.
https://ahotaku39.wordpress.com/2015/01/23/fujoshi-rising-a-preliminary-view-on-the-rising-yaoi-subculture-in-indonesia/
Penjuru Internet: Press Club, Negara Beragama, dan Fujoshi di Indonesia
it becomes far worse with the surging of anti LGBT movement in Indonesia
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35657114
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/03/27/asia-pacific/social-issues-asia-pacific/virulent-anti-gay-remarks-test-indonesias-moderate-image/#.Vx0P0FZ97IU
this anti LGBT are mass and the majority still pro about this issues
for example on twitter when i try to search fujoshi and Indonesia the result was extremely ridiculous, one self proclaimed fujoshi even said
” i am a fujoshi , but if lgbt become legal i’ll commit suicide”
this i dont understand her logic here if she really that anti why did he enjoy yaoi/bl fiction at the first place, just ridiculous !
however being a moslem myself i can empathize a little with their sentiment sense of guilty and resentment because of liking something that is consider a big sin in our religion
I wont lie i have passed that phase myself when i first encounter the beautiful world of Yaoi Manga, however slowly i have learned to make my private peace and accept my fujoshi identity and my religious identity
i do still hide my identity in most social circumstances especially professional due to unavoidable bad stigma and weird judgement. After all we are labelled ‘rotten girl’ altho i don’t see anything rotten about myself, it is just in my opinion less mainstream form of healthy sexual and creative expression.
But to be judge just by one aspect of yourself is like a horrible thing which i rather avoid at the moment.
case example for fujo in Indonesia by Ms Ni Nyoman Wira
Fujoshi: Are They Really Rotten?
Well for the time being i can only wish that the bigot majority and media stay unaware or silence about the existence of fujoshi
Other :
YAOI in Taiwan>> http://web.uri.edu/iaics/files/06DienfangChou.pdf
Homophobia in Boys Love Manga>>https://johntfrancis.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/ma-gender-studies-535522.pdf
天青色等煙宇、而我在等妳 