157-479: BL or boys' love is a commonly used term for fiction featuring romantic relationships between male characters. BL (or similar) may also refer to: Boys%27 love Boys' love ( Japanese : ボーイズ ラブ , Hepburn : bōizu rabu ) , also known by its abbreviation BL ( ビーエル , bīeru ) , is a genre of fictional media originating in Japan that depicts homoerotic relationships between male characters. It
314-500: A yaoi series published in the shōjo magazine Margaret , was originally a Captain Tsubasa dōjinshi created by Ozaki that she adapted into an original work. By 1990, seven Japanese publishers included yaoi content in their offerings, which kickstarted the commercial publishing market of the genre. Between 1990 and 1995, thirty magazines devoted to yaoi were established: Magazine Be × Boy , founded in 1993, became one of
471-526: A "contented pedophile"—an individual who fantasizes about having sex with a child and masturbates to these fantasies, but does not commit child sexual abuse, and who does not feel subjectively distressed afterward—met the DSM-IV-TR criteria for pedophilia since this person did not meet criterion B. Criticism also concerned someone who met criterion B, but did not meet criterion A. A large-scale survey about usage of different classification systems showed that
628-605: A 'paraphilia,' not a 'sexual orientation.' This error will be corrected in the electronic version of DSM-5 and the next printing of the manual." They said they strongly support efforts to criminally prosecute those who sexually abuse and exploit children and adolescents, and "also support continued efforts to develop treatments for those with pedophilic disorder with the goal of preventing future acts of abuse." Studies of pedophilia in child sex offenders often report that it co-occurs with other psychopathologies , such as low self-esteem , depression, anxiety, and personality problems. It
785-576: A 2008 bookstore survey finding that between 25 and 30 percent of yaoi readers were male. The 2000s saw significant growth of yaoi in international markets, beginning with the founding of the American anime convention Yaoi-Con in 2001. The first officially-licensed English-language translations of yaoi manga were published in the North American market in 2003 (see Media below); the market expanded rapidly before contracting in 2008 as
942-652: A U.S. study on 2429 adult male sex offenders who were categorized as "pedophiles", only 7% identified themselves as exclusive; indicating that many or most child sexual abusers may fall into the non-exclusive category. Some pedophiles do not molest children. Little is known about this population because most studies of pedophilia use criminal or clinical samples, which may not be representative of pedophiles in general. Researcher Michael Seto suggests that pedophiles who commit child sexual abuse do so because of other anti-social traits in addition to their sexual attraction. He states that pedophiles who are "reflective, sensitive to
1099-543: A blurring of the distinctions between the genres; anthropologist Thomas Baudinette notes in his fieldwork that gay men in Japan "saw no need to sharply disassociate BL from [gay manga] when discussing their consumption of 'gay media'." The two participants in a BL relationship (and to a lesser extent in yuri ) are often referred to as seme ( 攻め , lit. "top", as derived from the ichidan verb "to attack") and uke ( 受け , lit. "bottom", as derived from
1256-505: A concept can be found disparately throughout East Asia , but its specific aesthetic manifestation in 1970s shōjo manga (and subsequently in shōnen-ai manga) drew influence from popular culture of the era, including glam rock artists such as David Bowie , actor Björn Andrésen 's portrayal of Tadzio in the 1971 film adaptation of Death in Venice , and kabuki onnagata Bandō Tamasaburō . Though bishōnen are not exclusive to BL,
1413-408: A continuum according to strength and exclusivity of pedophilic interest, and motivation for the offense (see child sexual offender types ). Exclusive pedophiles are sometimes referred to as true pedophiles. They are sexually attracted to prepubescent children, and only prepubescent children. Showing no erotic interest in adults, they can only become sexually aroused while fantasizing about or being in
1570-545: A diagnosable mental disorder under the DSM-5 to resolve the physical development overlap between pedophilia and hebephilia by combining the categories under pedophilic disorder , but with specifiers on which age range (or both) is the primary interest. The proposal for hebephilia was rejected by the American Psychiatric Association, but the distinction between paraphilia and paraphilic disorder
1727-522: A disorder of sexual preference, phenomenologically similar to a heterosexual or homosexual orientation. These observations, however, do not exclude pedophilia from being classified as a mental disorder since pedophilic acts cause harm, and mental health professionals can sometimes help pedophiles to refrain from harming children. In response to misinterpretations that the American Psychiatric Association considers pedophilia
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#17327755393051884-484: A disturbance in the prefrontal networks, which "may be associated with stimulus-controlled behaviours, such as sexual compulsive behaviours". The findings may also suggest "a dysfunction at the cognitive stage of sexual arousal processing". Blanchard, Cantor, and Robichaud (2006) reviewed the research that attempted to identify hormonal aspects of pedophiles. They concluded that there is some evidence that pedophilic men have less testosterone than controls, but that
2041-470: A fantasy narrative. Since the late 2000s, women have appeared more frequently in BL works as supporting characters. Lunsing notes that early shōnen-ai and yaoi were often regarded as misogynistic , with the diminished role of female characters cited as evidence of the internalized misogyny of the genre's largely female readership. He suggests that the decline of these misogynistic representations over time
2198-530: A favourite character, or create a story about two original male characters and incorporate established characters into the story. Any male character may become the subject of a BL dōjinshi , including characters from non-manga titles such as Harry Potter or The Lord of the Rings , video games such as Final Fantasy , or real people such as actors and politicians. Amateur authors may also create characters out of personifications of abstract concepts (as in
2355-639: A gay audience. The economic crisis caused by the Lost Decade came to affect the manga industry in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but did not particularly impact the yaoi market; on the contrary, yaoi magazines continued to proliferate during this period, and sales of yaoi media increased. In 2004, Otome Road in Ikebukuro emerged as a major cultural destination for yaoi fandom, with multiple stores dedicated to shōjo and yaoi goods. The 2000s also saw an increase in male readers of yaoi , with
2512-576: A gay male audience. Gay manga typically focuses on masculine men with varying degrees of muscle, body fat, and body hair , in contrast to the androgynous bishōnen of BL. Graham Kolbeins writes in Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make It that while BL can be understood as a primarily feminist phenomenon, in that it depicts sex that is free of the patriarchal trappings of heterosexual pornography, gay manga
2669-467: A genre. In a 2015 survey of professional Japanese male-male romance fiction writers by Kazuko Suzuki, five primary subgenres were identified: Despite attempts by researchers to codify differences between these subgenres, in practice these terms are used interchangeably. Kazumi Nagaike and Tomoko Aoyama note that while BL and yaoi are the most common generic terms for this kind of media, they specifically avoid attempts at defining subgenres, noting that
2826-546: A larger number of victims who are frequently extrafamilial; are more inwardly driven to offend; and have values or beliefs that strongly support an offense lifestyle. One study found that pedophilic molesters had a median of 1.3 victims for those with girl victims and 4.4 for those with boy victims. Child molesters, pedophilic or not, employ a variety of methods to gain sexual access to children. Some groom their victims into compliance with attention and gifts, while others use threats, alcohol or drugs, or physical force. Pedophilia
2983-547: A long-term change in sexual preference. Michael Seto suggests that attempts to cure pedophilia in adulthood are unlikely to succeed because its development is influenced by prenatal factors. Pedophilia appears to be difficult to alter but pedophiles can be helped to control their behavior, and future research could develop a method of prevention. There are several common limitations to studies of treatment effectiveness. Most categorize their participants by behavior rather than erotic age preference, which makes it difficult to know
