The Yaoi Review

Now a resource site

RenKiss — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 01:46:50 +0000

Hello all to those who read my blog, even though I don’t devote as much time to writing it, I noticed I’m still getting likes for my posts and comments. I spent some time doing a cleanup, such as I deleted all the links that were no longer working and as you can see I’ve changed the theme. I also got rid of the “Say Hi” page because it was attracting large amounts of spam, so my apologies to those who’ve left a message.

I haven’t deleted this blog, because I want it to function more as a resource site, especially if you’re interested in terminolgy, I update it whenever I can. As for the yaoi fandom goes, it still seems to be going strong. If you have a post that you’d like to share or if there’s a link or a term that you feel I should add, then please recommend them by posting in the comment section of this post.

Stop Uganda’s anti-gay bill!

RenKiss — Tue, 10 May 2011 21:04:57 +0000

Time for some internet activism. Ugandan parliament may pass a bill that will impose the death penalty for being gay. Please sign the petition to stop this bill.

Stop Uganda’s anti-gay bill!

You’ve heard the news

RenKiss — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 19:05:19 +0000

I’m late on posting about this, but I know that many of you are aware of Tokyo Pop’s announcement of closing it’s North American offices on May 31st.

announced that it will close its North American publishing division next month.

The Beat reports that the company’s Los Angeles offices are to close on May 31, while Tokyopop’s German-based offices will continue to run alongside the film and television division.

Tokyopop founder and CEO Stu Levy released a personal statement confirming the news, and thanked the company’s fans for helping bring manga to the US.

But do you know what this means for yaoi fans? BLU Manga will also be closing. Jennifer over at The Yaoi Review has more on this.

I can only say this is truly sad, though not entirely surprising. The manga industry is a fragile, especially since it’s a niche market. But it didn’t need another blow like this, especially since Borders is closing, which was a large carrier of manga. Particularly for yaoi fans, many publishers that produce yaoi manga are gone now. BLU Manga was the most successful one.

Jumped on the Tumblr bandwagon

RenKiss — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 02:40:35 +0000

Hello yaoi fans. As I said before, I haven’t totally neglected The Yaoi Review, but I think tumblr will be used for some “light” posting of yaoi.

So follow me.
Fujoshis United

Boy’s Love and female camaraderie

RenKiss — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 22:23:54 +0000

Recently over at The Life and Times of an Indian Homemaker, the question was raised as to why women judge other women. The discussion seeks to explore ways in which patriarchy contributes to women being competitive towards each other and why it’s difficult for some women to form friendships with other women. It can be argued that this isn’t something gender specific, both men and women can have a difficult time developing and maintaining friendships with the same sex. However, at times I can’t help but to feel that since we live in a mostly patriarchal world, there’s some truth as to why it seems harder for women to develop friendships with each other.

In American culture, for the most part, we’re constantly told women aren’t capable of being friends with each other, because we’re too bitchy, too catty, easily prone to getting jealous and host of other stereotypes. Specifically within the Africa American community, I have actually encountered women who were proud they didn’t get along with women and have no “female friends.” When I inquire about the reasons, they usually give answers that are laden with typical gender stereotypes. However, there are examples of women bonding in the media. Sex and The City is one example, as well as the movie The Women.

Then I was fortunate enough to come across an academic thesis as to why women enjoy yaoi, It’s the not the typical theories about women not feeling threatened by another female character, but women who enjoy yaoi form a certain bond because of this interest. The thesis is titled Boy’s Love and Female Friendships: The Subculture of Yaoi as a Social Bond Between Women by Amy Ann O’Brien. Since I’m a nerd I took the time to read through the entire thesis, and I’m going to discuss the parts that stood out to me.

