Date of Award
11-21-2008
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Anthropology
First Advisor
Jennifer Patico - Chair
Second Advisor
Megan Sinnott
Third Advisor
Emanuela Guano
Abstract
In this thesis I argue that the yaoi community addresses a gap in subculture studies through the ways in which women use the genre to socialize. Yaoi is a genre of Japanese animation and comics which focuses on romantic relationships between two men and is directly geared towards women. Through ethnographic research in the United States, I look at how the women I interviewed conceptualize their participation within the community and what yaoi means to them. The women within the yaoi community are not rebelliously opposing the mainstream as many subcultural theories suggest, but are instead carving out a social space for themselves and others who have a distinct taste for the yaoi genre.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.57709/1059179
Recommended Citation
O'Brien, Amy Ann, "Boys' Love and Female Friendships: The Subculture of Yaoi as a Social Bond between Women." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2008.
doi: https://doi.org/10.57709/1059179