3140-436: A male child are not true pedophilia and that, in his observation, victims of such men tended to be older and pubescent. He also lists pseudopaedophilia as a related condition wherein "individuals who have lost libido for the adult through masturbation and subsequently turn to children for the gratification of their sexual appetite" and claimed this is much more common. Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud briefly wrote about
3297-498: A more appropriate object. In 1908, Swiss neuroanatomist and psychiatrist Auguste Forel wrote of the phenomenon, proposing that it be referred to it as "Pederosis", the "Sexual Appetite for Children". Similar to Krafft-Ebing's work, Forel made the distinction between incidental sexual abuse by persons with dementia and other organic brain conditions, and the truly preferential and sometimes exclusive sexual desire for children. However, he disagreed with Krafft-Ebing in that he felt
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#17327755393053454-548: A normal IQ. Another study, using structural MRI , indicated that male pedophiles have a lower volume of white matter than a control group . Functional magnetic resonance imaging ( fMRI ) has indicated that child molesters diagnosed with pedophilia have reduced activation of the hypothalamus as compared with non-pedophilic persons when viewing sexually arousing pictures of adults. A 2008 functional neuroimaging study notes that central processing of sexual stimuli in heterosexual "paedophile forensic inpatients" may be altered by
3611-448: A person who acts upon these urges yet experiences no distress about their fantasies or urges can also qualify for the diagnosis. Acting on sexual urges is not limited to overt sex acts for purposes of this diagnosis, and can sometimes include indecent exposure , voyeuristic or frotteuristic behaviors. The ICD-11 also considers planning or seeking to engage in these behaviors, as well as the use of child pornography , to be evidence of
3768-420: A portmanteau of yama nashi, ochi nashi, imi nashi ("no climax, no point, no meaning"), where it was used in a self-deprecating manner to refer to amateur fan works that focused on sex to the exclusion of plot and character development, and that often parodied mainstream manga and anime by depicting male characters from popular series in sexual scenarios. "Boys' love" was later adopted by Japanese publications in
3925-453: A primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of puberty at age 10 or 11, and boys at age 11 or 12, psychiatric diagnostic criteria for pedophilia extend the cut-off point for prepubescence to age 13. People with the disorder are often referred to as pedophiles (or paedophiles ). Pedophilia is a paraphilia . In recent versions of formal diagnostic coding systems such as
4082-412: A primary or exclusive sexual interest in prepubescent children, and many pedophiles do not molest children. Pedophilia was first formally recognized and named in the late 19th century. A significant amount of research in the area has taken place since the 1980s. Although mostly documented in men, there are also women who exhibit the disorder, and researchers assume available estimates underrepresent
4239-531: A representative, community sample of pedophiles. Seto (2004) points out that pedophiles who are available from a clinical setting are likely there because of distress over their sexual preference or pressure from others. This increases the likelihood that they will show psychological problems. Similarly, pedophiles recruited from a correctional setting have been convicted of a crime, making it more likely that they will show anti-social characteristics. Impaired self-concept and interpersonal functioning were reported in
4396-567: A result of the global financial crisis of 2007–2008 , but continued to grow slowly in the following years. South Korea saw the development of BL in the form of manhwa , notably Martin and John (2006) by Park Hee-jung and Crush on You (2006) by Lee Kyung-ha. The 2010s and 2020s saw an increase in the popularity of yaoi and BL media in China and Thailand in the form of web novels , live-action films, and live-action television dramas (see Media below). Though "boys' love" and "BL" have become
4553-493: A result of the influence of Fire! ; yaoi dōjinshi were also more sexually explicit than shōnen-ai . In reaction to the success of shōnen-ai and early yaoi , publishers sought to exploit the market by creating magazines devoted to the genre. Young female illustrators cemented themselves in the manga industry by publishing yaoi works, with this genre later becoming "a transnational subculture." Publishing house Magazine Magazine [ ja ] , which published
4710-420: A role in deviant attractions. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-5-TR) states, "The diagnostic criteria for pedophilic disorder are intended to apply both to individuals who freely disclose this paraphilia and to individuals who deny any sexual attraction to prepubertal children (generally age 13 years or younger), despite substantial objective evidence to
4867-552: A sample of child sex offenders who met the diagnostic criteria for pedophilia by Cohen et al. (2002), which the authors suggested could contribute to motivation for pedophilic acts. The pedophilic offenders in the study had elevated psychopathy and cognitive distortions compared to healthy community controls. This was interpreted as underlying their failure to inhibit their criminal behavior. Studies in 2009 and 2012 found that non-pedophilic child sex offenders exhibited psychopathy, but pedophiles did not. Wilson and Cox (1983) studied
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5024-491: A sexual orientation because of wording in its printed DSM-5 manual, which distinguishes between paraphilia and what it calls "paraphilic disorder", subsequently forming a division of "pedophilia" and "pedophilic disorder", the association commented: "'[S]exual orientation' is not a term used in the diagnostic criteria for pedophilic disorder and its use in the DSM-5 text discussion is an error and should read 'sexual interest.'" They added, "In fact, APA considers pedophilic disorder
5181-456: A tolerance of homosexuality amid Westernization during the Meiji Era (1868-1912), and moved towards hostile social attitudes towards homosexuality and the implementation of anti-sodomy laws . In the face of this legal and cultural shift, artists who depicted male homosexuality in their work typically did so through subtext . Illustrations by Kashō Takabatake [ ja ] in
5338-479: A typology of "psycho-sexual perversion". He wrote that he had only encountered it four times in his career and gave brief descriptions of each case, listing three common traits: He mentions several cases of pedophilia among adult women (provided by another physician), and also considered the abuse of boys by homosexual men to be extremely rare. Further clarifying this point, he indicated that cases of adult men who have some medical or neurological disorder and abuse
5495-621: A variety of purposes, ranging from private sexual gratification or trading with other collectors, to preparing children for sexual abuse as part of the child grooming process. Pedophilic viewers of child pornography are often obsessive about collecting, organizing, categorizing, and labeling their child pornography collection according to age, gender, sex act and fantasy. According to FBI agent Ken Lanning, "collecting" pornography does not mean that they merely view pornography, but that they save it, and "it comes to define, fuel, and validate their most cherished sexual fantasies". Lanning states that
5652-718: A variety of referral sources inside and outside the criminal justice system as well as controls , these studies found associations between pedophilia and lower IQs , poorer scores on memory tests, greater rates of non-right-handedness, greater rates of school grade failure over and above the IQ differences, being below average height, greater probability of having had childhood head injuries resulting in unconsciousness, and several differences in MRI -detected brain structures. Such studies suggest that there are one or more neurological characteristics present at birth that cause or increase
5809-488: Is a genre that depicts prepubescent or pubescent boys in a romantic or pornographic context. Originating as an offshoot of yaoi in the early 1980s, the subgenre was later adopted by male readers and became influenced by lolicon (works depicting prepubescent or pubescent girls); the conflation of shotacon in its contemporary usage with BL is thus not universally accepted, as the genre constitutes material that marketed to both male and female audiences. Omegaverse
5966-610: Is a male-male romance subgenre that originated from the American series Supernatural and in the 2010s became a subgenre of both commercial and non-commercial BL. Stories in the genre are premised on societies wherein humans are divided into a dominance hierarchy of dominant "alphas", neutral "betas", and submissive "omegas". These terms are derived from those used in ethology to describe social hierarchies in animals . The " dom/sub universe" subgenre emerged in 2017 and gained popularity in 2021. The subgenre uses BDSM elements and also draws influences from Omegaverse, particularly
