Don`t get me wrong! I read yaoi from time to mite BUT its frustrating when I start a new tag search and a very big portion of the results to be yaoi/shounen ai.
I mean I read it from time to time but normally I prefer straight couples and when I see some of my favorite tags being 50% -yaoi, 40% already read and 10% not worth it for other reasons... I get so so frustrated!!


Vent topic. Now I feel much better after saying it ^o^

First of all, wow Poccono, very presumptuous. Second just block yaoi from your searches. And third, it's popular because fantasies and blah blah.

While I understand your frustration, to an extent, I don't normally get annoyed about it. I do read yaoi so I understand its popularity but I'm just so used to seeing it around that the genre doesn't specifically get on my nerves. If It isn't what I'm looking for I just make sure to exclude it from my search. If I am searching for something to read that is a yaoi then I may get annoyed when or if I can't find anything I want.

I used to get extremely annoyed when I saw those mass market romance novels with flowery covers at antique and thrift stores or at book sales. I couldn't stand the sight of them. Of course, it didn't help that the descriptions of a lot of those books sounded very similar. It got to the point where I wanted to avoid the book area in some antique/thrift stores because I was irritated that most of what books they had were those flowery romance books. It still bothers me when I see them, every now and then, but only the really girly covers or the ones with the couples that look almost exactly the same really get on my nerves. While I don't normally read these I have found some good ones. Now, it is just a matter of trying to find the good ones that gets me irritated sometimes.

________________
Remembrance, a forsaken thing that revokes ignorance and leaves people in doubt, is my only redemption and solace deep within the cascade of white.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The evergreen trees speak of days long past when music mingled with the wind and sweet murmurs brushed our cheeks.

It's popular because people like it?

I might as well ask why horror is so popular. I don't enjoy it, I don't like it, and I avoid it. Or Harry Potter or Twilight or Frozen. Why do people like those? There's no one reason, the appeal is different for each person.

Yaoi has an ineffable quality that appeals to some people, that's all. I know why I like it, but 10 other yaoi fans would have different explanations. Also, just as with every other demographic or genre, yaoi isn't all one thing. There are tons of titles (some of them very popular) that I find disgusting, boring, or poorly executed, but other people love them, and those people may not like what I like.


I think the problem you may be encountering with the tag searches may in part be due to the diligence with which yaoi fans tag the titles - more yaoi titles tagged than other genres - but that's just a guess. Just screen out the yaoi and the ones you have on your 'Complete' list. I made a 'Rejected' list for titles I kept hitting that I wasn't interested in, and I can screen those out as well.

When I do this I am left like with 3-4 titles if I am lucky LOL
If really the reason for the presence of so many yaoi titles are some fangirls I will be somewhat satisfied to know that the world isn`t so crazy as it appears.

But just one instance - I use tag search for Possessive Lovers, with yaoi 14 pages, without yaoi - 7! WTF Oo

It`s not exactly that I am annoyed or bothered. Yes, speechless when I can`t find any non-yaoi titles to read. But basically surprised at how loved is the genre. I don`t actively look for yaoi titles because they mostly have pretty much the same plot(always at the end of the chapter there is a scene of intimacy between the protagonists ) and similar and recognizable art style. I believe its very rare for yaoi to get away from the genre`s set norms. To find the gems that I would like is like searching for a needle in a haystack. I would rather not traumatize myself - in the haystack there are a lot of bugs from the kind I hate.
Not to mention that I find a lot easier to identify myself with the heroine in a shojo... josei is better, than a weak-willed uke.

@OrchardPetalLullaby, yea, the romance novels are way too many. Considering the fact that if you have read one its like you have read 90% of the rest(10% for the rare gems) its understandable to avoid them. In my case I touched such novel for the last time maybe 3-4 years ago. It was entertaining but almost the same as the one before

To answer the question in the title, i would like to remind you 3 most powerful forces in the universe right now, 1st - fangirlism, 2nd - shipism, 3rd - trapism. That will be enough to answer your question. I think

By the way, how can you tag search possessive lovers with yaoi?

Since this is a rant topic, and we've had other threads discussing the same exact thing,
I'll be closing this.
But first, I'd like to address some of your points.
@scarletrhodelia did an excellent job in answering your previous questions



I don't know what yaoi you've been reading, but clearly you haven't read the good stuff to dismiss the entire genre like that. Yeah, you say "mostly", but I'd say, a lot of yaoi is good yaoi.
Your words can be applicable to shoujo smut, which, in my opinion is far inferior to yaoi.
They cater to the same demographic but are vastly different.
Same goes for the art style. But again, what about shoujo smut? The point there is also sex. So the characters have sex pretty often, usually in every chapter. Where's the difference?
I'm not sure what your point is though. If you don't want sex, read shounen-ai.
If you compare shoujo to what we call here shounen-ai, you also get similar things, especially if you're looking at the romance genre. You have couples doing things. =/



I believe that about shoujo smut, that's why I don't read it. Again, I don't know what yaoi you've been reading, but I guess your tastes are probably vastly different from mine.



That's your preference.
I personally could never put myself into a shoujo smut heroine's shoes, and I never do, actually, be it yaoi or shoujo or anything else. That's not at all my appeal.
And I find shoujo heroines shallow and annoying, for the most part. I also don't like the art, which like you said with yaoi, is the same.


Basically, the lesson here is to pick and choose.
If you don't like a certain type of story, then don't read it.
I don't like school-life, so I never search for it and seldom read it.
If you don't want yaoi, just filter it when you search for manga, that's all. No need to fuss about why yaoi is so popular...

I don't know what to tell you though. You seem to be lumping a lot of thing together.
Don't read it if you don't like it. *shrug*


@Cheerthedead
You go to genre -> Advanced Search by Genre (top left) and add "possessive lovers" to the category box, and also check the green "yaoi" box in the genres list.


________________
Hrodulf and Bjornolfr, you will not be forgotten.

And if the world were black and white,
you would be my rainbow in shades of grey.

Click 'n Play!

If I had a fantasy self, it'd be a tentacle monster.