Female voyeuristic literature on male homoerotic themes
When I first heard of this phenomenon about three years ago, I could scarcely believe my ears. I was told in no uncertain terms that, by and large, Chinese women (especially in their 20s and 30s, but even in their teens) much more enjoy watching or reading about men making out than engaging in hetero- or homosexual love themselves. I know of several Chinese women who write such literature and supplement their income with it.
The genre is explored in considerable depth by Helen Sullivan in this Guardian article (3/12/23):
China’s ‘rotten girls’ are escaping into erotic fiction about gay men
Danmei is by some measures the most popular genre of fiction for women in China, and its popularity hasn’t gone unnoticed by the Communist party
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