6123-593: Is believed to have occurred in humans throughout history. The term paedophilie (in German) has been used since the late 1830s by researchers of pederasty in ancient Greece . The term "paedophilia erotica" was coined in an 1896 article by the Viennese psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing but does not enter the author's Psychopathia Sexualis until the 10th German edition. A number of authors anticipated Krafft-Ebing's diagnostic gesture. In Psychopathia Sexualis ,
6280-501: Is commonly used by the public to describe all child sexual abuse offenders. This usage is considered problematic by researchers, because many child molesters do not have a strong sexual interest in prepubescent children, and are consequently not pedophiles. There are motives for child sexual abuse that are unrelated to pedophilia, such as stress, marital problems, the unavailability of an adult partner, general anti-social tendencies, high sex drive or alcohol use. As child sexual abuse
6437-418: Is distressed as a result of having these feelings. The criteria also indicate that the subject should be 16 or older and that the child or children they fantasize about are at least five years younger than them, though ongoing sexual relationships between a 12- to 13-year-old and a late adolescent are advised to be excluded. A diagnosis is further specified by the sex of the children the person is attracted to, if
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6594-491: Is evidence that authors and readers "overcame this hate, possibly thanks to their involvement with yaoi ." BL stories are often strongly homosocial , giving men freedom to bond and pursue shared goals together (as in dojinshi adaptations of shōnen manga), or to rival each other (as in Embracing Love ). This spiritual bond and equal partnership is depicted as overcoming the male-female gender hierarchy . As
6751-733: Is mixed. A 2012 Cochrane Review of randomized trials found that CBT had no effect on risk of reoffending for contact sex offenders. Meta-analyses in 2002 and 2005, which included both randomized and non-randomized studies, concluded that CBT reduced recidivism. There is debate over whether non-randomized studies should be considered informative. More research is needed. Behavioral treatments target sexual arousal to children, using satiation and aversion techniques to suppress sexual arousal to children and covert sensitization (or masturbatory reconditioning) to increase sexual arousal to adults. Behavioral treatments appear to have an effect on sexual arousal patterns during phallometric testing, but it
6908-561: Is more likely. A study analyzing the sexual fantasies of 200 heterosexual men by using the Wilson Sex Fantasy Questionnaire exam determined that males with a pronounced degree of paraphilic interest (including pedophilia) had a greater number of older brothers, a high 2D:4D digit ratio (which would indicate low prenatal androgen exposure), and an elevated probability of being left-handed , suggesting that disturbed hemispheric brain lateralization may play
7065-693: Is more limited and mostly based on open trials and case studies. All of these treatments, commonly referred to as " chemical castration ", are often used in conjunction with cognitive behavioral therapy. According to the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers , when treating child molesters, "anti-androgen treatment should be coupled with appropriate monitoring and counseling within a comprehensive treatment plan." These drugs may have side-effects, such as weight gain, breast development, liver damage and osteoporosis. Historically, surgical castration
7222-885: Is much harder for slash writers to achieve." The first officially-licensed English-language translations of yaoi manga were published in the North American market in 2003; by 2006, there were roughly 130 English-translated yaoi works commercially available, and by 2007, over 10 publishers in North America published yaoi . Notable English-language publishers of BL include Viz Media under their SuBLime imprint, Digital Manga Publishing under their 801 Media and Juné imprints, Media Blasters under their Kitty Media imprint, Seven Seas Entertainment , and Tokyopop . Notable defunct English-language publishers of BL include Central Park Media under their Be Beautiful imprint, Broccoli under their Boysenberry imprint, and Aurora Publishing under their Deux Press imprint. Among
7379-463: Is not a legal term, as having a sexual attraction to children without acting on it is not illegal. In law enforcement circles, the term pedophile is sometimes used informally to refer to any person who commits one or more sexually-based crimes that relate to legally underage victims. These crimes may include child sexual abuse , statutory rape , offenses involving child pornography , child grooming , stalking , and indecent exposure . One unit of
7536-475: Is not automatically an indicator that its perpetrator is a pedophile, offenders can be separated into two types: pedophilic and non-pedophilic (or preferential and situational). Estimates for the rate of pedophilia in detected child molesters generally range between 25% and 50%. A 2006 study found that 35% of its sample of child molesters were pedophilic. Pedophilia appears to be less common in incest offenders, especially fathers and step-fathers. According to
7693-410: Is not clear whether these are features of the disorder itself, artifacts of sampling bias , or consequences of being identified as a sex offender. One review of the literature concluded that research on personality correlates and psychopathology in pedophiles is rarely methodologically correct, in part owing to confusion between pedophiles and child sex offenders, as well as the difficulty of obtaining
7850-490: Is not known whether the effect represents changes in sexual interests or changes in the ability to control genital arousal during testing, nor whether the effect persists in the long term. For sex offenders with mental disabilities, applied behavior analysis has been used. Pharmacological interventions are used to lower the sex drive in general, which can ease the management of pedophilic feelings, but does not change sexual preference. Antiandrogens work by interfering with
8007-427: Is not specified in hard numbers and instead requires careful consideration of the situation. There was discussion on the DSM-IV-TR being overinclusive and underinclusive. Its criterion A concerns sexual fantasies or sexual urges regarding prepubescent children, and its criterion B concerns acting on those urges or the urges causing marked distress or interpersonal difficulty. Several researchers discussed whether or not
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#17327755393058164-473: Is noted as an influential work in this regard. Contemporary Japanese homoerotic romance manga originated in the 1970s as a subgenre of shōjo manga. The decade saw the arrival of a new generation of shōjo manga artists, most notable among them the Year 24 Group . The Year 24 Group contributed significantly to the development of the shōjo manga, introducing a greater diversity of themes and subject material to
8321-458: Is noted as crucial to the development of Western BL fan works, particularly fan fiction . As BL fan fiction is often compared to the Western fan practice of slash , it is important to understand the subtle differences between them. Levi notes that "the youthful teen look that so easily translates into androgyny in boys' love manga, and allows for so many layered interpretations of sex and gender,
8478-488: Is primarily an expression of gay male identity. The early 2000s saw a degree of overlap between BL and gay manga in BDSM -themed publications: the yaoi BDSM anthology magazine Zettai Reido ( 絶対零度 ) had several male contributors, while several female BL authors have contributed stories to BDSM-themed gay manga anthologies or special issues, occasionally under male pen names . Shotacon ( ショタコン , shotakon )
8635-480: Is rarely used in academic sources. Hebephilia is defined as individuals with a primary or exclusive sexual interest in 11- to 14-year-old pubescents. The DSM-5 does not list hebephilia among the diagnoses. While evidence suggests that hebephilia is separate from pedophilia, the ICD-10 includes early pubertal age (an aspect of hebephilia) in its pedophilia definition, covering the physical development overlap between
8792-444: Is regarded as an influential precursor to the shōnen-ai genre. Mori's works were influenced by European literature , particularly Gothic literature , and laid the foundation for many of the common tropes of shōnen-ai , yaoi , and BL: western exoticism, educated and wealthy characters, significant age differences among couples, and fanciful or even surreal settings. In manga , the concept of gekiga ( 劇画 ) emerged in
8949-469: Is typical in romance fiction, couples depicted in these stories often must overcome obstacles that are emotional or psychological rather than physical. Akiko Mizoguchi notes that while early stories depicted homosexuality as a source of shame to heighten dramatic tension in this regard, beginning in the mid-2000s the genre began to depict gay identity with greater sensitivity and nuance, with series such as Brilliant Blue featuring stories of coming out and
