I would like to take a minute and share with you something I have recently learned. It is about Manga. Specifically, it is called Class S manga. Now for a few of you who think they know about it and think I am about to write about something strait up dirty, think again and read with an open mind.
Class S manga is a form of manga that has lead to many other forms of manga like Shojo Ai and Yuri. Class S, focusing on the homosexual female relationship between adolescent girls is often referred to as Class Shojo (meaning little girl), Class Sister or even Girl Love.
Class S took its roots in early twentieth century Japan where platonic love between females was greatly encouraged by society. This love was more of an emotional and/or spiritual bond between close female friends. At times, the relationship would turn sexual but that was not often the case. It was considered a part of growing up for all heterosexual young women.
Many of these love relationships took place in many of the country’s all girl schools that were quickly populating Japan. These relationships were expected only to last until graduation of the school, marriage or even death of one of the two girls’ in the relationship. If the relationship lasted longer than that, it was deemed immature.
One of the earliest pioneers in Class S fiction writing was Nobuko Yoshiya. Her novels of love between female characters showed not only an accepted behavior of the time but also shared some of her own sexual orientation as a lesbian. Her popular writings helped spur the growing popularity of Class S into the mainstream literature of early twentieth century Japan.
It was not until the 1970s that lesbian literature in western manga literature became more open. The name Yuri replaced Class S as the popular term for the phenomenon.
In the 1990’s, greater acceptance for this style and theme of writing along with a broader exposure to a larger fan base again spurred a new interest on the subject. For the most part, mainstream Yuri retained its essential roots of emotional and spiritual connection between its characters and did not always focus on interaction on a sexual basis. Also, full lesbian relationships were less subtle and more blatant with publications like Sailor Moon. However, a few publications were also written to target a growing curiosity among the male readers.
The 2000s saw a greater increase in Yuri popularity along with more sexually explicit themes. Although some of these were written for lesbian magazines, many were also written to specifically target male audiences.
Now if you are wondering as to why I would post this, it is a paper I had to do for school. I was told to pick a cartoon subject and I did. Can you believe that this stuff is actually printed for us to read?
