The Western BL Sex Scene!
There is no established template for the ’sex scene’ in terms of OEL/BL*. Why not?
*will now be called GloBL. GloBL = BL/Yaoi made outside of Japan, for western readers.
In Japan, BL editors will reject stories and art that aren’t tailored for women. Markets tend to be more clearly defined in the East and so in order to make the sale, it’s a no-brainer.
In the West, menslove creators aren’t always so lucky in terms of publishers, but we’re allowed more freedoms because the Western market is more diverse. As it stands, the North-American market for BL/Yaoi is dominated by the ‘purists’, who will only read manga with nice art and prefer stories that mimic the basic constructs of Japanese BL [1]. The rest of the BL market is made up of ’slash-fen’ [I hate using this word but I don't have a better one], female fans who think beautiful is ok, just as long as they look like ‘real lovely men’, rather than something from an Ozaki manga, or so hairy and buff it hurts. And last, but not least, there are the male-gay manga readers who love BL because it entertains them via a medium they’re familiar with [manga], and it’s not doing so on a purely in your face, pornographic level. After all, there’s more to being a Gay man than just the sex they have…why should the only manga they read about male on male, be just all about sex? [2]
That being said, rather than try to construct a guide to sex-scenes in menslove, let’s instead focus on the three main styles that permeate the English-language BL genre, and how each affects the ’sex scene’ as such:
SIDE NOTE: It may seem to some, that me being displayed here in the samples may come off as ‘pimping’. Sorry, but I write for GloBL publishers who BUY my work, and until some of the other writers out there start doing the same, more than once, my ass is going to be mentioned in terms of GloBL creators and their samples…
1. The Traditional Japanese Style.
There are more than a few GloBL creators who cling to the old school Japanese style, the style that brought them to create ‘yaoi’ in the first place. The most prominent of the ‘Japan Stylists‘ are U.S.A.’s Yayoi Neko [3] and Spain’s Studio Kosen [4]. Yayoi Neko [art pictured above] even went so far as to have her debut manga bound on the right and reading right to left. 
Now looking at how her sexual scenes play out, she follows all the rules of the Japanese game-plan. Kosen [seen right] displays the same respect for the impossibly beautiful dynamic, complete with seme/uke archetypes. Each have a healthy fan following, with publishers that support their brilliant play on the standard Japanese pattern. They follow the rules of beauty first, plot second, and sex takes place whenever there’s a legitimate moment for it. Because the market is saturated with what is all ready ‘Japanese BL’ fans, many publishers will actively seek out this style from creators stateside, or license European or South American BL that reflects this look, in order to sell what they feel is authentic yaoi. This is ok with me, there’s nothing wrong with that, and I think all GloBL creators deserve a chance at publication, and it’s the ‘Traditional Japanese Stylists’ who’re going to open the doors to the paying markets.
2. The ‘It’s Not BL!‘ Style. Some creators just aren’t ‘pretty enough’ in the art or story-style, to please the fans of traditional Japanese BL. Though intended for female readers, the men look more like the hot waiter from the bistro, instead of the elite Gackt clone, from Yaoicon. The Not-BL works tend to display a decidedly Western viewpoint, and have massive appeal to female-fans who actively dislike the Japanese aesthetic; they even manage to sell to male gay BL fans, who may or may not be fond of a strictly female version of an ‘idealized’ man. No, not all Gay yaoi fans like muscle, excessive hairiness, and large penor; what draws some gay male manga fans to BL is also the bish-factor; however, they do tend to like their bishounen a bit more realistic and not so unattainable. Sex, therefore, can’t be such a cosmetic affair, and on that same note, it must be emotive. In terms of selling sex to the two different gender markets above, creators like Spubba The Mad [R. Jackson Flood][6] [above left] and Elegant Madness [Anderson/Monaco][5] [below] and are most notorious.
Creators of ‘Not-BL’ works are known for never obscuring the dangly-bits, yet each balances this show of explicitness, in their sex scenes, by showcasing the ‘men involved’ in the act; as opposed to just highlighting ‘the act itself’. Sex takes place between two men who are basically on the same level in terms of love and respect; even if they’re strangers, there’s always that awkward moment where someone needs to take the initiative and be ‘the bottom’. In Japanese BL this was unheard of, because there was always a standard Seme and Uke. If it was portrayed, it was put up as a story within itself. [SemexSeme, UkexUke, etc.] Another factor in the ‘Not-BL’ style boils down to the notion of climax. It isn’t always anally fixated. Hand-jobs, oral, armpit love, and frottage, count as ’scenes of love’, and it’s ok if men appear flaccid before or after a particular scene.
3. The Porridge that Goldilocks Chose! It doesn’t have a name really, it’s what some of us creators snarkily call, ‘Now That’s Hot!‘. The reason being is, at every given con where we’ve all sold books, we always encounter the Traditionalists who scour through the NOT-BL fare, and after making pontifications about why they don’t like it, they come upon the perfect hybrids and say, ‘Now That’s Hot!’. ^_^
There are those who sit comfortably in between, and surprisingly, they aren’t from the United States! Italy’s Laura ‘Zel’ Carboni[7] and Latina mangaka Lara Yokoshima[8], are two examples of how BL creators outside Japan can maintain the allure of the Japanese visual, and still be regarded as uniquely western. Yokoshima [work pictured above], makes the Japanese style an art form, but doesn’t go so far as to kanji SFX or insist her books be bound on the right, yet she isn’t considered an emulator because, though she borrows heavily from the Western story style,
she makes it her own by sticking to the rules of Japanese-BL in terms of sex play, so much so she even letters the sound effects for non-verbal cues such as, ‘rub-rub’, ‘lick’, ‘gasp’. Carboni [see right] is simply the Michelangelo of GloBL. There isn’t always ‘explicit sex’, even though there might be excessive nudity; and romance is king, even in the most salacious of scenes. For these types of creators, there’s no need to emulate or reject the Japan style because assimilating is just easier, if not more lucrative. Though varying upon the artists unique style, some yaoi fans may dislike more obvious ‘western’ style choices - idealized muscular men, still tend to turn off many Traditionalists.
In closing, when it comes to designing a sexual-guide for GloBL, there is no ‘flow chart’ of rules determining how a scene plays out. It’s as complicated as the budding market it’s trying to satisfy.
[1] The 1000 strong fanbase of Yaoi-Daily.
[2] Alex Woolfson, Yaoi911.com
[3] Weapon of Mass Destruction [c] 2006 Yayoi Neko. [English BL Publisher for Yayoi Neko: Kitty Media]
[4] Saihoshi The Guardian #1 [c] 2006 Studio Kosen and Yaoi Press LTD. [English BL Publisher for Kosen: Yaoi Press LTD.]
[5] Sven Goes Down [c] 2005 Orange Blossom Studio/R. Jackson Flood [Gay Publisher for Spubba: Class Comics]
[6] FUTZ #1 [c] 2005 Tina Anderson/Caroline Monaco [BL/Gay Publishers for Ms. Monaco: Iris Print and Class Comics.]
[7] Many Ways To Shoot A Man [c] 2006 Lara Carboni and Rory Pascual. [English BL Publishers for Ms. Carboni: Yaoi Press, DramaQueen LLC.]
[8] Loyal As A Dog [c] 2005 Lara Yokoshima [English BL Publisher for Ms. Yokoshima: DramaQueen LLC.]
