ORBIT - Online Repository of Birkbeck Institutional Theses Enabling Open Access to Birkbecks Research Degree output Yaoi online : the queer and affective practices of a yaoi manga fan community http://bbktheses.da.ulcc.ac.uk/166/ Version: Full Version Citation: Turner, Simon (2016) Yaoi online : the queer and affective practices of a yaoi manga fan community. PhD thesis, Birkbeck, University of London. (cid:13)c 2016 The Author(s) All material available through ORBIT is protected by intellectual property law, including copyright law. Any use made of the contents should comply with the relevant law. Deposit guide Contact: email Yaoi Online: The queer and affective practices of a yaoi manga fan community Thesis by Simon Turner Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy In the Department of Film, Media and Cultural Studies Birkbeck College, University of London London, United Kingdom 2015 Declaration This thesis is a presentation of my original research work. Wherever contributions of others are involved, every effort is made to indicate this clearly, with due reference to the literature. The work was done under the guidance of Dr Joel McKim, Dr Nobuko Anan, and Dr Jonathan Mackintosh. Simon Turner 2 Abstract This thesis examines the queer and affective aspects of an online yaoi fan community. Yaoi is a genre of Japanese manga focussing on homoerotic/homosexual themes. A key point of interest about yaoi is that it is largely created by and for women. Set within the context of yaoi fan studies, this thesis utilises queer theory to investigate how a diverse group of fans comes together in a fan community on the internet in order to explore alternative identities and develop new relationships with like-minded others. According to David Halperin, queer is “whatever is at odds with the normal, the legitimate, the dominant” (cited in Sullivan 2003, p.43). I queer yaoi studies and suggest that its fandom is not a homogenous group of heterosexual female fans as has become customarily thought. Expanding on the work of other scholars, I combine original ethnographic research in AarinFantasy (http://www.aarinfantasy.com), a yaoi manga community to demonstrate how, for many fans, an online community is a place to explore and discuss queer alternatives to heteronormative gender and sexuality. I also discuss how members of AarinFantasy invest into the site through affective connections with other fans. By creating and maintaining valued friendships with others members create not only a queer space but also a space where they feel accepted as yaoi fans. Relationships in the community are formed and maintained through communication that is grounded in the fans’ experiences and the contextual state that yaoi manga has in their lives. 3 Contents Declaration ............................................................................................................................... 2 Abstract .................................................................................................................................... 3 Contents ................................................................................................................................... 4 List of Figures .......................................................................................................................... 6 List of Tables ........................................................................................................................... 6 Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. 7 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 8 Research Context ................................................................................................................. 8 AarinFantasy .................................................................................................................... 8 What is yaoi? .................................................................................................................. 13 Why a study of yaoi now?.............................................................................................. 16 Definition of Research Questions ...................................................................................... 17 Thesis Structure ................................................................................................................. 22 Literature Review ................................................................................................................... 25 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 25 What Approaches to Yaoi Have Been Developed to Date and What Aspects of Them Are Problematic? ...................................................................................................................... 26 Female fans as a basis for research ................................................................................ 26 Yaoi and Representation ................................................................................................ 27 Hierarchical Fandom ...................................................................................................... 36 The Anti-Fan and Hierarchy .......................................................................................... 39 Why yaoi? ...................................................................................................................... 44 Transcultural Yaoi ......................................................................................................... 48 Alternative Approaches to Yaoi ......................................................................................... 55 Queer theory ................................................................................................................... 59 Applying queer theory to yaoi studies ........................................................................... 63 Fandom’s affective response .......................................................................................... 66 Affect Theory ................................................................................................................. 67 Affect and Fandom ........................................................................................................ 74 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 82 Methodology .......................................................................................................................... 85 Data .................................................................................................................................... 85 Choosing the research site.............................................................................................. 85 Ethnography ....................................................................................................................... 