I think I cracked the code about modern Yuri fans (from otaku perspective)
So I made a great tweet a few weeks ago replying to someone about why EN yuri fans seem so hostile & act like drama queens over anything (context: himetwt got mad at someone’s shoujo rec list for not including yuri). And I THINK I cracked the code guys. I still can’t believe I managed to come up with this, but here’s my tweet:
Modern yuri fans nowadays aren't coming from Otaku space & not entrenched in otaku culture, in fact most modern himes comes from stantwt/kpoptwt which riddled w/ toxicity & flamewars add that radfem & performative activism into the mix. you'd get the most insecure community.
So yeah, as you can see, this explains a lot of modern EN yuri fan/hime behavior. Because their behavior is so similar to K-pop stans & stan culture, not otaku culture. I’m not saying otaku culture doesn’t have toxicity, it does, but it’s framed really differently. For example, the whole Yuri vs BL thing? Basically nonexistent in JP otaku space. If it shows up in EN, it’s mostly a joke or pushed by annoying dudebros who just hate fujos.
These days you see himes LOVE picking fights with BL fans over nothing or dumb petty shit. And every time, it’s about “popularity” and “quantity” of fanworks. It always comes back to numbers and stats. That’s literally K-pop stan behavior: flamewars and fanbase fights over sales, streaming, charts, whatever.
In otaku spaces? You barely see that. Sure, someone might brag about sales, but it’s rare in BL & Yuri spaces. And even when toxic fujoshi/himes brag about numbers, it’s usually official sales charts, not fanwork counts. Like, I’ve never seen a fujoshi starting shit with another shipper over “fanwork quantity.” It’s usually “this ship is better” or “this ship sucks because A should be seme/uke,” etc.
The whole “being mad that their OTP didn’t make it into the top 3–5 on AO3” is… almost unheard of. But recently, especially after Covid, we’ve been seeing a lot of discourse about Yuri vs. BL, since BL content is way more popular than yuri. I get why people feel frustrated, trust me I’m a yuri fan myself, but blaming fujoshi for this is just bizarre. Why drag BL fans into this? They’re not the reason yuri gets less content—especially since they’re not even yuri fans to begin with. Yuri isn’t as popular for a bunch of reasons, but it’s NOT because women are making yaoi, I promise you that as a veteran otaku.
What really annoys me is how some people try to repackage this in “progressive” language, when we all know what it’s actually about: they’re just salty their ship is losing and doesn’t get much content. That’s why we see this lame “fujos vs. himes” war that only exists in EN spaces. You don’t see this in JP, KR, or CN female otaku spaces. In Japan, for example, tons of yuri doujinka want to attend SupaComi (dominated by fujoshi) because they feel comfortable there. In China, yuri fans support BL fans because both groups face scrutiny from a homophobic government censorship. And in Korea, female BL and yuri fans stand in solidarity because of the virulent misogyny in their country. But in EN spaces? You see yuri fans mad at BL fans because… yaoi dominates fanfic spaces??? Give me a break.
I’ve lived through Hetalia, KHR, Madoka, Danganronpa ship war days. Rarely did anyone bring up fanwork counts as a “gotcha.” Even back in the 2010s when yuri fandom was tiny, we never blamed fujos for lack of content, we knew that wasn’t the reason. Fujos are BL fans, so why the hell drag them?
And don’t even get me started on the radfem angle. Radfems have always infested lesbian spaces, pushing puritanical vibes that make it feel like a Catholic commune. Not as bad now, but the roots are still there. You see the same in K-pop where radfems dunk on boyband fangirls. And now they’ve dragged that garbage into animanga fandoms, acting like fujoshi are Agents of Patriarchy oppressing women by making yaoi.
What really concerns me is how younger himes treat fandom like shareholders do stocks. Always thinking in terms of “numbers” and “popularity.” That’s not healthy at all. Judging your OTP’s worth by how many fics or fanart it has? That's unheal. People need to unlearn this K-pop style number-obsession.
The solution is simple: make the content yourself. If you can’t write or draw, commission someone. If you can’t do that, make meta, manifestos, AMVs, form communities, etc. There are so many ways to show love and enthusiasm for your faves. It’s not pointless, people often get into new works through fan content. Personally, I got into Avemuji after seeing people’s analyses online, and into Uma after seeing my favorite artist draw tons of fanart for it. Trust me: anything is better than endlessly malding over fanfic numbers.
Maybe because I was always a rareshipper/minor chara fan, I’m more chill about lack of content. But even then, I never picked fights or blamed other fans for liking the popular stuff.
Honestly, this behavior really explains why modern English yuri fans are like this: they were never entrenched in otaku culture. They came from K-pop stan culture. And that behavior seeps into other problems, like the rhetoric of “women who like male characters are traitors to women and patriarchal benefactor.” It ruins actual discussions about internalized misogyny. I’ve written about this before & how young lesbian fandom behavior is eerily close to “gold star lesbianism,” with its purity culture: acting like lesbians must never be “tainted” by men.
Overall, with that kind of baggage infesting your fandom, it's no wonder the communities become insecure as hell.
That’s all. I don’t know if I articulated this perfectly, but I really hope things get better. And to any yuri fans out there who still think fujoshi are the enemy: please stop. Fujoshi aren’t your enemy. They aren’t the ones drawing corrective rape of yuri ships or enacting violence toward lesbians. They’re our sisters. We should direct our anger at the actual homophobic dudebros who harass both BL and yuri creators.
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