week 8

I remember being middle school and learning what Yaoi was from girls at the lunch table. I did not really understand the appeal and was even more confused going into high school and seeing more and more straight girls fetishizing Yaoi stories that were just plain abusive relationships. I remember hunting for Yuri manga or anime and always being so disappointed. I was too young to understand that these queer mangas were not written/ made for, or by, queer people. Finding LGBT manga that was quality was just impossible. Hell, I remember watching Ouran High School Host Club and being so star struck by a genderfluid main character, just going through weird high school shenanigans, I was not even processing the yaoi implications (to be fair I was also around 13). Princess Jellyfish was another gender exploration story I just could not get enough of but also did not understand the social stigmas within it until later, and was really educated on Japans history of erasing/fetishizing queer people. I still don't get the hype behind unrealistic/abusive yaoi/yuri or gender-exploring anime in people today and why its still so popular/acceptable?
My Lesbian Experience with loneliness really is something that stands out against almost anything I've read. I don't relate to it much, but it's refreshing to see such a narrative that talks about these issues, even when the truth of it is depressing. Japan needs more stories like MLEL, and I'm happy that the creator is creating more and that the fan base is going strong.