NS: Why is marriage so rare in BL?
May. 19th, 2022 12:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
leahandillyana posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
scans_dailyThere are many striking differences between BL and mainstream English language original queer romances, which I assume would be the rough equivalent of the genre, but one that for me is the most distinct comes to one issue – why is marriage so rare in BL manga? I’ll try to explain it briefly.
Pretext: Before talking about the issue at hand, I’d want to ascertain that this is by no means proper sociological analysis. I have no background or tools to do so. This is simply my interpretation of why the genre may be as it is (though even in this matter I cannot say to have a full picture!) based on my knowledge on contemporary Japanese culture, hundreds of volumes of manga read, and discussions with Japanese fans. Everything you will find below is 100% speculative. Furthermore, my personal context is coming from the most queerphobic society in European Union and fourth most queerphobic one in all of Europe, so for me personally any place less queerphobic than Poland would seem like a paradise, and in Japan queer people have significantly more rights and protections than in Poland. Please keep it in mind while reading my piece.
BL is short for Boys’ Love, a uniquely Japanese genre of manga that is basically romance between two male characters written by (presumed) women for (presumed) female audience. The genre’s 70s origins have strong influence in 60s aesthetic gay romance novels written by Mari Mori (also a woman writer), who in turn was inspired by centuries old Japanese traditions of queerness. BL is an established if somewhat obscure genre, with multiple magazines publishing BL manga and novels, numerous radio dramas being published on cds (this is where many male professional voice actors start from!), and occasionally with even games or anime. In mainstream culture a girl being interested in BL is seen as shameful and perverted, and Japanese girls often go to great lengths to keep their hobby a secret. You can see some of that in Sasaki and Miyano, a popular BL anime that aired recently, where Miyano is a male fan of BL who constantly denies being one and hiding his interests. The series has a light tone, but in real life Miyano would have a very harsh life, even if he were a girl.
Another piece of context important for the analysis is the fact that Japan is much more sexist than it is queerphobic. Women are still expected to be married by 25 and be stay at home wives fully dedicated to educating their children, a pressure that sometimes takes an absurd appearance. Japanese culture doesn’t have the ideal of marriage as being between two equals, none of whom having to sacrifice their life for the sake of relationship. What’s more, while polygamy stopped being legally recognized in Japan after the war, as recently as in the 70s many if not most men who could afford it kept one or more concubines who served as unofficial wives but of lower social status. It’s still relatively common among the wealthiest of the wealthy, which is mirrored how high society is portrayed in many a manga. It’s not accidentally that I mentioned 70s twice, as it was the time when Japanese women first entered professional jobs in any significant number, though it is important to add that the majority of women who decided to pursue their carriers never married.
Now onto mangaka (manga creators) and their readers. When you skim over the biographies of women creating manga, no matter the genre, one characteristic keeps repeating itself – they are usually unmarried, even if they have a kid. Both the readers and the creators cannot see ‘being married’ as a state compatible with ‘having a life’. That’s why there are few male/female romance manga where the plot goes beyond the marriage. To see a character the reader invested so many emotions in being turned into an education mama would be upsetting for many readers. This is one of the reasons BL may be exciting for female readers, especially young ones who feel that they don’t fit in what is expected of a woman in Japanese society (and not fitting in is punished harshly in Japan) – BL is about romantic stories featuring characters who are equals and who definitely don’t end up married, as marriage would be an upsetting ending for many in the demographic, especially since stereotype says that an average reader of BL manga is a lesbian. That’s also why poly ending are almost nonexistent in BL – for Japanese creators and readers, the only image of polygamy is old Japanese system of polygamy and concubinage, even more sexist than normal marriage.
There are several aspects I didn’t take into consideration, and would gladly hear about them. Also, in my piece I was mostly focusing on older manga, as for example a few years ago Before I Met My Husband essay by Ryousuke Nanasaki got a manga adaptation by Yoshi Tzukizuki. There’s also My Brother’s Husband by Gengorou Tagame, which is actually a seinen manga (adult men’s demographic), not BL. In some other manga character’s declaration of love and loyalty is framed kinda like an alternative wedding scene. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed my ramblings!
