Naughty Girls and Gay Male Romance/Porn: Slash Fiction, Boys’ Love Manga, and Other Works by Female “Cross-Voyeurs” in the U.S. Academic Discourses

Table of Contents

• Introduction: John Donne and “American Girl-on-girl Action\" vs. the Strange Case of Female \"Cross-voyeurs\"
• Theoretical Framework: Queer Theory Meets Feminism Meets Foucauldian Discourse Analysis
• A \"Deliberately Disruptive\" Challenge to Heterosexism: Queer Theory and Its Key Concepts
• Troubling Gender & Sexuality: Judith Butler “in the Interstices” of Feminist and Queer Theory
• Technologies of Power/Knowledge: Using Foucauldian Discourse Analysis
• \"Cross-writing\" Female Novelists under Scrutiny: Mary Renault & Co. in the U.S. Academic Discourses (1969 – Today)
• Gay Male Fiction by Women - An Inventory
• From Victims of \"Misfortune” to “Fag Hags” and the “New Couple”: Speaking about (Heterosexual) Women and Gay Men since 1969
• About the Three Ways to Conceptualize Your \"Faghagging\" Novelist: Interpretations of \"Cross-Writing\" Women and Their Works in U.S. Academia
• The (Heterosexual) Woman as Empathic Outsider and Mediator - Mary Renault and Patricia Nell Warren in Traditional Literary Criticism around 1970
• About \"Fag Hags\" on \"Power Trips\" and Their Fake \"Ersatz Works\" - Bradley & Co. in the Writings of Gay Male Intellectuals and Academics since the 1970s
• The Feminist and the Lesbian \"Factor”: Interpreting Mary Renault & Marguerite Yourcenar from a Third Point of View in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s
• Heresies, Girlfags, and \"Faghagging\" Novelists - A Conclusion Regarding the \"Do's and Don'ts\" of the Academic Discourse(s) about Renault & Co.
• Female \"Cross-readers”: Talking about \"Textual Poachers” and Slash Fiction in American Fan Fiction Studies since the 1980s
• Snape and Harry Sitting in a Tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G: Defining the Genre of Slash Fiction
• A Fateful Encounter: Feminist Theory and Media Studies Meet Slash Fiction – The Beginnings of an Academic Debate (1985-1992)
• \"Pornography by Women for Women, with Love\": The Pornography Wars, Joanna Russ, Patricia Frazer Lamb, Diana Veith, and K/S Fiction in the 1980s
• The \"Guerilla Tactics\" of \"Textual Poachers\": Slash Fiction Fandom Meets Media Studies Henry Jenkins, Constance Penley, and Camille Bacon-Smith (1988-1992)
• \"Let's Talk about Slash, Baby.\" Characteristics of an Academic Debate (1985-Today)
• Shrieking Teens, Divorced Housewives, and Their Mediocre Fiction: Slash Writers/Readers as the \"Other\" Fans in Scholarly Accounts
• Women's \"All-too-often Purple (Gay) Prose\" - Genre and Gender Essentialism in the Academic Discourse about Slash Fiction
• Subversive/Queer Pleasures? Explaining \"Normal Female Interest in Men Bonking”
• A Tale of Two Academic Discourses: Slash Fiction Fans versus \"Cross-writing\" Novelists
• Boys' Love for Women, Made in Japan: Yaoi and Shounen-ai Manga in the U.S. Academic Discourse (1983-2011)
• Beautiful Men and “Rotten Girls”: Boys' Love Manga in Japan and the USA
• Female \"Cross-voyeurism,” an Intrinsically Japanese Phenomenon? Yaoi and Shounen-ai in U.S. Scholarly Accounts since 1983
• Robots, Samurai, and Pokémon: North America, Japan, and (Techno-) Orientalism
• The Threat of \"Tentacle Rape\" and Those Poor, Oppressed Geishas: The Portrayal of BL as a Medium of Empowerment for Japanese Women
• Queer Japan: Conceptualizing a \"Strange\" Sexual Culture, or the Benefits of Exoticism
• An Exciting “Import” and Its American Counterpart - Discussing Boys' Love and Slash Fiction in the U.S. Academic Discourses

Objectives and Key Themes

This thesis aims to analyze the academic discourses in the United States concerning the reception and production of homoerotic media texts by women, specifically focusing on “cross-voyeurism” - women who consume or produce media about gay men. The analysis will utilize theoretical frameworks from queer theory, feminism, and Foucauldian discourse analysis. Key themes explored in the thesis include:

• The normalization of male “cross-voyeurism” in U.S. popular and academic culture.
• The persistent categorization of female “cross-voyeurism” as abnormal or deviant.
• The various interpretations of “cross-writing” women and their works, including the perspectives of traditional literary criticism, gay male intellectuals, and feminists.
• The evolution of academic discourse on slash fiction and its relationship to feminist theory and media studies.
• The unique case of yaoi and shounen-ai manga and the intersection of gender, sexuality, and cultural stereotypes in its U.S. academic reception.

Chapter Summaries

• The introductory chapter examines the naturalization of male “cross-voyeurism” and the subsequent categorization of female “cross-voyeurism” as deviant. It uses the example of the sitcom Friends to illustrate how straight male interest in “lesbian” pornography is accepted as normal, while female interest in male homosexuality remains a subject of fascination and scrutiny.
• Chapter 2 introduces the theoretical frameworks that underpin the analysis, including queer theory, feminism, and Foucauldian discourse analysis. It explores key concepts such as the challenge to heteronormativity, the intersection of gender and sexuality, and the role of power and knowledge in shaping discourse.
• Chapter 3 examines the U.S. academic discourse on “cross-writing” women who produce gay male fiction. It analyzes the interpretations of authors like Mary Renault and Patricia Nell Warren through different scholarly lenses, including traditional literary criticism, gay male intellectualism, and feminist perspectives.
• Chapter 4 focuses on the development of academic discourse on slash fiction, a genre primarily written and consumed by women. It traces the evolution of this field, highlighting the influence of feminist theory and media studies, and the tensions surrounding gender, genre, and sexual pleasure.
• Chapter 5 explores the reception of yaoi and shounen-ai manga in the U.S. academic discourse. It examines how these forms of Japanese boys' love fiction are often viewed through the lens of cultural stereotypes and the complexities of “cross-voyeurism” in a globalized context.

Keywords

The key terms and focus topics of this thesis include female “cross-voyeurism,” queer theory, feminism, Foucauldian discourse analysis, gay male fiction, slash fiction, yaoi, shounen-ai, gender, sexuality, cultural stereotypes, and academic discourse. These terms collectively encapsulate the primary themes and research foci of the thesis, exploring the intricacies of sexual and cultural expressions through the lens of various theoretical perspectives.