91 Netnography ....................................................................................................................... 95 Problems and ethical issues related to netnography ....................................................... 97 Procedures of Data Collection and Analysis .................................................................... 112 4 Participant recruitment ................................................................................................. 112 Preliminary survey and semi-structured interviews ..................................................... 122 Semi-structured interview process ............................................................................... 123 Coding .............................................................................................................................. 126 Primary coding ............................................................................................................. 127 Secondary coding ......................................................................................................... 128 Researcher Positionality ................................................................................................... 130 Chapter One: Fan Demographics ......................................................................................... 142 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 142 The Importance of Knowing the Fans .............................................................................. 143 Demographics .............................................................................................................. 145 Nationality .................................................................................................................... 150 Age ............................................................................................................................... 154 Sex ............................................................................................................................... 161 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 171 Chapter Two: Fan Sexuality ................................................................................................ 173 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 173 An Alternative to Heteronormativity ........................................................................... 175 Object of Fan Attraction .............................................................................................. 188 A Yaoi Fan Sexuality ................................................................................................... 202 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 215 Chapter Three: Yaoi in Fans’ Lives ..................................................................................... 218 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 218 The Importance of Community ........................................................................................ 220 A common yaoi fan identity......................................................................................... 221 Stigma .......................................................................................................................... 230 Yaoi as Homosexual Pornography ................................................................................... 232 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 260 Chapter Four: Affective Connections .................................................................................. 262 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 262 Affect, Emotion, and Feeling ........................................................................................... 263 Relief ............................................................................................................................ 267 Acceptance ................................................................................................................... 271 Affective Devices ............................................................................................................. 275 The Friending Thread................................................................................................... 277 AarinSecret magazine .................................................................................................. 282 Sub-groups ................................................................................................................... 286 5 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 292 Conclusions and Future Work.............................................................................................. 295 Conclusions ...................................................................................................................... 295 Who are the yaoi fans? ................................................................................................. 296 Why is the community important to the yaoi fans? ..................................................... 306 How do fans’ interactions help create the community? ............................................... 311 Recommendations ............................................................................................................ 317 The proliferation of yaoi in the future .......................................................................... 317 Yaoi and empowered queer fans .................................................................................. 318 Limitations and Future Considerations ............................................................................ 319 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................ 325 Appendices ........................................................................................................................... 349 A. Script of Interview Questions .............................................................................. 349 B. Script of Preliminary Survey Questions ............................................................... 358 List of Figures Figure 1: MangaHere Homepage ........................................................................................... 10 Figure 2: MangaEden Homepage .......................................................................................... 11 Figure 3: JuneManga Homepage ........................................................................................... 11 Figure 4: Cover of the second volume of The Heart of Thomas ........................................... 34 Figure 5: Cover of the sixth volume of The Song of the Wind and the Trees ....................... 34 Figure 6: Front Cover, BE-BOY (October 2006) ...................................................................34 Figure 7: Front Cover, CHARA, (June 2005) .................................................................. .....34 Figure 8: AarinFantasy Homepage ....................................................................................... 