Yaoi- Not a proper name?

[Citi-san]

I purchased a book called 'Anime Explosion' at the Freer + Sackler art gallery in D.C. (If you ever go there, I recommend the Freer + Sackler but that's besides the point now.), and in the 'Gay and Pseudo- Gay themes in anime' section, there was an interesting bit of information I found.

Shounen- Ai

An entire subgenre of manga and anime is devoted to romaticized gay male relationships. It goes by several names; the polite one is shounen ai (boy love). The genre is also known by the borrowed English words "boy love" or as "June", the name of a magazine that specializes in gay romance tails.
A lot of western fans have adopted another name: yaoi. This is sort of a shame, since yaoi is an acronym, and a rather insulting one at that. The word id derived from the phrase yama nashi, ochi nashi, imi nashi. Literally it means "Without climax, without resolution, without meaning," or, to put it another way, "No highs no lows, no point." This is not homophobic moralizing and is only partly an academic critique of a typically static plotline--
in this case, the underlying attitude is probably practical rather than moral or literary. In an earlier example of how a girl's first menstrual period is is rooted in an agrarians society's need to track cycles or fertility, and many other Japanese attitudes are still based on centuries spent close to the soil. Such a society would be impatient with a love that did not result anything productive, much less reproductive. Odd as it may seem in the west, stories of gay love are often directed at an audience of pubescent Japanese girls.

I'll stop typing there because I'm off topic already. Basically, what I was trying to say is--
Is Yaoi really a proper name for this type of manga/ anime in the west?
Or the genre in general?
What do you all think??
Discuss!!!>.>

(Article copied word for word from Anime Explosion by Mr. Patrick Drazen. Not mine.)  

[Zero_unit Kouya]

I've heard this before and at first I thought that maybe we shouldn't call it yaoi, but we as fans don't use it with the intention of insulting the genre so I don't think it should be a problem.  

[For-Chan Cookie]

puppyshipping_fan_of_doom

Is Yaoi really a proper name for this type of manga/ anime in the west?
Or the genre in general?
What do you all think??

Yea and no. Yaoi is not the proper name for the genre, in Japan. The most correct way to refer to the genre would be to call it Boy(s) Love or BL. The term yaoi was previously used to refer to smutty doujinshi, or doujinshi that was basically pointless outside of the naughty content. Thus many professional BL mangaka may actually get hurt or insulted when they are referred to as yaoi mangaka, because yaoi is like the tabloid of manga if you will.

When yaoi doujinshika began creating original works with hot man action, they wanted to distinguish it from yaoi and dubbed it June. June and BL are the same thing, June just happens to be an older term.

As for "shounen ai", that term came about to refer to some of the earliest titles that involved boys in love with other boys. Obviously, shounen ai means boy love. It referred to angsty romantic stories with young prepubescent boys. However, over time the term has come to mean something else. It is outdated in reference to the genre of boy love and instead refers to older people who have a little boy fetish. ***** really.

So the current term for hot man on man stories is Boy Love or BL. Japanese people use the English, thus differentiating it from shounen ai. Of course, many publishers and just about everybody else still clings to the word yaoi because that is how they first encountered the genre. To us it's yaoi, even if that's no longer, or rather never has been, the term that was actually used in Japan. It's hard to just flush something out of popular culture like that. Besides, is it really such a bad thing that we don't use the word exactly like the Japanese do? Language gets exchanged and highjacked all the time. I wouldn't worry too much about calling it the "wrong" thing. It's all a matter of how you look at it.  

[protecterofelements]

Zero_unit Kouya

I've heard this before and at first I thought that maybe we shouldn't call it yaoi, but we as fans don't use it with the intention of insulting the genre so I don't think it should be a problem.

me toi i really don't see a problem  

[malicer333]

I always thought that shonen-ai was used for boy and boy love but it wasn't graphic. Yaoi seemed to be always associated with more graphic or explicit stories.

