Boys’ Love Manga—or BL manga—a form of visual narrative featuring homosexual love stories originating from Japan, exists as a dichotomy between empowering women, and objectifying gay men.
Fujoshi: Happy to Be Othered serves as an introduction to the genre and its social implications, explaining how BL readers reject traditional femininity and take charge of their sexuality.
How Others Other Each Other provides an in-depth look at the paradoxes of the genre and the dual empowerment and objectification at work within BL
BL Manga, Right Here, Right Now is a snapshot of the genre, showing how the genre has changed in the decade or so since it came under academic scrutiny, highlighting shifting moral centers and the evolution of othering within BL.
Images, from left to right: Yamane, Ayano. Finder Deluxe Edition: Target in Sight: Volume 1. 2017. Nekota, Yonezou. Don’t Be Cruel: 2-in-1 edition, Volume 1. 2016. Takarai, Rihito. Ten Count, Volume 2. 2016.