9106-461: Is typically created by women for a female audience, distinguishing it from homoerotic media created by and for gay men , though BL does also attract a male audience and can be produced by male creators. BL spans a wide range of media, including manga , anime , drama CDs , novels, video games, television series, films, and fan works . The genre originated in the 1970s as a subgenre of shōjo manga , or comics for girls. Several terms were used for
9263-434: Is ubiquitous in BL, and is typically rendered explicitly and not merely implied; Zanghellini notes that illustrations of anal sex almost always position the characters to face each other rather than " doggy style ", and that the uke rarely fellates the seme , but instead receives the sexual and romantic attentions of the seme . Though McLelland notes that authors are typically "interested in exploring, not repudiating"
9420-403: Is understood as a means of expressing commitment to a partner, and in BL, the "apparent violence" of rape is transformed into a "measure of passion". Rape scenes in BL are rarely presented as crimes with an assaulter and a victim: scenes where a seme rapes an uke are not depicted as symptomatic of the violent desires of the seme , but rather as evidence of the uncontrollable attraction felt by
9577-434: The shōnen manga (boys' comics) magazine Nihon Shōnen formed the foundation of what would become the aesthetic of bishōnen : boys and young men, often in homosocial or homoerotic contexts, who are defined by their "ambivalent passivity, fragility, ephemerality, and softness." The 1961 novel A Lovers' Forest by tanbi writer Mari Mori , which follows the relationship between a professor and his younger male lover,
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#17327755393059734-465: The DSM-5 and ICD-11 , "pedophilia" is distinguished from "pedophilic disorder." Pedophilic disorder is defined as a pattern of pedophilic arousal accompanied by either subjective distress or interpersonal difficulty, or having acted on that arousal. The DSM-5 requires that a person must be at least 16 years old, and at least five years older than the prepubescent child or children they are aroused by, for
9891-528: The Greek παῖς, παιδός ( paîs, paidós ), meaning ' child ' , and φιλία ( philía ), ' friendly love ' or ' friendship ' . The term paedophilie (in German) started being used in the 1830s among researchers of pederasty in Ancient Greece . It was further used in the field of forensics after the 1890's, following Richard von Krafft-Ebing 's coinage of the term paedophilia erotica in
10048-706: The androgyny of bishōnen is often exploited to explore notions of sexuality and gender in BL works. The late 2010s saw the increasing popularity of masculine men in BL that are reminiscent of the body types typical in gay manga , with growing emphasis on stories featuring muscular bodies and older characters. A 2017 survey by BL publisher Juné Manga found that while over 80% of their readership previously preferred bishōnen body types exclusively, 65% now enjoy both bishōnen and muscular body types. Critics and commentators have noted that this shift in preferences among BL readers, and subsequent creation of works that feature characteristics of both BL and gay manga, represents
10205-438: The ichidan verb "to receive") . These terms originated in martial arts , and were later appropriated as Japanese LGBT slang to refer to the insertive and receptive partners in anal sex . Aleardo Zanghellini suggests that the martial arts terms have special significance to a Japanese audience, as an archetype of the gay male relationship in Japan includes same-sex love between samurai and their companions . He suggests that
10362-427: The seme and uke roles are not strictly defined. Occasionally, authors will forego the stylisations of the seme and uke to portray both lovers as "equally attractive handsome men", or will subvert expectations of dominance by depicting the active pursuer in the relationship as taking the passive role during sex. In other cases, the uke is presented as more sexually aggressive than the seme ; in these instances,
10519-421: The seme recognizing, and taking responsibility for, his sexual desires. Where the uke is raped by a third party, the relationship is shown to be emotionally supportive. Conversely, some stories such as Under Grand Hotel subvert the rape fantasy trope entirely by presenting rape as a negative and traumatic act. A 2012 survey of English-language BL fans found that just 15 percent of respondents reported that
10676-419: The seme towards the uke . Such scenes are often a plot device used to make the uke see the seme as more than just a good friend, and typically result in the uke falling in love with the seme . While Japanese society often shuns or looks down upon women who are raped in reality, the BL genre depicts men who are raped as still "imbued with innocence" and are typically still loved by their rapists after
10833-431: The uke , who often has softer, androgynous, feminine features with bigger eyes and a smaller build, and is often physically weaker than the seme . The roles of seme and uke can alternatively be established by who is dominant in the relationship; a character can take the uke role even if he is not presented as feminine, simply by being juxtaposed against and pursued by a more dominant and masculine character. Anal sex
10990-423: The yaoi ronsō engendered led to the formation of the field of "BL studies", which focus on the study of BL and the relationship between women and BL. It additionally impacted creators of yaoi : author Chiyo Kurihara abandoned yaoi to focus on heterosexual pornography as a result of the yaoi ronsō , while Hisako Takamatsu took into account the arguments of the genre's critics to create works more accommodating of
11147-503: The "forbidden" all-consuming love presented in BL. In dōjinshi parodies based on existing works that include female characters, the female's role is typically either minimized or the character is killed off; Yukari Fujimoto noted that in these parodies, "it seems that yaoi readings and likeable female characters are mutually exclusive." Nariko Enomoto , a BL author, suggests that women are typically not depicted in BL as their presence adds an element of realism that distracts from
11304-453: The 135 yaoi manga published in North America between 2003 and 2006, 14% were rated for readers aged 13 years or over, 39% were rated for readers aged 15 or older, and 47% were rated for readers age 18 and up. Restrictions among American booksellers often led publishers to label books conservatively, often rating books originally intended for a mid-teen readership as 18+ and distributing them in shrinkwrap. Diamond Comic Distributors valued
11461-574: The 1896 edition of Psychopathia Sexualis . Krafft-Ebing was the first researcher to use the term pedophilia to refer to a pattern of sexual attraction toward children who had not yet reached puberty, excluding pubescent minors from the pedophilic age range. In 1895, the English word pedophily was used as a translation of the German word pädophilie . The term pedophilia was hardly used by 1945, but started appearing in medical records after 1950. By
11618-563: The 1950s and throughout the 1980s, the word pedophilia started being increasingly used by the popular media. Infantophilia (or nepiophilia ) is a sub-type of pedophilia; it is used to refer to a sexual preference for children under the age of 5 (especially infants and toddlers ). This is sometimes referred to as nepiophilia (from the Greek νήπιος ( népios ) meaning ' infant ' or ' child ' , which in turn derives from ne- and epos meaning ' not speaking ' ), though this term
11775-615: The 1970s contemporaneously with BL subculture and Western fan fiction culture. Characteristic similarities of fan works in both Japan and the West include non-adherence to a standard narrative structures and a particular popularity of science fiction themes. Early BL dōjinshi were amateur publications that were not controlled by media restrictions, were typically derivative works based on existing manga and anime, and were often written by teenagers for an adolescent audience. Several legitimate manga artists produce or produced dōjinshi :
11932-427: The 1980s, beginning with Tsuzumigafuchi in 1988, which was published as a " June cassette". BL audio dramas proliferated beginning in the 1990s with the rise in popularity of compact discs , peaking at 289 total CDs released in 2008, which dropped to 108 CDs in 2013. Pedophilia Pedophilia ( alternatively spelled paedophilia ) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences
12089-470: The 1982 anime adaptation of Patalliro! was the first television anime to depict shōnen-ai themes, while Kaze to Ki no Uta and Earthian were adapted into anime in the original video animation ( home video ) format in 1987 and 1989, respectively. The growing popularity of yaoi attracted the attention of manga magazine editors, many of whom recruited yaoi dōjinshi authors to their publications; Zetsuai 1989 (1989–1991) by Minami Ozaki ,
12246-408: The 1990s as an umbrella term for male-male romance media marketed to women. Concepts and themes associated with BL include androgynous men known as bishōnen ; diminished female characters; narratives that emphasize homosociality and de-emphasize socio-cultural homophobia ; and depictions of rape. A defining characteristic of BL is the practice of pairing characters in relationships according to
