FEATURE: Japanese 'boy-love' comics a hit among Thais.
BANGKOK, Aug. 31 KyodoIt would be nearly impossible to find a Thai child or even an adult in Bangkok who has never read Japanese ''manga,'' or comic books, which have been available in Thailand for decades.
Stories about superheroes like Ultraman were a big hit many years ago. The trend has developed to girls' comics on simple love stories and friendships.
These days there are various stories about robots, fighting and detectives popular among different groups of readers. Many love stories now feature revealing sex scenes.
The Japanese ''boy-love'' comic, however, is a new type of story first launched in the Thai market around a decade ago but only acquiring a loyal readership in the past few years. The trend is growing as the new genre gains acceptance, with publishers releasing over five stories per week when demand surges.
The boy-love comic is a homoerotic love story similar to typical romance stories only that both characters are gay, with one of them likely to have feminine traits. But some stories focus more on the lives of gays, how they seek out love and are discriminated against by society.
Like many other Japanese manga, a lot of boy-love comics contain erotic love scenes, which some showing the characters kissing, having sexual intercourse and oral sex.
In Thailand, more than 80% of readers are teenage girls and women in their early 20s, while the rest are gays.
''Most boy-love comics are targeted at girls, probably because girls like cute guys and such stories are full of cute guys,'' said Winitra Nualla-ong, a newspaper columnist specializing in cartoons and comics.
''Moreover, girls in their teens may be eager to see love scenes in cartoon books. They may be embarrassed to purchase comics about boys and girls, so they buy boy-love comics instead,'' she said.
Most of the boy-love cartoons are not copyrighted as publishers fear being arrested over their sensitive content, according to one publisher who requested anonymity.
Kaimook Joonlalai, a comic book shop owner, said she sells between 30 to 50 boy-love comics a day.
Nok, 17, said she started reading boy-love comics a few years ago after becoming bored with typical heterosexual romance comics, which she said are too repetitive and saccharine.
''I don't think there's anything wrong with us reading boy-love comics. They're fun, mysterious and have beautiful drawings. It doesn't mean that we have to become gays or lesbians too. I also think it's good because it makes me feel that I can better accept homosexuals and see them as a part of society,'' Nok said.
However, Pang, a 34-year-old civil servant, said the boy-love stories are not appropriate for young people as they may lead to gender confusion.
''At first, I opposed such stories. I think the readers should be mature enough to read such stories. But there are many types of boy-love comics, and we should not ban well-written ones,'' Pang said.
Nuttorn Pityaratstian, a child psychiatrist at Bangkok's King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, said the popularity of the boy-love genre reflects society's growing acceptance of homosexual behavior.
''I think the number of homosexuals is the same as before. But because society is becoming more open we see the trend increasing,'' Nuttorn said.
He also played down fears that boy-love comics could turn heterosexual readers into gays.
''I don't think boy-love comics themselves could make people change their sexual preferences. It takes many factors for that and print media is only one of them. Also, we believe hormones and genes play a major role in determining whether people become homosexuals,'' Nuttorn said.
''Such comics may even encourage people or teenagers who tend to have such hormones or genes to feel more free and comfortable to express themselves,'' he said.
However, Nuttorn warned that any cartoons, not just those that depict gay love, that contain hard-core love scenes are not appropriate for children and teenagers.
''They urge young people to experience sexual acts before the appropriate time or imitate such behavior, resulting in social problems such as sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy or rapes,'' he said.
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| Publication: | Asian Economic News |
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| Date: | Sep 3, 2001 |
| Words: | 677 |
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