[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-133237-en":3,"doc-seo-133237-105":31,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":92},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":21,"is_downloadable":21,"audit_status":21,"page_count":22,"language":23,"language_code":24,"site_id":25,"html_lang":24,"table_of_contents":26,"faqs":27,"seo_title":28,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":29,"read_time":30},133237,1099514068365,"Aurelia","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/10000253d8d9f28188e?_k=1776742907772140068",8,"Research & Report","A Relational Equality Bias - Women’s Narrative Engagement in Reading Chinese BL","The study investigates how women’s narrative engagement with Boys’ Love (BL) relates to perceived relational equality compared with heterosexual romance. Female participants read BL or heterosexual stories with identical plots and then reported reading experiences. Results indicate a pro-BL bias: women perceive BL as depicting more relationally equal romantic relationships. This bias increases identification with characters and enhances narrative engagement, informing understanding of how BL shapes stereotypical perceptions of gay men in Chinese society.","A Relational Equality Bias:  \nWomen’s Narrative Engagement in Reading Chinese BL  \nYANYAN ZHOU  \nIndiana University Bloomington, USA  \nTUO LIU  \nCarl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Germany  \nHARRY (YAOJUN) YAN  \nBRYANT PAUL  \nIndiana University Bloomington, USA  \nYUEZHENG WANG  \nNorthwest University, China  \nBoys’ Love stories (BL) are a genre of male-male homosexual romance in China . The readers of BL typically are heterosexual young women . BL readers usually argue that they are fighting against traditional gender roles and at the same time promoting liberal social attitudes toward gay men . Some gay men and LGBT scholars criticize BL for reinforcing stereotypes . The current experiment assigned women participants to read either BL or heterosexual romances with identical plots and then self-report their reading experiences .  \nResults suggest that women have a pro-BL bias, meaning they believe BL naturally depict more relationally equal romantic relationships than heterosexual romances . This bias leads to greater identification with characters and ultimately increases the narrative engagement with BL. These findings have important implications for understanding the effects of BL on stereotypical perceptions of gay men in Chinese society.  \nKeywords: BL, identification, narrative engagement, perceived equality  \nBoys’ Love stories (BL) comprise a genre of male-male homosexual romance that occasionally depicts sexual activities between the characters that is popular throughout East Asia . This genre is popular  \nYanyan Zhou: [zhouyany@Indiana.edu](zhouyany@Indiana.edu)  \nTuo Liu: [tuo.liu@uol.de](tuo.liu@uol.de)  \nHarry (Yaojun) Yan: [harryan@iu.edu](harryan@iu.edu)  \nBryant Paul: [bmpaul@indiana.edu](bmpaul@indiana.edu)  \nYuezheng Wang: [neezawong@gmail.com](neezawong@gmail.com)  \n[Date submitted: 2020-01-16](Date submitted: 2020-01-16)  \nCopyright © 2021 (Yanyan Zhou, Tuo Liu, Harry (Yaojun) Yan, Bryant Paul, and Yuezheng Wang) . Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives (by-nc-nd) . Available at [http://ijoc.org](http://ijoc.org).  \nInternational Journal of Communication 15(2021) A Rational Equality Bias 4841  \nthroughout East Asia but originated in Japan and has existed in China for decades . Like slash fiction, BL are usually both published and read online . This latter feature facilitates the exploration of an otherwise taboo topic within Chinese society.  \nBL readers claim this genre depicts idealized romantic relationships that lack traditional masculine/dominant and feminine/submissive gender roles seen in typical heterosexual romances (e.g., Y. Li, 2009; McLelland, 2000; Pagliassotti, 2010) . Readers believe they contest heteronormativity and the prevalence of traditional gender roles in society by deriving enjoyment from a narrative about a romantic relationship thought to be characterized by the equality of its participants, and by embracing a socially liberal, supportive attitude toward homosexuality (e.g., Y. Li, 2009; S. Y. Li, 2018; Pagliassotti, 2010; C. Zhang, 2016) .  \nDespite (or because of) such potential, BL is controversial in Chinese society. The BL subculture is a burgeoning and highly commercialized element in the cultural industry (R. Li, 2017); even as mainstream Chinese media treat homosexuality as a taboo and a threat to Chinese traditions, culture, and social order (R. Li, 2017; Yi, 2013) . Some scholars as well as LGBT groups also contend BL readers hold unrealistic perceptions of gay men and care little for issues that actually matter to them (e.g., H. F. Zhang, 2012; C. Zhang, 2016; Zhao, 2014) . For example, many BL fans believe the most common character types (semeand uke) in BL are applicable to the real gay community (Zhao, 2014), and many BL fans can only accept relationships between beautiful men (H. F. Zhang, 2012) . BL readers usually feel that romantic relationships depicted in BL are “pure,” regardless of gender, age, socioeconomic status","cbCaij9mG07Hn0D0","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaij9mG07Hn0D0","pdf",446341,4,1,22,"English","en",105,"# Study Overview\n## Research Design and Procedure\n## Measures and Participant Self-Reports\n## Findings and Implications\n# Context: BL and Its Readers in China\n## Popularity and Distribution\n## Reader Beliefs and Controversies","[{\"question\":\"What was the main research question of the study?\",\"answer\":\"The study examined how women’s idealization of relational equality in BL connects to identification with characters and how genre popularity may relate to negative social stereotypes of homosexual men.\"},{\"question\":\"How did the researchers test women’s responses to BL versus heterosexual romance?\",\"answer\":\"Women participants were assigned to read BL or heterosexual romances that shared identical plots, then self-reported their reading experiences.\"},{\"question\":\"What do the results suggest about women’s perceptions and engagement?\",\"answer\":\"Women showed a pro-BL bias, believing BL naturally depict more relationally equal relationships. This bias increased character identification and ultimately raised narrative engagement with BL.\"}]","A Relational Equality Bias - Women’s Narrative Engagement in Reading Chinese BL | PDF",1787216185,55,{"code":4,"msg":32,"data":33},"ok",{"site_id":25,"language":24,"slug":34,"title":13,"keywords":35,"description":14,"schema_data":36,"social_meta":87,"head_meta":89,"extra_data":91,"updated_unix":29},"a-relational-equality-bias-womens-narrative-engagement-in-reading-chinese-bl","",{"@graph":37,"@context":86},[38,54,69],{"@type":39,"itemListElement":40},"BreadcrumbList",[41,45,49,52],{"item":42,"name":43,"@type":44,"position":21},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":46,"name":47,"@type":44,"position":48},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":50,"name":12,"@type":44,"position":51},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":53,"name":13,"@type":44,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/a-relational-equality-bias-womens-narrative-engagement-in-reading-chinese-bl/133237/",{"url":53,"name":13,"@type":55,"author":56,"headline":13,"publisher":58,"fileFormat":61,"inLanguage":24,"description":14,"dateModified":62,"datePublished":63,"encodingFormat":61,"isAccessibleForFree":64,"interactionStatistic":65},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":57},"Person",{"url":42,"name":59,"@type":60},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-08-25","2026-08-20",true,{"@type":66,"interactionType":67,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":68},"ViewAction",{"@type":70,"mainEntity":71},"FAQPage",[72,78,82],{"name":73,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":75},"What was the main research question of the study?","Question",{"text":76,"@type":77},"The study examined how women’s idealization of relational equality in BL connects to identification with characters and how genre popularity may relate to negative social stereotypes of homosexual men.","Answer",{"name":79,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":80},"How did the researchers test women’s responses to BL versus heterosexual romance?",{"text":81,"@type":77},"Women participants were assigned to read BL or heterosexual romances that shared identical plots, then self-reported their reading experiences.",{"name":83,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":84},"What do the results suggest about women’s perceptions and engagement?",{"text":85,"@type":77},"Women showed a pro-BL bias, believing BL naturally depict more relationally equal relationships. 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