Nothing wrong with reading yaoi or yuri.
I read it and I'm a straight guy.
Only read tites where there's no girly uke though.
Rare, but it does exist.

I've met some (straight? Not so sure though) guys who read the most graphic shotacon yaoi on some forum. They don't read other types though.

I don't think that's unusual. The way the characters in those graphic shota manga are drawn they're effeminate to the point that they're not really identifiable as male (especially in the very common cases where they're dressed like girls). Those manga usually have a style indistinguishable from regular hentai and even borrow some of the same artists as hentai manga.

If an incredibly cute, feminine character is being sexually defiled, a lot of completely straight guys are going to react the same whatever gender it's intended to be. In terms of appearance there really isn't much difference between a shota and a loli.

I'm straight. I have a small collection of shota H-manga and don't really think anything of it. The thought of reading an even slightly shounen-ai type regular manga between adult characters really does nothing for me and even kind of makes me cringe (not to mention I have an aversion to shoujo art typical to such manga in the first place).

Perhaps I'm just unusual though; my H-manga collection has some of pretty much every major fetish out there with the exception of normal hardcore yaoi and guro. Shota yaoi is pretty normal compared to some of the stuff on my computer.

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Tree + Taco = Tree taco.

Those yaoi shota manga's focus is often the boys (with small) penises ejaculating. Interesting that those straight guys want to see that and are not happy with just lolicon.

Well, my brother's as straight as an arrow, but I managed to really get him into Fake, both the movie and the manga. I believe he'd get into more of it, but it has to at least have an interesting story for him. (Then again, anything he reads has to be that way, not just yaoi.) He's EXTREMELY picky that way.

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Mind eraser, no chaser

As long as it's good, why shouldn't they? It seems more weird when people avoid all yaoi, while being content to read crap in other genres. Reminds me of RL people I know who read third-rate bodice rippers but think that mangas are "childish."

I do know for a fact that there are guys who are enjoy some yaoi/shounen-ai. They are usually people who read all sorts of manga and are looking for a good story no matter what the form. I admire their open-mindedness.

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Avatar by tassyn.livejournal.com

Reading: Kingdom, Sangokushi, Historie

um well i dont quite count as a "strait male" but sence i am at least a male and i know a couple of guys who read manga so here it go's:
For me at least, as long as its a good love story and not overly graphic (i think it gets in the way of the story sometimes) i like them. Now as for my strait friends, out of five i think two of them dont mind it and one of them likes it a lot.

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Irish+French= Drunken painter?

Interesting answer..^^ because what is the point on reading BL if one character is like a girl? wouldn't it be the same as reading shoujo or smut?
I read yaoi and I like it (yes I am a girl so I didn't vote) but I am pretty picky about it..I can read almost anything (not shotacon and I have problems with incest) and yet it really annoys me to see crying, weeping boys (with no reason to do it), portrayed in a way that you can't tell it is a boy until you see his...well you know.
I haven't read yuri/shoujo-ai yet, so I don't know if I would like it or not..so, I don't have an opinion; I will try it to know if I like it or not..but if the story is bad it doesn't matter if it is BL or GL, or whatever, a crappy story is a crappy story.

I think it is really nice to see different ways of love, but that depends on how open-minded are you..since I think the sociology-sex nowadays is just like "this is wrong,this is right" and people just stick to it without giving it any further thought; adding the fact that lesbians seem to look good and gays don't ( ) because of the way beauty and sexyness has been portrayed through the media...I became really aware of this kind of thing and the roles of society, and I have to disagree with most of how society works.

So, yeah, women do like BL more because they like men..(or are we perverted? ) but when straight men like it I really have a high opinion of them...it is a shame that I don't know one like that yet..being open-minded and giving everything the right amount of thought, even with the society rules there, is a really nice thing to see.

