Is it really fetishizing to read BL?

I’ve literally seen the same thing being said over and over to the point where I’m two seconds from blowing up into a pile of sawdust. Anyways, this is one opinion of many so you don’t have to see eye to eye, just stop and listen to the “fujoshi’s” side of the story.

Simply reading and enjoying the content of BL is NOT fetishizing. Fetishizing is making something inherently sexual even when it isn’t. As long as you aren’t considering all gay men to be your personal porn stars there is not much of a problem.

The reason why I originally got into BL was so that my sexual preference for submissive men would be validated. When I first realized that I was into femdom there was essentially nothing besides the extremely kinky latex-and-whips femdom porn available. I wanted something more raw, actual people having sex and not some hardcore BDSM.

All I wanted was for the man to be submissive and if both of them are dudes, guess what you get by default. A submissive dude.

Reading BL has actually opened many doors for me and has allowed me to become more openminded. There are lots of horrible things that happen in BL, but because of those things I better understand the issues we face.

I would never have learned to be so accepting of LGBTQ+ if I hadn’t gotten into BL in the first place. I have much to thank it for.

I also love reading BL because I always, consciously or not, compare myself to and ridicule female main characters simply because I reflect my personal action choices into them, which isn’t fair for them and makes it difficult to read for me. If the MC is a dude, guess what I don’t do. Exactly.

Everyone knows that bisexual women always have to deal with requests for threesomes from their partners, male or not. It certainly is not a comfortable situation for them, but they’re asked anyways. Then, if we take a closer look, do you see as many men getting asked the same questions? Probably not.

While I will not deny the fact that “fanservice” is harmful when a heterosexual man is constantly forced to kiss or act cutesy with other dudes (whom they are not interested in), but it truly doesn’t equal bisexual women becoming a walking sexual fantasy for someone. Most heterosexual women do not tell their heterosexual male partners that they want them to have sex with another dude, while heterosexual men on the other hand definitely do.

Bisexual women are a perfect example of an entire category of people being fetishized for something out of their control.

We’ve also seen fetishization work it’s way to Asian porn and we all know how fetishized and stereotyped Asian women are.

I read BL not because all men should fuck each other for my entertainment, but because I enjoy reading it.

As long as I know that this is fiction, some of the actions in these stories are absolutely inexcusable, and not to bring these interests upon real people there really isn’t a problem.

So can we stop with the “all hetero women who read BL are fetishizers” thing? You’re not woke, you’re just crying wolf and I’m sick of being shamed for what I like to read. Shaming people for reading BL is what we were doing 10 years ago.

Also, I don’t even make reading BL part of my personality so why am I suddenly a bitch because someone else made it their whole personality?

Also I’m not completely dismissing the fact that people do in fact fetishize the men in BL’s. I've seen many comments and people devoting their whole souls to BL which, in my opinion, is a little overkill.

I know that LGBTQ+ people don’t want to be fetishized simply because they are part of that and I 100% agree with them on that, but by simply stating anyone who isn’t part of their group and is reading BL is fetishizing gay men is definitely going a little too far.




TLDR:
It’s incorrect to say that women reading BL is fetishizing, even when they aren’t. It’s a form of media and I don’t hear this about GL. Also, suddenly women reading BL is fine when they're bisexual? Sounds like double standards to me.

Please feel free to correct me on anything. It’d be wonderful if you guys discussed your opinions as well :)

Anyways, peace.

Have a good day and thank you for your time
ヾ(＠⌒ー⌒＠)ノ