Anna's Topics (4)

right? like, sure this is yaoi and it's not "real," but rape and sexual violence is obviously a problem in real life and having rape be okay or even romantic doesn't exactly help the situation...for all we know there could be people out there who actually think rape is okay

...i pressed the wrong button lol I agree.

Right? I mean, I've known for a long time that it is a heavily used trope in yaoi and that the whole genre pretty much originated off of it but it feels like its becoming even more frequent and popular these days. Maybe it was always like this and I just didn't notice because I didn't know then what I know now or I didn't hold the strong opinions that I do now. But it really seems like I'm seeing it more and more and even from authors that it strays from their typical writing style.

i disagree. i like it in yaoi mangas, it sets a different tone to the whole story, it doesn't give the manga a light and fluffy feel to it. i prefer these types of manga over the really sweet and fluffy kinds.

maybe it would be better if there was a rape tag/genre, it would be better, so that readers who do not enjoy it, do not have to read it.

No, I understand. There are stories with rape that I also enjoy, but its different. Some are ABOUT rape and are meant to be dark stories or about twisted relationships. Other manga though, the author is not taking the rape seriously and making it very confusing to young readers or people that don't know better. This manga hasn't finished yet, but from the first chapter the author gives the impression that what happened isn't rape or a big deal because he wasn't really drugged so because he went with the sex anyway and got a boner on his own, it is fine. Which, is not the case. First of all, placebo affect, also, if somebody says they aren't comfortable or don't want it, you don't keep going even if they do end up liking or wanting it or not being upset that you did it (which doesn't really happen often in real life but in manga the authors use rape as a quick way to get two characters together)

No yeah, I also read stories with rape, but I just can't stand it when the author doesn't address rape properly. I don't mean they have to make it really obvious and have one character be like oh no that's so wrong, but that they show rape is wrong (trust me, I'm madly in love with all sorts of twisted and fucked up mangas) and hurts people
I feel like when rape is brushed off as another kind of hooking up it adds a whole other wrong level of "fluffiness", where everything is okay even though it obviously isn't

oh ok, yea, i get your point.

then if another chapter came out addressing the situation, it would be better. because i feel like this kind of thing could or may be happening a lot, but yea, again, because its not brought to light that it is rape, its not known or acknowledged as rape. Because i think media portrays rape as more of a violent act where the victim doesn't enjoy it in any way.

but because in this manga, where the uke responded by being aroused, the act itself could be seen as not "rape" because the uke seemed to have enjoyed it. this is something you read or hear about so often! its similar to when girls wear revealing clothes, arseholes say that the girls are asking for it. their reasoning does not justify their actions. i mean i don't care if they fantasize and just have passing thoughts, but they should never act on them. because the thoughts don't affect others, its their actions and behaviours.

and i was really annoyed at both the seme and uke, why the fuck did the uke not fight back harder? why did the seme even consider raping someone?! both characters frustrated me.

i see what you mean.

but maybe its just me, but sometimes and only with specific mangas and from certain mangaka's, i like the wrong level of fluffy. but it really depends on the characters and how the mangaka writes the plot and the development. i feel that it works better for longer manga's.

yeah I was kind of trying to get at the just because they react in some sort of way or act in some sort of way doesn't mean they like it or are "asking for it" (I HATE this mentality--like seriously? that's like saying a murder victim deserved it because they were wearing a hoodie!)
but yeah I also understand that rape and violence does make some stories more interesting; my main problem is with the mangaka's portrayal and addressing of the problem, not with the readers who DO read these kinds of mangas cuz after all I read them too

does that mean no one should kill off their characters in any art form? murder is a real life problem, but its fine in stories, so why isnt everything else?

Okay well it seems pretty obvious that you didn't actually read what anybody said. What people are saying is not that the problem that there is rape in the story, but whether or not the way rape is presented in the story adds to rape culture. Murder doesn't have the same history or current status of being a problem as sexual assaults do. Murder happens but it isn't because people don't take murder seriously that murder happens. For example, we all know not to kill very clearly. Even people that want to know it is considered taboo.

