Representation of Male Love in East Asia and West: “Fetish vs Activism”

Alice Oseman, the author of an LGBTQ+ young adult graphic novel that focuses on the lives and romance of two boys, has made a comment that caused some controversy on the internet. This comment by Oseman illustrates a somewhat common view held by Western society toward East Asian Boys Love (BL) genre. That is: BL novels and webcomics being highly sexual, fetish works with little literary value. This research note tries to analyze what could be the reason behind this commonly held view by the West, illustrated by Oseman’s comment through analyzing BL genre, Oseman’s work Heartstopper, the differences and tendencies within the works from East Asia, China specifically, and the West.