12403-484: The 2010s as a "'missing link' to bridge the gap between BL fiction and gay people," arguing that when BL narratives are presented using human actors, it produces a "subconscious change in the perception of viewers" towards acceptance of homosexuality. Although gay male characters are empowered in BL, the genre frequently does not address the reality of socio-cultural homophobia . According to Hisako Miyoshi, vice editor-in-chief for Libre Publishing , while earlier works in
12560-436: The 2010s is regarded as a driving force behind the production of BL dramas across Asia, as online distribution provides a platform for media containing non-heterosexual material, which is frequently not permitted on broadcast television . The protagonists of BL are often bishōnen ( 美少年 , lit. "beautiful boy") , "highly idealised" boys and young men who blend both masculine and feminine qualities. Bishōnen as
12717-451: The APA, as it would only apply to a tiny minority of commitments, as well as deny help-seeking pedophiles access to clinical care due to not having an official diagnosis for insurance purposes. In practice, the patient's behaviors need to be considered in-context with an element of clinical judgment before a diagnosis is made. Likewise, when the patient is in late adolescence, the age difference
12874-441: The American Psychiatric Association's approach in 1997 and instead recommended the use of actions as the sole criterion for the diagnosis of pedophilia, as a means of taxonomic simplification. There is no evidence that pedophilia can be cured. Instead, most therapies focus on helping pedophiles refrain from acting on their desires. Some therapies do attempt to cure pedophilia, but there are no studies showing that they result in
13031-548: The DSM classification is only rarely used. As an explanation, it was suggested that the underinclusiveness, as well as a lack of validity, reliability and clarity might have led to the rejection of the DSM classification. Ray Blanchard , an American-Canadian sexologist known for his research studies on pedophilia, addressed (in his literature review for the DSM-5) the objections to the overinclusiveness and under underinclusiveness of
13188-454: The DSM-IV-TR, and proposed a general solution applicable to all paraphilias. This meant namely a distinction between paraphilia and paraphilic disorder . The latter term is proposed to identify the diagnosable mental disorder which meets Criterion A and B, whereas an individual who does not meet Criterion B can be ascertained but not diagnosed as having a paraphilia. Blanchard and a number of his colleagues also proposed that hebephilia become
13345-540: The Japanese BL market was worth approximately ¥21.3 billion in both 2009 and 2010. In 2019, editors from Lynx , Magazine Be × Boy , and On BLUE have stated that, with the growth of BL artists in Taiwan and South Korea, they have recruited and published several of their works in Japan with expectations that the BL manga industry will diversify. The dōjinshi (self-published fan works ) subculture emerged in
13502-636: The Treatment of Sexual Abusers opposes surgical castration and the Council of Europe works to bring the practice to an end in Eastern European countries where it is still applied through the courts. The prevalence of pedophilia in the general population is not known, but is estimated to be lower than 5% among adult men. Less is known about the prevalence of pedophilia in women, but there are case reports of women with strong sexual fantasies and urges towards children. Male perpetrators account for
13659-584: The United States in the early 2000s, several American artists began creating original English-language manga for female readers featuring male-male couples referred to as "American yaoi ". The first known commercially published original English-language yaoi comic is Sexual Espionage #1 by Daria McGrain, published by Sin Factory in May 2002. As international artists began creating yaoi works,
13816-399: The United States, German publisher Carlsen Manga also published original yaoi works. BL audio dramas , occasionally referred to as "drama CDs", "sound dramas", or "BLCDs", are recorded voice performances of male-male romance scenarios performed by primarily male voice actors. They are typically adaptations of original BL manga and novels. The first BL audio dramas were released in
13973-418: The West, the term shōnen-ai is sometimes used to describe titles that focus on romance over explicit sexual content, while yaoi is used to describe titles that primarily feature sexually explicit themes and subject material. Yaoi can also be used by Western fans as a label for anime or manga-based slash fiction . The Japanese use of yaoi to denote only works with explicit scenes sometimes clashes with
14130-422: The Western use of the word to describe the genre as a whole, creating confusion between Japanese and Western audiences. Homosexuality and androgyny have a history in Japan dating to ancient times , as seen in practices such as shudō ( 衆道 , same-sex love between samurai and their companions) and kagema ( 陰間 , male sex workers who served as apprentice kabuki actors) . The country shifted away from
14287-569: The act of child sexual abuse , including any sexual interest in minors below the local age of consent or age of adulthood , regardless of their level of physical or mental development. This use conflates the sexual attraction to prepubescent children with the act of child sexual abuse and fails to distinguish between attraction to prepubescent and pubescent or post-pubescent minors. Such use should be avoided, because although some people who commit child sexual abuse are pedophiles, child sexual abuse offenders are not pedophiles unless they have
14444-400: The act, a trope that may have originated with Kaze to Ki no Uta . Kristy Valenti of The Comics Journal notes that rape narratives typically focus on how "irresistible" the uke is and how the seme "cannot control himself" in his presence, thus absolving the seme of responsibility for his rape of the uke . She notes this is likely why the narrative climax of many BL stories depicts
14601-607: The activity of testosterone. Cyproterone acetate (Androcur) and medroxyprogesterone acetate (Depo-Provera) are the most commonly used. The efficacy of antiandrogens has some support, but few high-quality studies exist. Cyproterone acetate has the strongest evidence for reducing sexual arousal, while findings on medroxyprogesterone acetate have been mixed. Gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogs such as leuprorelin (Lupron), which last longer and have fewer side-effects, are also used to reduce libido, as are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors . The evidence for these alternatives
14758-458: The attraction is a sexual preference for prepubescent children, such offenders are considered pedophiles in the same vein as exclusive offenders. Neither the DSM nor the ICD-11 diagnostic criteria require actual sexual activity with a prepubescent youth. The diagnosis can therefore be made based on the presence of fantasies or sexual urges even if they have never been acted upon. On the other hand,
14915-480: The attraction to be diagnosed as pedophilic disorder. Similarly, the ICD-11 excludes sexual behavior among post-pubertal children who are close in age. The DSM requires the arousal pattern must be present for 6 months or longer, while the ICD lacks this requirement. The ICD criteria also refrain from specifying chronological ages. In popular usage, the word pedophilia is often applied to any sexual interest in children or
15072-479: The brain, while non-offending pedophiles had no such deficits. According to Abel, Mittleman, and Becker (1985) and Ward et al. (1995), there are generally large distinctions between the characteristics of pedophilic and non-pedophilic molesters. They state that non-pedophilic offenders tend to offend at times of stress; have a later onset of offending; and have fewer, often familial, victims, while pedophilic offenders often start offending at an early age; often have
15229-444: The chapter's other listings." If hebephilia had been accepted as a DSM-5 diagnosable disorder, it would have been similar to the ICD-10 definition of pedophilia that already includes early pubescents, and would have raised the minimum age required for a person to be able to be diagnosed with pedophilia from 16 years to 18 years (with the individual needing to be at least 5 years older than the minor). O'Donohue, however, suggests that
15386-531: The characteristics of a group of pedophile club members. The most marked differences between pedophiles and controls were on the introversion scale, with pedophiles showing elevated shyness, sensitivity and depression. The pedophiles scored higher on neuroticism and psychoticism , but not enough to be considered pathological as a group. The authors caution that "there is a difficulty in untangling cause and effect. We cannot tell whether paedophiles gravitate towards children because, being highly introverted, they find