Pretext: Before talking about the issue at hand, I’d want to ascertain that this is by no means proper sociological analysis. I have no background or tools to do so. This is simply my interpretation of why the genre may be as it is (though even in this matter I cannot say to have a full picture!) based on my knowledge on contemporary Japanese culture, hundreds of volumes of manga read, and discussions with Japanese fans. Everything you will find below is 100% speculative. Furthermore, my personal context is coming from the most queerphobic society in European Union and fourth most queerphobic one in all of Europe, so for me personally any place less queerphobic than Poland would seem like a paradise, and in Japan queer people have significantly more rights and protections than in Poland. Please keep it in mind while reading my piece.
BL is short for Boys’ Love, a uniquely Japanese genre of manga that is basically romance between two male characters written by (presumed) women for (presumed) female audience. The genre’s 70s origins have strong influence in 60s aesthetic gay romance novels written by Mari Mori (also a woman writer), who in turn was inspired by centuries old Japanese traditions of queerness. BL is an established if somewhat obscure genre, with multiple magazines publishing BL manga and novels, numerous radio dramas being published on cds (this is where many male professional voice actors start from!), and occasionally with even games or anime. In mainstream culture a girl being interested in BL is seen as shameful and perverted, and Japanese girls often go to great lengths to keep their hobby a secret. You can see some of that in Sasaki and Miyano, a popular BL anime that aired recently, where Miyano is a male fan of BL who constantly denies being one and hiding his interests. The series has a light tone, but in real life Miyano would have a very harsh life, even if he were a girl.
Another piece of context important for the analysis is the fact that Japan is much more sexist than it is queerphobic. Women are still expected to be married by 25 and be stay at home wives fully dedicated to educating their children, a pressure that sometimes takes an absurd appearance. Japanese culture doesn’t have the ideal of marriage as being between two equals, none of whom having to sacrifice their life for the sake of relationship. What’s more, while polygamy stopped being legally recognized in Japan after the war, as recently as in the 70s many if not most men who could afford it kept one or more concubines who served as unofficial wives but of lower social status. It’s still relatively common among the wealthiest of the wealthy, which is mirrored how high society is portrayed in many a manga. It’s not accidentally that I mentioned 70s twice, as it was the time when Japanese women first entered professional jobs in any significant number, though it is important to add that the majority of women who decided to pursue their carriers never married.
Now onto mangaka (manga creators) and their readers. When you skim over the biographies of women creating manga, no matter the genre, one characteristic keeps repeating itself – they are usually unmarried, even if they have a kid. Both the readers and the creators cannot see ‘being married’ as a state compatible with ‘having a life’. That’s why there are few male/female romance manga where the plot goes beyond the marriage. To see a character the reader invested so many emotions in being turned into an education mama would be upsetting for many readers. This is one of the reasons BL may be exciting for female readers, especially young ones who feel that they don’t fit in what is expected of a woman in Japanese society (and not fitting in is punished harshly in Japan) – BL is about romantic stories featuring characters who are equals and who definitely don’t end up married, as marriage would be an upsetting ending for many in the demographic, especially since stereotype says that an average reader of BL manga is a lesbian. That’s also why poly ending are almost nonexistent in BL – for Japanese creators and readers, the only image of polygamy is old Japanese system of polygamy and concubinage, even more sexist than normal marriage.
There are several aspects I didn’t take into consideration, and would gladly hear about them. Also, in my piece I was mostly focusing on older manga, as for example a few years ago Before I Met My Husband essay by Ryousuke Nanasaki got a manga adaptation by Yoshi Tzukizuki. There’s also My Brother’s Husband by Gengorou Tagame, which is actually a seinen manga (adult men’s demographic), not BL. In some other manga character’s declaration of love and loyalty is framed kinda like an alternative wedding scene. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed my ramblings!
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