Why Do Women like Yaoi?

What is yaoi? Yaoi is pretty much male homosexuality in manga/anime format, made for the enjoyment of a primarily female audience. It is comparable to "slash," which in Western fandom, is also in the business of pairing together male characters with each other.

Why is yaoi so popular? I have a few theories.

First, women are trained by society to always compete with each other. Women in society are encouraged by people to scrutinize themselves against other women to see who is truly superior. "Is she thinner than me?" "Is she smarter than me?" There is a lot of pressure on women these days to be the best! The comparing does not stop when they see romance. Is the heroine better than me? If she is better than me, does that mean that I will never find someone to love? I bet these are questions that are sometimes asked when women see heterosexual romance in the media (I know I ask the same questions).

However, in yaoi, such questions never come to mind. Why? Because there are no women to compare yourself to!

The second reason is idealism. Men in yaoi are basically perfect. They are flawlessly beautiful. Have you ever met a character in yaoi who was not attractive? They might have a few differences. Some are sexy, some are cute, some are buff, and some are slim. But they are all really, really nice-looking. Aside from being physically flawless, they also exhibit the same behaviors and emotions that women like. Ever notice that in yaoi, no one ever cheats? The characters in yaoi will risk everything to be with the one they love. In Ai no Kusabi, the characters chose love over life! There is also always a love declaration, or at least some sort of twisted obsession between the two protagonists. Furthermore, there are frequent exchanges of love declarations in yaoi. How often does that happen in real life between you and your partner? Probably less often than it happens in yaoi.

The third reason is that two are better than one. Maybe another reason is because women like yaoi the same way that men enjoy seeing lesbians together. If one attractive male is a good thing, then isn't two better? Of course, usually there is not a three-some in yaoi. This may be because women like emotional intimacy between two partners, and enjoy seeing it in yaoi.

So there you have it. Three main reasons why I think that women are very drawn towards yaoi. I am personally a big fan of yaoi as well. Many of my friends are also fans of yaoi. But regardless of the reasons why we enjoy yaoi, the important thing is that yaoi makes us happy, and being happy is a big part of life.