15543-621: The characters' gradual acceptance within the wider community. BL typically depicts Japanese society as more accepting of LGBT people than it is in reality , which Mizoguchi contends is a form of activism among BL authors. Some longer-form stories such as Fake and Kizuna: Bonds of Love have the couple form a family unit, depicting them cohabiting and adopting children. It is also possible that they marry and have children, as in Omegaverse publications. Fujimoto cites Ossan's Love (2016–2018) and other BL television dramas that emerged in
15700-516: The collection is the single best indicator of what the offender wants to do, but not necessarily of what has been or will be done. Researchers Taylor and Quayle reported that pedophilic collectors of child pornography are often involved in anonymous internet communities dedicated to extending their collections. Although what causes pedophilia is not yet known, researchers began reporting a series of findings linking pedophilia with brain structure and function, beginning in 2002. Testing individuals from
15857-745: The company of children less threatening than that of adults, or whether the social withdrawal implied by their introversion is a result of the isolation engendered by their preference i.e., awareness of the social [dis]approbation and hostility that it evokes" (p. 324). In a non-clinical survey, 46% of pedophiles reported that they had seriously considered suicide for reasons related to their sexual interest, 32% planned to carry it out, and 13% had already attempted it. A review of qualitative research studies published between 1982 and 2001 concluded that child sexual abusers use cognitive distortions to meet personal needs, justifying abuse by making excuses, redefining their actions as love and mutuality, and exploiting
16014-484: The condition of the latter was largely ingrained and unchangeable. The term pedophilia became the generally accepted term for the condition and saw widespread adoption in the early 20th century, appearing in many popular medical dictionaries such as the 5th Edition of Stedman's in 1918. In 1952, it was included in the first edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders . This edition and
16171-418: The contrary." The manual outlines specific criteria for use in the diagnosis of this disorder. These include the presence of sexually arousing fantasies, behaviors or urges that involve some kind of sexual activity with a prepubescent child (with the diagnostic criteria for the disorder extending the cut-off point for prepubescence to age 13) for six months or more, or that the subject has acted on these urges or
16328-437: The couple, but "the cruel and intrusive demands of an uncompromising outside world". Thorn theorizes that depictions of tragedy and abuse in BL exist to allow the audience "to come to terms in some way with their own experiences of abuse." Bara ( 薔薇 , "rose") , also known as gay manga ( ゲイ漫画 ) or gei komi ( ゲイコミ , "gay comics") is a genre focused on male same-sex love , as created primarily by gay men for
16485-506: The development of its own style of idols known as khu jin (imaginary couples) who are designed to be paired together by Thai BL's predominantly female fans. For cultural anthropologist Thomas Baudinette, BL series produced in Thailand represent the next stage in the historic development of BL, which is increasingly becoming "dislocated" from Japan among international fans' understanding of the genre. While BL fandom in China traces back to
16642-859: The diagnosis. However the DSM-5-TR, in a change from the prior edition, excludes the use of child pornography alone as meeting the criteria for "acting on sexual urges." This change is controversial due to being made for legal reasons rather than scientific. According to forensic psychologist Michael C. Seto , who was part of the DSM-5-TR workgroup, the removal of child pornography use alone was to avoid diagnosing criminal defendants convicted of child pornography offenses, but no in-person offenses, with pedophilic disorder, as this could potentially lead to such defendants being committed to mental institutions under sexually violent predator laws . Seto, who has published several research studies on pedophilia and its relationship with child pornography, objected to this reasoning by
16799-517: The diagnostic criteria for pedophilia be simplified to the attraction to children alone if ascertained by self-report, laboratory findings, or past behavior. He states that any sexual attraction to children is pathological and that distress is irrelevant, noting "this sexual attraction has the potential to cause significant harm to others and is also not in the best interests of the individual." Also arguing for behavioral criteria in defining pedophilia, Howard E. Barbaree and Michael C. Seto disagreed with
16956-453: The differences between them are ill-defined and that even when differentiated, the subgenres "remain thematically intertwined." In Suzuki's investigation of these subgenres, she notes that "there is no appropriate and convenient Japanese shorthand term to embrace all subgenres of male-male love fiction by and for women." Yaoi has been used as an umbrella term in the West for Japanese-influenced comics with male-male relationships, and
17113-403: The dynamics between the seme and uke , not all works adhere to seme and uke tropes. The possibility of switching roles is often a source of playful teasing and sexual excitement for the characters, indicating an interest among many genre authors in exploring the performative nature of the roles. Riba ( リバ ) , a shorthand for "reversible" (リバーシブル), is used to describe couples where
17270-399: The feelings of others, averse to risk, abstain from alcohol or drug use, and endorse attitudes and beliefs supportive of norms and the laws" may be unlikely to abuse children. A 2015 study indicates that pedophiles who molested children are neurologically distinct from non-offending pedophiles. The pedophilic molesters had neurological deficits suggestive of disruptions in inhibitory regions of
17427-829: The first gay manga magazines were published: Barazoku , the first commercially circulated gay men's magazine in Japan, was published in 1971, and served as a major influence on Takemiya and the development of shōnen-ai . The dōjinshi (self-published works) subculture emerged contemporaneously in the 1970s (see Media below), and in 1975, the first Comiket was held as a gathering of amateur artists who produce dōjinshi . The term yaoi , initially used by some creators of male-male romance dōjinshi to describe their creations ironically, emerged to describe amateur works that were influenced by shōnen-ai and gay manga. Early yaoi dōjinshi produced for Comiket were typically derivative works , with glam rock artists such as David Bowie and Queen as popular subjects as
17584-467: The first yaoi -influenced media to be encountered by Western audiences. BL gained popularity in mainland China in the late 1990s; the country subsequently outlawed the publishing and distribution of BL works. The mid-1990s saw the so-called " yaoi debate" or yaoi ronsō (や お い 論争), a debate held primarily in a series of essays published in the feminist magazine Choisir from 1992 to 1997. In an open letter , Japanese gay writer Masaki Satō criticized
17741-439: The gay manga magazine Sabu [ ja ] , launched the magazine June in 1978, while Minori Shobo [ ja ] launched Allan in 1980. Both magazines initially specialized in shōnen-ai , which Magazine Magazine described as "halfway between tanbi literature and pornography," and also published articles on homosexuality, literary fiction, illustrations, and amateur yaoi works. The success of June
17898-495: The generic terms for this material across Asia, in Thailand, BL dramas are sometimes referred to as "Y" or "Y series" as a shorthand for yaoi . Thai Series Y explicitly adapts the content of Japanese BL to the Thai local context and in recent years has become increasingly popular with fans around the world who often view Thai BL as separate to its Japanese antecedents. Thai BL also deliberately borrows from K-pop celebrity culture in
18055-445: The genre as homophobic for not depicting gay men accurately, and called fans of yaoi "disgusting women" who "have a perverse interest in sexual intercourse between men." A years-long debate ensued, with yaoi fans and artists contending that yaoi is entertainment for women that does not seek to be a realistic depiction of homosexuality, and instead serves as a refuge from the misogyny of Japanese society. The scholarly debate that
18212-435: The genre focused "more on the homosexual way of life from a realistic perspective", over time the genre has become less realistic and more comedic, and the stories are "simply for entertainment". BL manga often have fantastical, historical or futuristic settings, and many fans consider the genre to be escapist fiction . Homophobia, when it is presented as an issue at all, is used as a plot device to heighten drama, or to show
18369-443: The genre increasingly depicted Japanese settings over western settings. Works influenced by shōnen-ai in the 1980s began to depict older protagonists and adopted a realist style in both plot and artwork, as typified by manga such as Banana Fish (1985–1994) by Akimi Yoshida and Tomoi (1986) by Wakuni Akisato [ ja ] . The 1980s also saw the proliferation of yaoi into anime , drama CDs , and light novels ;
