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In this thesis I argue that the yaoi community addresses a gap in subculture studies through the ways in which women use the genre to socialize. Yaoi is a genre of Japanese animation and comics which focuses on romantic relationships between two men and is directly geared towards women. Through ethnographic research in the United States, I look at how the women I interviewed conceptualize their participation within the community and what yaoi means to them. The women within the yaoi community are not rebelliously opposing the mainstream as many subcultural theories suggest, but are instead carving out a social space for themselves and others who have a distinct taste for the yaoi genre.

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This thesis deals with slash fanfiction and yaoi manga, disparate yet similar phenomena of fan culture. Yaoi manga as genre of Japanese comics created by women and dedicated to women , and slash fanfiction as women's reaction to pop culture generally made by male authors, are both genres dealing with a romantic relationship between two men characters. This relationship is portrayed as an innocent romantic story as well as a hardcore pornography. The autor aims to describe the terms and inctroduce some of the most influential approaches to research of the topic. Author is interested in the issue in the way of cultural and gender approach. Cultural perspective provides a summary of approaches of Frankfurt and Birmingham schools, clarifys point of view of Abercrombie and Longhurst and other authors on the current and future trends in development of audiences. Mapping the internet, important space for the fan communitiy, is also a part of this paper. Gender perspective provides a description of the points of view on the women's status in popular culture, explains the motivation of the readers/authors related to the issue of homosexuality, and describes opinions of different feminisms about pornography. Research among fangirls and fanboys or authors of slash fanfiction and yaoi manga is included.