@AlterReality because I read a lot of BL and it’s really problematic.
“No homo but fuck me, live-in boyfriend of many years.” I actually saw one where a guy was married to a guy who was no less masculine, but referred to him as his wife and claimed to not be gay.
“My boyfriend is straight” only makes sense as something said by a woman, unless it’s some tragic “fuck any hole that’s available” emotionally detached weird situation, which is ALSO problematic.
I’m currently reading a rarely updated, even in Japanese where that’s happening.
“Has dated women before” = “straight” is so common I can’t tell If that’s actually how it’s seen in Japan, or if it’s just in fiction. I do know that bisexual law are seen as “just experimenting” or “it’s so much easier to date women it’ll never last” and they’re looked down on. I guess that puts it on “might as well be straight”. This is problematic as well, but it’s also beyond my comprehension.
But BL often goes to the level of not even acknowledging that gayness is a thing. “But he’s a guy. This doesn’t make any sense!” Yes it does, dude. U gay.
Gay men in Japan quite often find BL distasteful for these reasons.
Any time BL does a “wait... does this mean I’m... 😟” I cheer out loud. So to see it here, in this weirdness, is great.
Gender swap used to be my thing, but taking into account real issues like gender and body dysphoria they seem drastically unrealistic. If a guy, a legit 100% guy, ended up in a girl body (or the reverse) it would be a nightmare.