Last edited by queen2408 at 9:45 pm, Sep 9 2009

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My Reviews

Actually I've heard exactly the opposite stereotypes - lesbians are unattractive and want to look like or be men, while gay guys are fashionable. I read in some book that said, "don't wear jeans and jean jacket to a date, or he will think you are a lesbian." O_O And I've heard guys in numerous forums say that lesbians are not beautiful or "hot" unless in porn, something like that. Damn those guys who think of women as sex objects.

Well, there's no point to stereotype (and perhaps insult) those who have a different sexual orientation as yours since they have nothing to do with you. Back to the topic, yaoi and yuri are just a form of fiction. I am female and do read some yuri/shoujo-ai.

I'm a straight male and I read yaoi.

Its a bit interesting though, because I know both sides of the "guys who don't read yaoi" and "guys who do read yaoi" coin.

Initially like most guys I was opposed to reading yaoi. Mangafox often uploads yaoi tittles and I remember thinking to myself "jeez, more yaoi? ffs". Ofc I had never read yaoi before, and all I knew about it is that there was explicit gay content in it. At the time just the thought of it would make me grimace with a squeamish feeling in my gut.(No offense meant, just telling how it was).

Then after a while I ran out of manga and there were a few shoujo that I read that had some shounen-ai in it so I gave shounen-ai a try and it wasn't too bad. To make a long story short, I got used to the explicit content and it didn't effect me anymore.

I think the only thing that matters is whether the story is good or not. I understand people have their reasons, but limitting one's self based on stereotypes or preconceptions is stupid. You end up missing out on a lot.

Edit: Oh, but if the art is bad no matter how good the story is its still like getting punched in the eyes.

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Feed your head.

I have read some shonen-ai works and I enjoyed some of them

I don't think that it is really a matter of sexual orientation, it is just that some shonen-ai mangas have so amazing stories..

I have gay and bi friends so I was kind of curious about it

And if you really think of it, in most shonen-ai and shoujo-ai the things aren't expressed like "GAY", just like "LOVE"...

The characters aren't gay, they just find true love and then gender dosen't really matter..

*I'm straight.




My dream is to have a twin brother T__T

Just like Hikaru and Kaoru from Ouran.











Edit by mod: use the EDIT button

Last edited by NightSwan at 2:16 pm, Nov 25 2009

I'm kind of puzzled by why so many ppl seem to think that not liking something in RL means they shouldn't read it in fiction or should avoid it altogether? That's just crazy... It's like saying that in order to read crime manga you have to be a criminal or in order to read manga in which someone is a saint you have to be a saint... I'm just saying... Why is love/romance different from these other aspects of life? Even if you're not into some kind of romance yourself in real life doesn't mean it should freak you out in fiction. I mean... it's just fiction? Lol. If you're frightened/freaked out by it in fiction that means you're just scared of empathizing with something that you are actually prejudiced against. It's different if you're just passively uninterested or if you don't avoid it or seek it out (ie. it doesn't matter to you either way), but if you use words like "scary" and "disgusting" to explain why you don't read gay manga, then... O_O Yeah. Basically you're homophobic, which is on the same level as being racist (it's groundless prejudice against other human beings without even trying to understand them).

I don't want to come down harshly on anyone, but I feel like I should say this because it's offensive to make homophobic comments in public spaces, same as it is to make racist comments in public spaces. Be polite guys... Even if you don't like homosexuality you don't have to say it's "disgusting". Seriously... Have you ever thought that there are probably people you know and are even dear to you, like family members, who are gay? Even just statistically speaking lol it's practically impossible that you don't study with, work with, hang out with or are not related to some gay people. You might not know it but there's no need to hurt these people's feelings by saying something prejudiced like that so thoughtlessly. I had a classmate in senior high who was bullied so much for being gay that he attempted suicide... So I really don't like it when people think it's ok or even cool to be prejudiced in public spaces. You could be hurting someone w/out even knowing you're doing it - but you do know, don't you? Saying stuff where people who are gay might overhear you, how can you not know? At least develop some sensitivity... If you don't read yaoi just say you don't read it, there's no need to say hurtful things like gay ppl are disgusting.