As for the history of the name, a lot of stuff (art movements, music genres, etc.) gained their name from "critics" or basically polite insults. Like the impressionist period in art and progressive metal. (* knowledge gained from another person, I did not research it or anything.) So this is probably one of those cases.  

[Tsuki Nushi]

So many people already use the term, even if we decide not to use it, I don't think it will make a difference. People will always call it yaoi.  

[Kalloway]

1. You're quoting a fairly old book, which is all well and good but usage has changed quite a bit since that book was published. Since its release, yaoi manga has become a staple in bookstores while proudly embracing the term.

2. Seriously, 'boys love' is a great term but it doesn't make the jump in translation. That is, um, mundanes just think you're a candidate for NAMBLA (do not google it if you don't know what it is) or something.  

[milkymosaic]

Gah, who cares what they say? I think that "yama nashi, ochi nashi, imi nashi" is more about how the genre is so good it doesn't even need that kind of stuff to be great! Think about it; if there's really "no point" then why is it so popular? They need to lighten up and go with the flow more! To my friends and I, yaoi is the name of an old friend and changing it for something more (for lack of a better term) "politically correct" would just be blasphemy. In short, do what's right to you, and don't listen to what people try to preach. (<--lol, hyprocrit and loving it. also cannot spell. XP)  

[Scatterheart]

For-Chan Cookie

Besides, is it really such a bad thing that we don't use the word exactly like the Japanese do? Language gets exchanged and highjacked all the time.

True, very true.
English has already stolen and mangled a lot of words from other languages, and most people don't care about those.

I tend to follow the lead whoever I'm dealing with when it comes to terminology.
If they like using the term yaoi, then I'm fine with it.
If they're a terminology nazi - well, I can deal with that, too.  

[Your_Gaurdian_Angel92]

Tsuki Nushi

So many people already use the term, even if we decide not to use it, I don't think it will make a difference. People will always call it yaoi.

I have to agree. No matter what there will always be somebody who will still call it yaoi.  

[Chat_God]

Well, no matter how accurate or inaccurate the information from the book, I just want to point out that different words will invariably have different meanings depending on what culture you're visiting.

Go to America and a f** is a gay person. In England, it's a cigarette. Likewise, words like Yaoi and Otaku may carry negative meanings in Japan,but be embraced in a more positive light in America. It's not so much about what's 'proper' but rather what's culturally appropriate.  

[KiwiShaver]

Chat_God

Well, no matter how accurate or inaccurate the information from the book, I just want to point out that different words will invariably have different meanings depending on what culture you're visiting.

Go to America and a f** is a gay person. In England, it's a cigarette. Likewise, words like Yaoi and Otaku may carry negative meanings in Japan,but be embraced in a more positive light in America. It's not so much about what's 'proper' but rather what's culturally appropriate.

3nodding  

[Enzai Sebby3]

Since the word "yaoi" has become a popular generalization,it doesnt really matter to me that much 3nodding
But we all have to be reminded of the specifics sometimes i guess lol.  

[Takahata San]

It's mostly from when it genre began, the stories really didn't have a meaning to them, it was mostly about sex and that's it, without climax, without resolution, without resolution, meaning no plot. Nowaday's it's for that the more adult aspects of the genre, meaning it contains more sex and adult content, and shounen ai (boys love) is the lighter side. Plus it's a fitting name because if said right it sounds like yowwie, meaning that's got to hurt in the butt.
Then the west picked up the name yaoi for in the same way as the picked up yuri for the girl/girl adult relations and yuri has nothing to do with the shoujo ai genre. So just think of as America bastardizing a good thing like yuri which mean flower or something like that.
Plus there is a big thing about the history of yaoi and the exact reason why they use yama nashi, oche nashi, imi nashi for this genre and not just stuck with shounen ai and BL.  

[Magegirl Nino]

Ok so we have "yama nashi, ochi nashi, imi nashi" And we get Yaoi. I know nothing about the language... But technically the acronym leaves out the "without" the "Nashi" right? o.0 So isn't it really yama ochi imi? ::Confused::

::Silly::
::Totally random::