Modern fandom owes most of what it has to yaoi of the past. Think about the great ships of the past: Kirk and Spock. Holmes and Watson. Naruto and Sasuke. The literary tradition and fandom culture owes so much to Yaoi.

 

You’re putting words in my mouth, and as a yaoi fan, I typically prefer the idea of other things in my mouth. Yaoi is a rejection of our patriarchal society as well; it allows men to show emotion and have meaningful relationships with other men, which our patriarchal culture also discourages.

 Well, if we’re going back to Ancient Greece, what about the Athenian femboys? What about Spartan women dressing as men to attract their husbands? What about, idk, Achilles and Patroclus? And whatever the fuck was going on with all their gods.

Wait, you’re not talking about yuri anymore, you’re just talking about women.

So much “literature” in a patriarchal society focuses on men. You’re just going for the low hanging fruit. Yuri is more intellectual. It explores the depth of women’s relationships which are so often overlooked in a male dominated society and rejects the need for men in a relationship




Ok, fine, they’re both subversive, but Yuri goes further back than what you just mentioned. Yuri has a long and illustrious history. The term “sapphic” comes from Sappho in Ancient Greece, a famous queer poet.



Yeah, Ancient Greece was gay, but going even further back to many of the oldest traditions and myths we have, they centre around a mother goddess. Women who exist completely independent of men, of the patriarchy, of yaoi. Your yaoi owes its existence to women.

Because I love women. If you prefer yaoi clearly you hate women.