Women's interest in 'Queer literature': A case on BL in China and South Korea

Boys Love (BL) is a genre produced by women for women that is dedicated on depicting romantic and sexual relationships between two males. It has originated in Japan during the 1970s, quickly spreading its neighbors China and South Korea where it has gained a remarkable popularity which it now enjoys in a global scale. This study traces BL's journey from Japan to China and South Korea while presenting social backgrounds on the aforementioned nations. This thesis argues that BL has emerged initially as a result of a feminist response against the women's repressed positions in society as an outlet for them to relieve their frustrations, becoming a realm to have fun through 'playing with gender' in time, hence in its essence it does not aim to represent queer identities and it does not define itself as queer therefore it is not political from a queer perspective and it cannot be classified as 'queer literature.' This study also argues that the difference in the level of severity in the reactions toward BL content by the Chinese and Korean states is due to their different tactics on how they generate consent from the people and how they position and utilize soft power as a tool in their endeavor for integrating to the global economy.