SHORT N’ SWEET
Fujoshis are female enjoyers of gay romances. While at first glance this might seem like an oxymoron, they are proudly one of the internet’s biggest subcultures.
Using various research methods from Man-on-the-Street to Book Club infiltration, I dug deep into the interests of these fascinating women and even deeper into how women have evolved to learn how to make the stories they love even more personal to them.
FUJOSHIS
Let’s fujo tf out.
“Fujoshi” is a Japanese fandom slang term referring to women who enjoy stories about romantic/sexual relationships between men.
They are super fans and champions of LGBT content. If there’s a gay couple in a show, movie, or book, they will be there. And sometimes… even when there’s not! They can (and proudly will) make anything and everything gay.
Shipping
is the act of supporting a romantic pairing between two characters or people in a fictional series, often when this relationship is one portrayed by fans rather than depicted in the series itself.
For Fujoshis, this is a longstanding ritual. If there’s something that can made gay, they will find it. Some of the most popular ships on the internet are between 2 men that have never had a single romantic interaction.
Fun fact, the first ever MM Fanfiction was Spock/Kirk in 1974!
73% of the top fanfic ships of all time as of July 2025 were MM relationships.
Fetishization or Appreciation
Fujoshi’s catch a lot of flack from people on both sides of the political spectrum. Accusations of “fetishization”, “mass psychosis”,
Methodology
To dig even deeper into Fujoshis seemingly relentless passion for their craft and to discover why they are who they are and do what they do I hit the streets.
What They Said
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For some they just love love stories and people’s passion for them.
“I’m very asexual so part of it is that it's something entirely separate to me considering romance for myself which makes me feel comfortable and also its just cute”
“I just like watching love in general in all forms. For me I’m literally a lesbian so I have zero stakes in MM romance but if it’s romance I’m definitely going to tune in.”
“I don’t know if it's really the BL that I like, it's more that you can tell the authors really care about what they’re writing and find joy in it.”
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For some, they like the equality aspect and lack of traditional gender roles.
“There’s a lot of depth can be added to male romances that isn’t generally afforded to straight or even Fem slash romances because with men there’s like the automatic assumption of equalizing them and so anything other than that can be explored in depth in a way you’re not allowed to with women because women are inherently seen as lesser of any partner.”
“It’s so easy to say ‘gender is a construct’ but there’s thousands of years of that dynamic. There are things both positive and negative that get eliminated when a romance is between same gendered people. “
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For some it's just fantasy and escapism. It’s silly good fun.
“I just like how insanely out of reality they are. It’s so different from normal life. Definitely escapism.”
“I do like classical RPF. Lately I’ve been getting into Mozart and Beethoven. Had to throw that out there. It’s one of the fandoms I've actually written for.”
But while talking to these women, something else was starting to become increasingly clear to me…
This is lowkey a survival tactic.
Women have historically and are still to this day underrepresented on all media, in screens, in books, in video games etc.
In 2025, only 25% of the top grossing films in Hollywood were told primarily from a female perspective, with 53% of them featuring male protagonists.
And you can imagine this number was even lower even just a few years ago.
Unlike men who can choose to just ignore the side female character and her 10 minutes of screentime in a 90 minute movie because they don’t find her relatable, what are women supposed to do?
Men are used to seeing themselves centered. Women are not.
From a young age women learn to relate to and empathize with male characters just as much as female ones.
INSIGHT
When you’re growing up outside the story, you learn to make it your own.
Why does this matter?
Women’s interests are constantly belittled
Romance is “trashy”
Fandom is “cringey”
Reality TV is a “guilty pleasure”
Shipping is “mass psychosis”