Actually, this is something I have noticed for a while but have not really thought about it much until recently. It's actually quite interesting though, is the way I have noticed many woman are portrayed in Yaoi. In a general sense, I have noticed many gender stereotypes and generalisations about female helplessness that leaves me very disappointed in what otherwise could have been a very good story. Take for example these two yaoi stories, which I otherwise loved (I've highlighted these as they contain spoilers).

Ano Hi no Kimi wo Dakishimeta nara -

As much as I loved this story, but there was one thing which baffled me. Namely, with a side female character who is interested in one of the male leads, who is married but whose husband beats her. It is implied that she is partly responsible for the beatings she recieves because of the way she acts (this is also stated for the main male character)

Soba ni Oitene -

A female character who is interested in one of the male lead, whose character I would describe as 'princely'. However, when an 'accident' happens, she immediately folds in on herself, much more than the male lead who in this instance is shown as stereotypically 'girly'. Not only that, it is mentioned several times that, of course, as she is a girl, it is only 'natural' of her to panic and act overall helpless in a desperate situation .

errr... I think I may have ranted to much about the second one. Actually, I really like both of these manga's, they both have good stories and characters, but I also read such yaoi and shounen-ai, in part, because they are in a sense sexually non-threatening (it's also part of the reason I only read a few shoujo and josei now). I guess my main objection here is when women are shown in such a way it's kinda hard not to be a least a little bit offended. Of course, this does not apply to all yaoi and shounen-ai manga's. Many yaoi and shounen-ai have side female characters who don't come off like this at all. They're not necessarily the type to rush into a burning building to save the helpless child, but they also don't turn into a squeaky ball of helplessness every time even a slight emergency turns up within the plotline.

phew! Now I've said my two cents on the subject, I'm interested to know what other people think about how women are portrayed in yaoi. Maybe I'm looking at these stories in to much of a western way. I'm not really expecting people to agree with me on what I have just said, but I'm genuinely curious to know what kinds of things people have noticed, if you have noticed anything at all

well ive never payed too much attention in shounen ai/yaoi mangas, but women generally in manga are shown as stupid silly and superficial, thats why i dont read shoujo that much anymore. I could go on and on about ranting women on manga. But there are mangas where women are interesting or not looked down at.. like Koi ga Bokura wo Yurusu Hani .
I think some BL mangas are this way towards women to find an "excuse" for the characters to like other guys.

** "It's so warm that, Before the snow has a chance to stick, He melts it for me." **