Ok putting that aside...

I can sort of understand the plotless yaoi/hentai putting someone off (or just not being interesting to a straight male reader), because the purpose of smutty manga - gay or straight - is just to turn someone on, and if that doesn't turn you on, then it's absolutely ok not to be turned on lol. But there is a lot of story-rich yaoi/BL in which the point isn't to "arouse" you as a reader, it's just a story about people in love, like any other romance manga in any genre. In fact some shounen ai doesn't even focus on the romance and is actually about stuff like action or adventure or a normal school life and the BL is practically non-existent or very subtle... See The Killing Method of a Kind Dragon, X+Y, When You Are Troubled, Ask the Stars, A Night of Moon & Water etc. These mangas are technically shounen ai but the focus is actually not just (or not even) on the romance but on other things.

So why would you avoid just plain shounen ai with nothing explicit OR yaoi with a really good complex plot or great story? Why would that bother anyone? At least try reading those mangas I linked above before making blanket comments about BL manga. To be honest I myself prefer something with an actual story to something just smutty lol. Not b/c the smut "disgusts" me really but because I like being mentally and emotionally involved with a story too.

I really like the guy who commented saying that he doesn't avoid BL if it comes highly recommended and w/ a good story. That's cool, man. Way to go! Good on you for being open-minded.

Sorry for the long rant lol, I just felt I had to say all this.

What an interesting discussion. I remember a convo quite some time ago, on irc #kotonoha where a bunch of guys and I were talking about manga with plot and the whole thing turned to stuff like Mede, Okane and a couple of other BL manga.

Surprising... eh... 'cos I'd long been accustomed to hearing about quite a few males calling yaoi "disgusting", "gross" and making a point to affirm how anyone who read BL was equally brainless, all the while blatantly proclaiming how ecchi and long-ass fighting manga were the best in the world.

I wonder if some of the reasons for being so anti-BL or anti-gay might be because many straight men grow up with such fixed stereotypes and notions about themselves and the rest of the world, and to challenge them would be to unroot everything or even to deny their own existence.

-_-

I know a few guys that read Yaoi and like it... and those guys just have a lot of imagination (they can somehow turn the poor shotas to girls... really there is almost no difference so to speak)


I am going out of this thread...

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I am a straight guy and I read all genres even shoujo as long as I find the plot interesting who cares but the thought of yaoi just arrghh, hell no, am not going to read a manga which has yaoi. Sorry but I am just like that. However if the plot is good and it doesn't focus on that homo aspect then shounen ai is bearable if it doesn't focus on that and just a very VERY very minor issue then I can accept. I have no problems with reading shoujo-ai or yuri and actually find the thought of two girls getting it on to be quiet HOT lol so yea yuri and shoujo-ai is all good for me. Problem is usually yuri doesn't focus on the plot and its just sex scenes, there are a couple that do but they are very few and shoujo-ai does the opposite for me. Its all too cutesy and stuff. Everyone has thei own preferences and I have no problems with people who like yaoi or are gay but aha I just don't swing that way. I got no problems with what people's sexual preferences are but I can't deny that I feel uncomfortable or I don't feel as comfortable as I would hanging out with gay dudes. I have a right to an opinion and well this is just my opinion on the matter whether it be right or not.

Also I find girls are more tolerant towards homosexuality than guys. The chicks that I know are not AS against lesbians as my male friends are against gay dudez.

Also @ tartufo

Love is different because it is a bit based on you sexual preference. If you are a straight dude, i don't think those straight dudes would want to read a manga which focus on yaoi because well they wouldn't find it interesting or just disgusting. Whats wrong if people find it disgusting? Not all people are open minded and some prefer to stay in their perfect little world and there s nothing wrong with that.

Last edited by John21 at 8:28 am, Apr 6 2010

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Angel Beats--best anime of the 2010 spring season