fujo as a young kid, became trans bc i identify with males more in stories than women. i recognize the potential for fetishization when ladies don't want to read anything else like
@amerie said. it's a demographic of cis women reading gay stories written by other cis women, often placing the top in a traditionally "male" role and the bottom as their wish fulfillment "submissive" role, feminine but not a girl. the popularity of twinks and feminine men are a good example of what draws fujos in, a man with andrognyous or girly features, rather than a man with body hair or muscles. the same body standards of a woman. the quantity of yaoi drawn by cis women is honestly astonishing. i don't have a strictly negative view on fujos because i recognize the thought patterns that lead to girls wanting to look at guy on guy porn. i held internal misogyny towards myself, since i generally hated being a woman and couldn't relate to the generic female experience in typical shoujo or josei romances. i feel like fujos can also come from a strict or religious family that make gay men (gay sex by extension) a paraphilia for them that they eventually grow out of, because it's taboo but also strictly a fantasy. this can also tie into the popularity of age gap romances for young girls, because they don't realize the implications of a real life older man wanting to date them.
"According to the results of her qualitative research, ten distinct motive dimensions could be identified. The first, "Pure" love without gender dimension refers to a motive to view/read romantic contents in which gender differences are not present. The Pro-gay attitude/forbidden & transgressive love dimension represents a motive to view/read materials that portray a positive picture of homosexual men. Identification/self-analysis refers to yaoi viewers' and readers' motive to better understand their own feelings and dilemmas. The Melodramatic/emotional elements dimension represents a motive to experience intense emotions. Dislike for standard romances/shoujo reflects a motive to avoid heterosexual romance stories (e.g., shoujo) due to their often one-dimensional female characters and 'boring' narratives. A female-oriented romantic/erotic genre dimension refers to a motive to consume yaoi because it caters to women's narrative preferences. Pure escapism/lack of reality reflects a motive to escape daily life. Art and aesthetics represents a motive to view/read yaoi for its distinctive graphic style. The Pure entertainment dimension refers to a motive of seeking relaxation and entertainment. Finally, Arousing/sexually titillating reflects a motive of seeking sexually arousing content."
here's a paper I found after googling why girls like BLs more, to see what other people's responses were. yaoi and yuri are very popular the opposite sexes, as well as the same sexes. i do find myself making jokes about yaoi and yuri, but the popularization of consuming gay content in the 2000s may be a factor of why there's suddenly so much discussion about it online. fujos are still a relatively niche community, so it's easy to have an outsider's perspective. i think that fetishizing, identity, and the way we connect to stories is complex, but there's also horny teen girls that are really into gay guys. i think it's really interesting to think about the ties between transitioning and consuming BL or GL, because i also know a trans girl who would read a lot of lesbian romances before coming to terms with her identity. a manga called "inside mari" covers the perversion of a man being attracted to the female body after switching bodies with a girl.
a south korean manhwa called "killing stalking" is an
infamous toxic yaoi comic that focuses on an abusive relationship between a masculine man and weak femme man, something i read back in high school with another fujo girl. i think the shock factor to young girls, as well as the adrenaline rush from reading a psychological horror/forced romance is a good blueprint for what makes a person interested in BL. the need for escapsim makes people seek out all kind of content, especially sexual.