88 Figure 9: Main Page Tabs ...................................................................................................... 88 Figure 10: Main Page Tabs .................................................................................................... 88 Figure 11: Bleak Back Theme ............................................................................................... 89 Figure 12: Rosy Red Theme .................................................................................................. 89 Figure 13: Passionate Purple Theme ...................................................................................... 89 Figure 14: User profile page ................................................................................................ 109 Figure 15: Poll of fans based on their current residence 14th October 2013 ....................... 151 Figure 16: Responses to question about bisexuality ............................................................ 196 Figure 17: Example of the Friending Form ......................................................................... 278 Figure 18: AarinSecret Issue 1 (2006) ................................................................................. 282 Figure 19: AarinSecret Issue 2 (2007) ................................................................................. 282 Figure 20: AarinSecret Issue 3 (2013) ................................................................................. 282 List of Tables Table 1: Gender displayed as percentage of sample population .......................................... 147 Table 2: Age displayed as percentage of sample population ............................................... 147 Table 3: Sexuality displayed as percentage of sample population ....................................... 148 Table 4: Nationality displayed as total ddistribution of sample population ......................... 148 6 Acknowledgements Completing a PhD is very much a journey – one that has many highs and lows. Having now arrived ‘there’, I am able to sit here in my office in Bangkok and look back and reflect on my journey that has led me from student to lecturer, taken me to other side of the world for my first job, and thank all those who have met me along the way. First of all I would like to thank my family – my partner Kevin, mother Janet, father David, and sister Joanne – they have all been along this journey with me and have never forgotten to simply ask how things were going and offer me a support in the form of tea and snacks. To my partner Kevin, who has always believed in me – I love you and want to say thank you for putting up with the bad days and for always being there. To my parents and sister, although we have been in different cities I am grateful for the constant support throughout the three years of this journey. I would also like to thank my supervisors over the past three years, Dr. Joel McKim, Dr. Nobuko Anan, and Dr. Jonathan Macintosh for their invaluable advice that has guided my research and opened my eyes to fascinating areas of study. Finally, I thank the British Association of Japanese Studies for awarding me the John Crump Studentship which has supported the final stages of this thesis. 7 Introduction Research Context When talking about a genre of manga that depicts male homosexuality, it is often the case that others understand why I, as a gay man, should have an interest in manga that depicts gay men. The connection between my sexual orientation and assumed sexual interests finds a comfortable home in this manga in the minds of others. However, when I explain that this genre of manga is created and consumed mostly by heterosexual women I am asked why straight women are reading about gay men. This is representative of a fundamental curiosity that is piqued when an individual’s assumed sexuality does not fit within normative parameters. This has indeed been a key focus of academic research into yaoi manga however this thesis aims to understand why any fan, not just heterosexual women, is fascinated by the genre. In this introduction I will define important terms, the development of yaoi, and present the research questions. As part of the introduction I have included the literature review in which I develop a theoretical framework to analyse the online community, AarinFantasy. Finally, I will outline the overall structure of the thesis. AarinFantasy AarinFantasy is an online yaoi manga fan community and, based on my own research and the assertions of the creator, it is the largest English language yaoi fan community online founded in November 2004. In the first years of its existence it supported no community features but has since developed them which has fostered communication between the fans. 8 The creator of the site, Aarin, is a 30 year old Malaysian female and the name of the site is a combination of the founder’s name and the word ‘fantasy’ taken from her favourite game series title, Final Fantasy. Aarin states that the purpose of the site is to: provide yaoi fans a database in which they can find fellow yaoi fans…I was determined to find every single yaoi anime and manga out there and that formed my “yaoi collection”. Satisfied with my collection which took me many months to download them, I share them to others because I know how hard for anyone to get it. (Aarin) According to Aarin’s post in the Rules and Guidelines thread1, all members must be older than sixteen; however there are sections that are only viewable by fans who are older than eighteen. This is not easily enforced as there is no security against fans entering a false age, but if discovered a fan will be permanently banned from the site. I made the decision to study AarinFantasy and yaoi manga based on my personal interest in the yaoi genre. Whilst on my year abroad in Japan as part of my undergraduate studies I was introduced to yaoi by a friend and began to read her collection. It was some years later in my postgraduate studies that my interest took an academic turn after reading various studies that investigated issues of gender and sexuality in yaoi (Levi, McHarry and Pagliassotti 2010; McHarry 2011). Like previous research, I also found it interesting that so many heterosexual women were interested in reading about homosexual men. As a result I went online and simply used a search engine with the key words ‘yaoi’ and ‘fans’ and I found AarinFantasy. Although I focus on AarinFantasy in this thesis, it is not the only website dedicated to yaoi manga. A simple search for “yaoi manga community” via Google returns a 1 http://aarinfantasy.com/forum/f12/announcement-main-forum-rules-tos.html [last accessed April 23rd 2015] 9