Queerness in Japan: The Bishōnen Revival in Boys’ Love Manga

Abstract

Following the introduction of Western-Christian ideas in the Meiji era (1868-1912) that sought to regulate expressions of gender and sexuality, and the consequent institutionalisation of these ideas in Japanese society, contemporary Japanese queer communities have since faced difficulties. From discrimination to social retaliation, the hostility towards gender identities and sexualities seen as transgressive to heteronormativity have resulted in the hesitation of queer individuals to out themselves or to create a visible community. Instead, they have turned towards other means to privately explore their sexuality and gender and engage with other queer-identifying people. This has been most notable through the manga genre known as BL (boys’ love) and its use of the historic bishōnen aesthetic (an androgynous beauty defying a classically Western male-female gender binary). This paper focuses on the revival of the bishōnen aesthetic in manga, examining how BL manga magazines have created an underground queer community, as well as how readers have utilised bishōnen characters as self-inserts to understand their sexualities and genders.