Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The International Yaoi Boys’ Love Fandom And The Regulation Of Virtual Child Pornography: Current Legislation And Its Implications, Mark J. Mclelland, S. Yoo

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

This article looks at current international legislation regulating child pornography, particularly at the category of virtual child pornography, or purely fictional images and textual representations of young people defined as “minors”. Current legislation has been drafted with adult male pedophiles in mind in an attempt to stop harm to real children. However, the paper points out that the legislation also inadvertently criminalizes a large, predominantly female fandom of manga fans who use the Internet to participate in online fan clubs dedicated to a Japanese manga genre known as yaoi, which celebrates the love shared between fictional “beautiful boys.” It is …