While we’re talking about the BL, I do want to say that I love its inclusion. Something I like about the presence of BL in this series is that not only are the different girls’ relationships to BL varied in nuanced ways, but we also get to see how divorced the BL is from the actual gay couple in the story.
It’s not to say that BL never represents actual queer men, but it’s function is often not geared toward that in the first place. I know a lot of trans-mascs and queer women who’ve used BL as a kind safe experimentation space for figuring things out about themselves.
There’s also a lot to be said for how BL reflects cultural attitudes about the interplay between masculinity and social power. I think boiling it down to “dude hot, so two dudes is more hot” dismisses a lot of rich context involved in the creation and consumption of the genre.
Now, I’m a trans woman, so I don’t want to speak over any queer men or afab people who would have a more authentic perspective, so please tell me if I’m off base here
last edited at Jul 13, 2022 2:03PM