However, not all people agree on sexual assault. For many people the line is blurred as to what sexual assault is and its degree of severity. There are just so many different ways in which murder is a problem versus how rape is a problem. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about murder. You do the crime, you do the time. If you kill somebody, you know what your fate is going to be in the justice system based on how you kill somebody. However people get off very easy with rape/sexual assault charges in many cases, or don't end up doing any time at all. People also often blame the victim. That is much more rare when somebody is killed. People don't usually go around saying that it is the victims fault because they understand it is not socially acceptable.

Just look up the case of Brock Turner. What he did was horrible, and there are two eye witnesses that actually caught him while he was sexually assaulting a girl yet he was given an extremely shortened sentence. What should have been 6 years was instead sentenced as 6 months, and he was then able to get out early after just 3 months. Meanwhile, this victim got her whole life taken from her. Every detail of what happened to her was published in her town. Everyone she knows and even that she doesn't know, knows all the shameful details of her assault. She couldn't even sleep in her own bedroom alone for a very very long time and had to go through therapy and not feeling comfortable in her own body or safe in this world. And she is still struggling and trying to piece her life back together. (Read her letter) However, people didn't respect the sexual assault victim enough to properly sentence the boy because of how rape culture effects how we view and handle sexual assault.

1. I didnt read the other comments because I was replying to the origional comment
2. I find murder to be a much more serious crime than rape, and the only reaaon more people arent killed than there are already is BECAUSE the laws are so strict, but thats not what im arguing anyway
3. I dont particularly care for specific examples; for every case, theres an opposite and whatnot
I just dont believe that anyone should try to restrict art or writing in any way, especially if it's obviously fiction

Oh man...dude. If you actually want to have a concentration you have to actually hear what others are saying, you can't just listen. What people are asking for isn't a restriction on art, but more responsibility for what you put out into the world. I mean, by what you're saying, you think people should restrict writing or art especially if its fiction....what about the fictional manga that literally portray and romanticize sex with kids as young as toddlers? Because, that definitely exists (cough cough Japan) and there HAVE been cases where men have read so much of it that it warps their perception of reality so that they feel it will be like what they see in the manga which is often portraying extremely underaged children not being bothered, in some cases even enjoying, being rape. They also exaggerate the way children look to sexualize them. So...what do we do in cases like these? Even fiction influences. You have to put restrictions on fiction because people will normalize and romanticize things like murder and rape and drug abuse, and etc.

That is what people are suggesting. Responsibility from artists. People wanna write stories about rape and murder? Do it! Seriously, that isn't wrong or bad! It happens in real life, it happens in fiction. But do not normalize it in your writing. That is dangerous. That gets people in real life hurt. Real people can be hurt by fiction. Its been proven time and time again.

And just to add to that....that is literally something that was taught to me my first semester in art school. That we have to be responsible for what we put out into the world and to separate what we want a work to do from what it will actually do when consumed by the public.

I was planning to say basically the same thing, but honestly you've worded it so much better than I could.

Aw, thanks! Great minds think alike ;)

I just get so sad when I see comments trying to dismiss stuff like this in yaoi...I just want people to be safe and as a content creator myself, it just means a lot to me that people make works that deal with these topics in a way that isn't going to get people hurt.

people shouldn't have to be careful about what they put in art, others should know not to do anything like that. if they do, thats their problem, not the artists that theyre too stupid to be able to separate reality from fiction. nothing is wrong with the artist; one shouldnt have to hold back because others would misbehave, thats what the justice system is for. and if justice is not served, still not the artists fault. you shouldnt blame them for other's folly

I agree with you man. I mean sure it's nice that some people think about those viewers who may be incapable of separating fiction from reality.

But instead of them learning from pornographic imagery (which people like that shouldn't even be touching in the first place)
shouldn't this be further implemented in the school system, in the future?

Also the percentage of people unable to separating that and that, are low.
I say let the author do what they wanna do.

Let me see if that's true. *goes up to a vendor* *brings a friend to act as my boyfriend* *Starts holding hands and flirting* *Flirts lots more about what I would like and what would fit me and him* *Takes one* *leaves the vendor without having to pay* Success!!! Yes!! Thanks you very much for helping out!