Fudanshi (“Rotten Boys”) in Asia: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Male Readings of BL and Concepts of Masculinity

Abstract

This chapter delineates the characteristics of fudanshi (“rotten boys,” male fan of BL) in other Asian countries, including Japan, the Philippines, mainland China and South Korea. The primary thematic question which this study attempts to explore is whether or not the kind of “soft” masculinity exemplified by Japanese fudanshi is also seen in other Asian sociocultural contexts. This cross-cultural analysis is further enhanced by an examination of the ways in which fujoshi (“rotten girls,” female fan of BL) communicate with fudanshi, as well as by a consideration of how fujoshi in other Asian countries respond to the desire of fudanshi to access (and appropriate) the space within a specifically female-oriented cultural sphere.