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REVIEW: By Your Side: The First 100 Years of Yuri Anime and Manga




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yuricon



Joined: 06 Oct 2004
Posts: 130
PostPosted: Mon May 23, 2022 2:37 pm Reply with quote
Thank you so much, Rebecca, for the thoughtful review. I agree there is so much more to write about, I'll get right on that for the next book. Anime smile

Cheers,

Erica
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John Thacker



Joined: 28 Oct 2013
Posts: 964
PostPosted: Mon May 23, 2022 3:06 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
As terminology has evolved and changed within homoerotic content and stories about queer men have been grouped under the heading of “BL,” there's been a publisher-driven push to call stories about queer women “GL” as an equivalent term.


The current terminology is that "BL" is primarily used for stories about gay boys and men written for a largely female (and largely heterosexual) audience., something that Justin Sevakis touched on here. (As he noted, it's not that as a gay man he minds the existence of manga devoted to those fantasies and the female gaze, just not for him and many others.)

Of course, "TL" is used similarly now to specifically mean heterosexual porny manga aimed at a female audience, so I could see a push to use something like "GL" to distinguish the "yuri for the male gaze" stuff (which is certainly quite prominent) from things aimed for a female audience. Still, it seems like the original usage of yuri is in that aimed at queer women (cf. bara), so it seems a bit unfair to be the one to change.

None of which is to say that material is or should be limited to the original audience, but it influences the work and it certainly shows up in aggregate. Some works have crossover appeal, but it would also be limiting, as in any genre, to only have crossover works.
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wolf10



Joined: 23 Jan 2016
Posts: 745
PostPosted: Mon May 23, 2022 4:35 pm Reply with quote
John Thacker wrote:
Of course, "TL" is used similarly now to specifically mean heterosexual porny manga aimed at a female audience, so I could see a push to use something like "GL" to distinguish the "yuri for the male gaze" stuff (which is certainly quite prominent) from things aimed for a female audience. Still, it seems like the original usage of yuri is in that aimed at queer women (cf. bara), so it seems a bit unfair to be the one to change.
It must be a regional fandom thing, because I've known "GL" to be in the lexicon for around 20 years now, and it was the lesbians and bi girls I've known calling it that. It's shorter, easier to type. Makes it sound more familiar than exotic.

(Also, tangent: BL has gotten a lot better over the years, especially in the years since Sevakis published that particular Answerman response. A number of very recent series have even been a much better representation of my own experiences than any gei comi I've read.)

Back on topic: yes, I used to read a ton of yuri. Still have a few volumes on the shelves, even. The prevalence of the male-gazey stuff (and its very unique baggage) steadily put me off the genre, though. (I mean, I'm male, but it's not really my gaze.) This sounds like a good read to remind me what I liked in the genre to begin with, not to mention the nostalgia value, as it sounds like it covers a lot of the stuff I have read and/or seen already.

Thanks as always for putting this on my radar, Rebecca, and congratulations Erica on getting a whole book out there!
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