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Question about the yaoi/shoune-ai genre listings

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Kimmu:
I know this is a bit of an unpopular opinion, but with the recent removal of shounen-ai and the excitement it is has caused... it's been bugging me.

Shounen-ai as a genre refers to a very specific type of manga produced in the late 70s/early 80s that has long been considered dead in Japan. Shounen-ai is not the softcore equivalent of yaoi, which is what the old fanlisting stated it as, and what most of the applicants seem to feel it is. Nor is shounen-ai just the Japanese words for Boy's Love. BL is the all encompassing term for male/male work that includes anything from the G rating to hardcore pornography and is actually refered to in Engrish.

How do you reconcile the wrong usage of the term with the fanlisting?

And this brings up another question that was posed to me and that has been niggling at my brain. Is Boy's Love/BL an approvable genre listing?

Mura:
[quote name='Kimmu' date='Nov 8 2005, 01:44 PM']And this brings up another question that was posed to me and that has been niggling at my brain. Is Boy's Love/BL an approvable genre listing?
[post=\"114040\"][/post][/quote]


Put another way, technically all yaoi is BL, but all BL is not yaoi, right?

Genevieve:
I know that the genre categories have been defined the way they are by the Western usage of the terms "shounen-ai" and "yaoi," and the Western fanbase uses them to refer to male/male romances that are non-adult v. adult.  I mean, by the Japanese usage of the words, the Western fanbase isn't using "yaoi" or "hentai" correctly either - and I'm not even sure there is a "shoujo-ai" outside of hentai, or a "yuri" outside of hentai.  But the Western fanbase has co-opted the terms to refer to ... well, for lack of a better term here ... non-adult v. adult femmeslash.

So, that's a bit of background for you.  I know it doesn't answer the question.  The ultimate answer as to whether or not TAFL will  continue to go by the Western fanbase usage of the words to refer to genres, or go to Japanese usages (june, anyone?), is probably best left to Shadow, or the SS.

Kimmu:
[quote name='Mura' date='Nov 8 2005, 03:19 PM']Put another way, technically all yaoi is BL, but all BL is not yaoi, right?
[post=\"114050\"][/post][/quote]

Mmhmm. Aestheticism has a handy list of the terms and their definintions.

Shadow:
Well, this is my take on the issue. Technically, yes, Shounen-ai is an obsolete term when it comes down to following Japanese culture. So it would  seem best to just direct a BL fanlisting as encompassing both the western terms of “Shounen-ai” and “Yaoi.” There is one fault I see to this. I know TAFL tries to follow anime/manga and other related subjects as closely as possible to Japanese standards, but when it comes to such widely popular fanlistings such as “Shounen-ai,” we have to also think about the fans. Most of the internet-going fanbase follows western terms of “Shounen-ai” and “Yaoi.” From what I’ve seen, a lot of the yaoi/shounen-ai fans I have happened across know nothing of the terms “June” or even “BL.” Personally, I feel we should leave the subjects as they are since these western terms are what appeal best to majority of fans across the ‘net.  Also, I believe separate fanlistings distinguishing these two subjects are needed since not every boyxboy fan enjoys pr0n as we may believe.

Hopefully this makes sense? ^^;;

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