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PaperclipPerfector  6d ago (text post)   28163 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of May 5, 2025

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Fujoshi is an example but I rather doubt that it applies to Western hardcore stuff. The manga usually isn't (very) explicit; it's more about observing the emotional reactions you would want between two people you also find attractive, rather than self-inserting as the female in the fiction.

My understanding is that (until quite recently, maybe?) most straight women find bi guys a turnoff, so I wouldn't think they'd want to watch gay men either.

This gets complicated:

There is data out there, but it's pretty much trash quality. PornHub Insights (cw: no explicit images, but still a pornhub link) has some numbers, but they're filled with selection effect (who uses PH) after selection effect (who uses PH in non-incognito mode while pegging as a woman to google analytics?).

But there's clearly a sizable raw number, given the existence (and indeed prevalance) of fem-gaze-focused M/M in fandom and especially fanfiction spaces.

But a lot of women like the idea of gay or bi men, but don't actually want a bi guy in a relationship, either. I have absolutely met fujoshi that get the ick from guys who bottom, there's absolutely an expectation that bisexuals will be driven to cheat or are secretly gay and looking for a beard, concerns about disease or not-condoned infidelity, so on.

But that doesn't prevent them from liking it as an idea, or a comic, or whatever, and there's indeed a pretty wide variety of artists and especially writers that focus on that demographic.

And there are people for whom it's clearly a pretty strong kink.

fujoshi that get the ick from guys who bottom

Straight women get the ick from guys who enjoy the female/submissive role in a relationship and only enjoy romance fiction because they're self-inserting as the bottom (M/F or M/M, doesn't matter)? What a complete surprise, say it ain't so.

I would expect the 'bisexuals will be driven to cheat, etc.' concerns apply to both top and bottom, though for slightly different reasons for each (and believe it'd be a more salient concern with the bottoms simply due to how human instinct works)- for instance, tops driven to cheat more just because they're tops and have twice the opportunity.

especially fanfiction spaces.

Oof, how could I forget! I would think slash fiction is much bigger in the West.

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