2. Boys Love Female fantasies of idealised male homosexual relationships The Development: 1970s24-nen gumi 1980sani-paro; doujinshi 1990sboom of male homosexuality sector in Japanese book market
5. Foreigner Appearances Majority of the characters: Japanese 100 from 140 BL manga magazines (published between November 2004-June 2008) contain stories featuring foreign characters Most of the foreign characters: Caucasian Arab
6. Stop and Think. Why would female readers prefer Caucasian and Arab characters and effectively erase representations of characters of other races?
7. Images of Caucasians Positive qualities: elegance, gracefulness, social success/status, etc. Stereotypes Dramatic narrative devices Vividly emphasized Caucasians=Successful men
8. Caucasian worship/idealization Blonde, blue-eyed Caucasian characters Enhance readers’ romantic, escapist satisfaction! Superior signs Female BL fans can imaginatively identify with the male homosexual characters in the fantasies
9. Semeand Uke Seme(literally attack, connoting the male sexual role) Uke(literally receive, connoting the female sexual role) Caucasian BL characters Generally appear as seme Out of 29 cases of Caucasian-Japanese lovers, 22 follow this pattern: Japanese = an ordinary feminine character Caucasian = an elegant, rich Westerner of high social status Superior others!!
10. OccidentVS Orient McClintock Relationship between the Caucasian semeand Japanese (Orient) uke Socio/culturally constructed ideology of a strong, masculine West and a weak, feminine Orient is subconsciously inscribed, even in narratives which are only concerned with the depiction of Japanese female fantasies
11. Arab Characters Arab characters = Seme Japanese characters = Uke Generally portrayed as stereotypical sexual otherswith a vast amount of money Money (fortune) enhances women’s romantic motivations Primary concern: Money Personal characteristics: amorousness and eroticism
12. Differences between Caucasian and Arab Seme Racial textuality Caucasian seme Superior, masculine subjects Reflect the ideological necessity to reinforce the imperialist voice by feminizing the Orient/Japan Arab seme Symbols of eroticism by means of Orientalistic images of harems and polygamy
13. Absent Others vs. Constructed Others 1950s American films: No African-Americans lives are represented African-Americans = Invisible, negative sign 透明なマイノリティー (Invisible minority) Signs of Superiority and inferiority Does not signify the liberation of that race, but rather itsinvisibility The negative connotations of specific races are merely repressed, not eliminated!! Constructed others (Caucasians and Arabians) vs. Absent others (invisible race)