18526-471: The genre that drew inspiration from by Japanese and European literature, cinema, and history. Members of the group, including Keiko Takemiya and Moto Hagio , created works that depicted male homosexuality: In The Sunroom (1970) by Takemiya is considered the first work of the genre that would become known as shōnen-ai , followed by Hagio's The November Gymnasium (1971). Takemiya, Hagio, Toshie Kihara , Ryoko Yamagishi , and Kaoru Kurimoto were among
18683-486: The genre—when a character claims that he is 'not gay, but just in love with a man'—has both homophobic (or modern ) temporal undertones but also non-identitarian (postmodern) ones." In 2019, BL manga magazine editors have stated that stories where a man is concerned about coming out as gay have become uncommon and the trope can be seen as outdated if used as a source of conflict between the characters. Eroticized depictions of rape are often associated with BL. Anal sex
18840-768: The impulses or acts are limited to incest , and if the attraction is "exclusive" or "nonexclusive". The ICD-11 defines pedophilic disorder as a "sustained, focused, and intense pattern of sexual arousal—as manifested by persistent sexual thoughts, fantasies, urges, or behaviours—involving pre-pubertal children." It also states that for a diagnosis of pedophilic disorder, "the individual must have acted on these thoughts, fantasies or urges or be markedly distressed by them. This diagnosis does not apply to sexual behaviours among pre- or post-pubertal children with peers who are close in age." Several terms have been used to distinguish "true pedophiles" from non-pedophilic and non-exclusive offenders, or to distinguish among types of offenders on
18997-473: The late 1950s, which sought to use manga to tell serious and grounded stories aimed at adult audiences. Gekiga inspired the creation of manga that depicted realistic human relationships, and opened the way for manga that explored human sexuality in a non-pornographic context. Hideko Mizuno 's 1969 shōjo manga (girls' comics) series Fire! (1969–1971), which eroticized its male protagonists and depicted male homosexuality in American rock and roll culture,
19154-656: The late 1990s as danmei (the Mandarin reading of the Japanese term tanbi ), state regulations in China made it difficult for danmei writers to publish their works online, with a 2009 ordinance by the National Publishing Administration of China banning most danmei online fiction. In 2015, laws prohibiting depictions of same-sex relationships in television and film were implemented in China. The growth in streaming service providers in
19311-483: The likelihood of being pedophilic. Some studies have found that pedophiles are less cognitively impaired than non-pedophilic child molesters. A 2011 study reported that pedophilic child molesters had deficits in response inhibition, but no deficits in memory or cognitive flexibility. Evidence of familial transmittability "suggests, but does not prove that genetic factors are responsible" for the development of pedophilia. A 2015 study indicated that pedophilic offenders have
19468-508: The likelihood of sexual offenses against children. Its content varies widely between therapists, but a typical program might involve training in self-control, social competence and empathy, and use cognitive restructuring to change views on sex with children. The most common form of this therapy is relapse prevention , where the patient is taught to identify and respond to potentially risky situations based on principles used for treating addictions. The evidence for cognitive behavioral therapy
19625-521: The manga artist group Clamp began as an amateur dōjinshi circle creating yaoi works based on Saint Seiya , while Kodaka Kazuma and Fumi Yoshinaga have produced dōjinshi concurrently with professionally-published works. Many publishing companies review BL dōjinshi to recruit talented amateurs; this practice has led to careers in mainstream manga for Youka Nitta , Shungiku Nakamura , and others. Typically, BL dōjinshi feature male-male pairings from non-romantic manga and anime. Much of
19782-544: The material derives from male-oriented shōnen and seinen works, which contain close male-male friendships perceived by fans to imply elements of homoeroticism , such as with Captain Tsubasa and Saint Seiya , two titles which popularized yaoi in the 1980s. Weekly Shonen Jump is known to have a large female readership who engage in BL readings; publishers of shōnen manga may create "homoerotic-themed" merchandise as fan service to their BL fans. BL fans may " ship " any male-male pairing, sometimes pairing off
19939-429: The most influential yaoi manga magazines of this era. The manga in these magazines were influenced by realist stories like Banana Fish , and moved away from the shōnen-ai standards of the 1970s and 1980s. Shōnen-ai works that were published during this period were typically comedies rather than melodramas, such as Gravitation (1996–2002) by Maki Murakami . Consequently, yaoi and "boys' love" (BL) came to be
20096-549: The most popular terms to describe works depicting male-male romance, eclipsing shōnen-ai and June . An increasing proportion of shōjo manga in the 1990s began to integrate yaoi elements into their plots. The manga artist group Clamp , which itself began as a group creating yaoi dōjinshi , published multiple works containing yaoi elements during this period, such as RG Veda (1990–1995), Tokyo Babylon (1991–1994), and Cardcaptor Sakura (1996–2000). When these works were released in North America, they were among
20253-468: The most significant shōnen-ai artists of this era; notable works include The Heart of Thomas (1974–1975) by Hagio and Kaze to Ki no Uta (1976-1984) by Takemiya. Works by these artists typically featured tragic romances between androgynous bishōnen in historic European settings. Though these works were nominally aimed at an audience of adolescent girls and young women, they also attracted adult gay and lesbian readers. During this same period,
20410-407: The new genre, including shōnen-ai ( 少年愛 , lit. "boy love") , tanbi ( 耽美 , lit. "aesthete" or "aesthetic") , and June ( ジュネ , [dʑɯne] ) . The term yaoi ( / ˈ j aʊ i / YOW -ee ; Japanese : やおい [jaꜜo.i] ) emerged as a name for the genre in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the context of dōjinshi ( self-published works) culture as
20567-462: The perception that rape is almost ubiquitous in BL/ yaoi ." Tragic narratives that focused on the suffering of the protagonists were popular early June stories, particularly stories that ended in one or both members of the central couple dying from suicide . By the mid-1990s, happy endings were more common; when tragic endings are shown, the cause is typically not an interpersonal conflict between
20724-480: The personification of countries in Hetalia: Axis Powers ) or complementary objects like salt and pepper . In Japan, the labeling of BL dōjinshi is typically composed of the two lead characters' names, separated by a multiplication sign , with the seme being first and the uke being second. Outside of Japan, the 2000 broadcast of Mobile Suit Gundam Wing in North America on Cartoon Network
20881-408: The power imbalance inherent in all adult–child relationships. Other cognitive distortions include the idea of "children as sexual beings", uncontrollability of sexual behavior, and "sexual entitlement-bias". Consumption of child pornography is a more reliable indicator of pedophilia than molesting a child, although some non-pedophiles also view child pornography. Child pornography may be used for
21038-409: The prenatal environment predispose a male to develop both affective disorders and pedophilia, or do the frustration, danger, and isolation engendered by unacceptable sexual desires—or their occasional furtive satisfaction—lead to anxiety and despair?" They indicated that, because they previously found mothers of pedophiles to be more likely to have undergone psychiatric treatment, the genetic possibility
21195-401: The presence of prepubescent children, or both. Non-exclusive offenders—or "non-exclusive pedophiles"—may at times be referred to as non-pedophilic offenders, but the two terms are not always synonymous. Non-exclusive offenders are sexually attracted to both children and adults, and can be sexually aroused by both, though a sexual preference for one over the other in this case may also exist. If
21352-458: The presence of rape in BL media made them uncomfortable, as the majority of respondents could distinguish between the "fantasy, genre-driven rape" of BL and rape as a crime in reality. This "surprisingly high tolerance" for depictions of rape is contextualized by a content analysis , which found that just 13 percent of all original Japanese BL available commercially in English contains depictions of rape. These findings are argued as "possibly belying
21509-467: The purity of the leads' love. Rachel Thorn has suggested that as BL is primarily a romance genre, its readers may be turned off by political themes such as homophobia. BL author Makoto Tateno expressed skepticism that realistic depictions of gay men's lives would become common in BL "because girls like fiction more than realism". Alan Williams argues that the lack of a gay identity in BL is due to BL being postmodern , stating that "a common utterance in