O’Brien has essentially said everything I’ve been thinking about since I’ve been apart of the yaoi subculture, especially the issue of viewing yaoi as “deviant” and “transgressive.” Many yaoi fans will equate their liking of yaoi with perversion. I was also pleased when the issue of how yaoi relates to women’s sexuality was discussed. After all, women are viewed as being more interested in emotions and romance. However, with yaoi (especially the smut type) women have often admitted to enjoying the sex scenes. Like O’Brien, she feels yaoi should be considered a form of erotica. What I found intriguing about O’Brien’s thesis is she feels the view of yaoi being “gay porn for women” as ethnocentric. Like most yaoi fans (including myself) I don’t view it that way.

From a personal standpoint, there’s a young woman who works at the nearby bookstore I frequent, knows I have an interest in yaoi. One day while shopping for some new manga, I asked her about the selection of yaoi manga. She admitted to being was an expert on the subject. Since then, I always go to her to inquire about any yaoi manga that has come in. I don’t know this young woman personally, but it’s nice to encounter someone (not online) that has an interest in yaoi. The interesting thing, is the female friends I have now, I met through through the otaku culture. For some reason, it’s harder for me to make friends outside of it.

Overall, this is true for many subcultures, because you share a particular interest, it does allow for friendships to form. It seems like these days, creating long lasting friendships is no longer important. I do feel being apart of the yaoi subculture is a form of female bonding.

You can read the thesis here.

Still blogging, but just not here

RenKiss — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 18:59:20 +0000

In case you didn’t know, but I’m blogging over at my new blog called Cultural Fascinations. While it doesn’t really deal with yaoi, I do write about it from time to time. So check it out. I haven’t forgotten about this blog. So stop by,

Quiting The Yaoi Reivew (for now at least)

RenKiss — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 07:01:54 +0000

Hey yaoi fans. I’ve been neglecting this blog as of late, mainly because at this point I don’t know what direction it’s going in. So I have decided to quit. I haven’t lost my interest in yaoi or anime for that matter. Right now, it’s just been on a back burner. I’m going to be keep up with what’s going on in the yaoi subculture. I will however will still be accepting comments on this blog, so feel free to post in the open threads. Actually I would encourage it. And until then, see ya later.

P.S. I will be tweeting things going on in anime and yaoi.

Some news

RenKiss — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 00:15:48 +0000

The staff for Auroa Publishing, Deux Press and Luv Luv have announced a new company called Manga Factory. The site hasn’t been completed yet, but if you want to purchase titles from Deux Press, Luv Luv and Auroa you can still but only for a limited time. Manga Factory will be at Anime Expo.

Also if you’ve been wondering where I’ve been, I have recently started a new blog. Has nothing to do with yaoi or anime, but if you want you can check it out.

Evangelion: Yaoi Moments.

RenKiss — Fri, 28 May 2010 04:49:27 +0000

Don’t know if I posted this already, but enjoy and have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!!!

It’s that time again! Why some women like yaoi.

RenKiss — Thu, 27 May 2010 05:50:21 +0000

Here’s another post describing why women like yaoi. I will address some of the points that had been made.

But why do women like this stuff? People have attempted to answer the question via everything from serious scientific studies to 3 A.M. answers on Yahoo Questions.

* Here are a few of the answers supplied: 1)It’s surreal.
* 2)Two pretty people are better than one.
* 3)Idealized romance.
* 4)No women to compare yourself to.
* 5)It can be aggressive.
* 6)The same reason men like yuri.

This is for the most part, quite true. Especially number 4. I liked how she makes the point to indicate that people often use scientific studies to indicate why women like yaoi.

t’s amazing that I found so many articles devoted to why women like yaoi, and none about why men like yuri. It’s just culturally acceptable for men to think two women together are attractive, while it is mind-boggling for women to feel the same way about the opposite gender.

This. It’s quite true, many of you know I have written about this. You can also read it here. I’m sick of the double standard. To me this assumption is based on well known gender stereotypes. Such as men being more visual than women, or women not being interested in sex, only wanting romance and nothing else, etc.

At any rate, I thought this was a good post. I highly recommend reading it.