21666-476: The research is of poor quality and that it is difficult to draw any firm conclusion from it. While not causes of pedophilia themselves, childhood abuse by adults or comorbid psychiatric illnesses—such as personality disorders and substance abuse —are risk factors for acting on pedophilic urges. Blanchard, Cantor, and Robichaud addressed comorbid psychiatric illnesses that, "The theoretical implications are not so clear. Do particular genes or noxious factors in
21823-428: The roles are sometimes referred to as osoi uke ( 襲い受け , "attacking uke ") and hetare seme ( ヘタレ攻め , "wimpy seme ") . Historically, female characters had minor roles in BL, or were absent altogether. Suzuki notes that mothers in particular are often portrayed in a negative light; she suggests this is because the character and reader alike are seeking to substitute the absence of unconditional maternal love with
21980-490: The roles of seme , the sexual top or active pursuer, and uke , the sexual bottom or passive pursued. BL has a robust global presence, having spread since the 1990s through international licensing and distribution, as well as through unlicensed circulation of works by BL fans online. BL works, culture, and fandom have been studied and discussed by scholars and journalists worldwide. Multiple terms exist to describe Japanese and Japanese-influenced male-male romance fiction as
22137-479: The sales of yaoi manga in the United States at approximately US$ 6 million in 2007. Marketing was significant in the transnational travel of BL from Japan to the United States, and led to BL to attract a following of LGBTQ fans in the United States. The 1994 original video animation adaptation of Kizuna: Bonds of Love was distributed by Ariztical Entertainment, which specializes in LGBT cinema and marketed
22294-406: The samurai archetype is responsible for age differences and hierarchical variations in power of some relationships portrayed in BL. The seme is often depicted as restrained, physically powerful, and protective; he is generally older and taller, with a stronger chin, shorter hair, smaller eyes, and a more stereotypically masculine and " macho " demeanour than the uke . The seme usually pursues
22451-567: The specific treatment outcome for pedophiles. Many do not select their treatment and control groups randomly . Offenders who refuse or quit treatment are at higher risk of offending, so excluding them from the treated group, while not excluding those who would have refused or quit from the control group, can bias the treated group in favor of those with lower recidivism. The effectiveness of treatment for non-offending pedophiles has not been studied. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) aims to reduce attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that may increase
22608-464: The subsequent DSM-II listed the disorder as one subtype of the classification "Sexual Deviation", but no diagnostic criteria were provided. The DSM-III, published in 1980, contained a full description of the disorder and provided a set of guidelines for diagnosis. The revision in 1987, the DSM-III-R, kept the description largely the same, but updated and expanded the diagnostic criteria. Pedophilia
22765-413: The term "American yaoi " fell out of use and was replaced by terms like "original English language yaoi ", "global yaoi ", and "global BL". The majority of publishers creating original English-language yaoi manga are now defunct, including Yaoi Press , DramaQueen , and Iris Print. Digital Manga Publishing last published original English-language yaoi manga in 2012; outside of
22922-507: The term appears in a section titled "Violation of Individuals Under the Age of Fourteen", which focuses on the forensic psychiatry aspect of child sexual offenders in general. Krafft-Ebing describes several typologies of offender, dividing them into psychopathological and non-psychopathological origins, and hypothesizes several apparent causal factors that may lead to the sexual abuse of children. Krafft-Ebing mentioned paedophilia erotica in
23079-632: The title as "the first gay male anime to be released on DVD in the US." The film was reviewed in the American LGBT magazine The Advocate , which compared the film to gay art house cinema . A large portion of Western fans choose to pirate BL material because they are unable or unwilling to obtain it through sanctioned methods. Scanlations and other fan translation efforts of both commercially published Japanese works and amateur dojinshi are common. When yaoi initially gained popularity in
23236-524: The topic in his 1905 book Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality , in a section titled The Sexually immature and Animals as Sexual objects. He wrote that exclusive pedophilia was rare and only occasionally were prepubescent children exclusive objects. He wrote that they usually were the subject of desire when a weak person "makes use of such substitutes" or when an uncontrollable instinct which will not allow delay seeks immediate gratification and cannot find
23393-428: The true number of female pedophiles. No cure for pedophilia has been developed, but there are therapies that can reduce the incidence of a person committing child sexual abuse. The exact causes of pedophilia have not been conclusively established. Some studies of pedophilia in child sex offenders have correlated it with various neurological abnormalities and psychological pathologies. The word pedophilia comes from
23550-468: The two philias. In addition to hebephilia, some clinicians have proposed other categories that are somewhat or completely distinguished from pedophilia; these include pedohebephilia (a combination of pedophilia and hebephilia) and ephebophilia (though ephebophilia is not considered pathological). Pedophilia emerges before or during puberty, and is stable over time. It is self-discovered, not chosen. For these reasons, pedophilia has been described as
23707-462: The use of a caste system. In 2003, 3.8% of weekly Japanese manga magazines were dedicated exclusively to BL. Notable ongoing and defunct magazines include Magazine Be × Boy , June , Craft , Chara , Dear+ , Opera , Ciel [ ja ] , and Gush . Several of these magazines were established as companion publications to shōjo manga magazines, as they include material considered too explicit for an all-ages audience; Ciel
23864-572: The vast majority of sexual crimes committed against children. Among convicted offenders, 0.4% to 4% are female, and one literature review estimates that the ratio of male-to-female child molesters is 10 to 1. The true number of female child molesters may be underrepresented by available estimates, for reasons including a "societal tendency to dismiss the negative impact of sexual relationships between young boys and adult women, as well as women's greater access to very young children who cannot report their abuse", among other explanations. The term pedophile
24021-446: Was established as a companion to Monthly Asuka , while Dear+ was established as a companion to Wings . A 2008 assessment estimated that the Japanese commercial BL market grossed approximately ¥12 billion annually, with novel sales generating ¥250 million per month, manga generating ¥400 million per month, CDs generating ¥180 million per month, and video games generating ¥160 million per month. A 2010 report estimated that
24178-486: Was implemented. The American Psychiatric Association stated that "[i]n the case of pedophilic disorder, the notable detail is what wasn't revised in the new manual. Although proposals were discussed throughout the DSM-5 development process, diagnostic criteria ultimately remained the same as in DSM-IV TR" and that "[o]nly the disorder name will be changed from pedophilia to pedophilic disorder to maintain consistency with
24335-427: Was preferentially used by American manga publishers for works of this kind due to the belief that the term "boys' love" carries the implication of pedophilia . In Japan, yaoi is used to denote dōjinshi and works that focus on sex scenes. In all usages, yaoi and boys' love excludes gay manga ( bara ) , a genre which also depicts gay male sexual relationships, but is written for and mostly by gay men. In
24492-456: Was such that the term June-mono or more simply June began to compete with the term shōnen-ai to describe works depicting male homosexuality. By the late 1980s, the popularity of professionally published shōnen-ai was declining, and yaoi published as dōjinshi was becoming more popular. Mainstream shōnen manga with Japanese settings such as Captain Tsubasa became popular source material for derivative works by yaoi creators, and
24649-558: Was used to lower sex drive by reducing testosterone. The emergence of pharmacological methods of adjusting testosterone has made it largely obsolete, because they are similarly effective and less invasive. It is still occasionally performed in Germany, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, and a few U.S. states. Non-randomized studies have reported that surgical castration reduces recidivism in contact sex offenders. The Association for
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