男性BL讀者的閱讀樂趣研究

BL是以男男戀愛為題材的作品，大多是由女性作者為女性讀者所創作的對男男同性愛情的幻想，BL在臺灣受到不少讀者的喜愛。雖然BL的愛好者大多數是女性，且BL也多是以女性讀者為目標對象的作品，不過BL的讀者中也有部分是喜歡閱讀BL的男性。過去研究多聚焦於解釋女性喜歡閱讀BL的原因，本研究探討男性喜歡閱讀BL的原因，並比較過去研究發現之BL受女性喜愛的原因，能否用於解釋男性的閱讀。本研究訪談21位男性讀者，根據紮根理論歸納男性喜歡閱讀BL的原因，並以林奇秀（2011）辨識出的女性閱讀BL獲得的五種愉悅感為比較基礎，與男性讀者進行比較。本研究根據受訪者是否憧憬與同性的戀愛，分析資料時將受訪者分為18位具同性憧憬的受訪者（包括同性戀、雙性戀偏同、雙性戀等），與3位不具同性憧憬的受訪者（異性戀，與未曾對男性或女性有戀愛情愫者）。從訪談內容可見，憧憬同性愛戀的受訪者喜歡閱讀BL的部分原因，與自身性向認同有關，例如閱讀BL時彷彿自己身在其中，間接體驗戀愛的感覺，投射自己對愛情的期待，或撫慰自身並未擁有的同性戀愛。亦可能在閱讀中獲得認同與歸屬感，覺得作品描寫貼近自身經驗，或自己未來可能發生而有所共鳴。此外，亦可能從閱讀中更加認同與確信自己的性向。另一方面，異性戀、或不對男女有過戀愛情愫者，喜歡BL的理由包括從戀愛的甜蜜，浪漫獲得愉悅心情，欣賞對等的戀愛關係，以及對男性內心的細膩產生共鳴。本研究亦發現部分受訪者覺得有些BL作品有違和之處，不過雖然覺得違和，但上述喜歡閱讀BL的理由，仍然會驅使受訪者持續閱讀BL。受訪者基於身為男性的生活經驗，可能對男角太多內心糾結、男性間互動太過親密之處覺得違和；而基於憧憬同性愛戀的經驗，部分受訪者覺得部分情節不太真實，太夢幻，例如角色很快地就跨出性向認同的煩惱，不會像現實會有很多的自我懷疑、糾結、掙扎；異性戀者太容易接受同性的愛，或跟同性的交往看起來像演戲；旁人很容易接受同性戀愛，甚至對待同性戀愛的態度就像異性戀一樣理所當然。此外，受訪者可能覺得有些地方與現實同性戀愛的狀況脫節，比如現實中同性戀愛不一定會有明顯的攻受角色，男男性行為的描寫跟現實不吻合。比較男性與女性的BL閱讀，本研究發現受訪者基於身為男性，沒有經驗過對於負面女性形象之反抗的愉悅，迴避被男性觀看被消費的不舒服，主動觀看男性的逆轉的愉悅等感受，這幾種愉悅感未出現在受訪者的閱讀經驗。而受訪者基於憧憬與同性戀愛的性向認同，有受訪者認為自己身為同性戀，並不會有因沉淪在愛好觀看男男戀愛，同時又因自己的沉淪而愉悅的感受，也有部分受訪者對於同性戀愛，不太會感受到禁忌感，悖德的愉悅不是大多數憧憬同性戀愛的受訪者有過的經驗。

關鍵字

BL ； Boys’ Love ；男性BL讀者；愉悅閱讀；同性憧憬

並列摘要

Boys’ Love (BL) is a fiction genre that depicts homosexual love between two male characters. Most authors of BL are women, and most readers of BL constitute of women. However, there are still some male readers of BL in Taiwan. Most of the research on BL reading focus on female readers. The reasons why male readers enjoy reading BL, which is usually popular with female readers, is less known. This study investigated why male readers like to read BL and the difference in the pleasures of reading BL between male and female readers. This study interviewed 21 male BL readers in Taiwan and analyzed data by adopting a grounded theory approach. Eighteen of the 21 male BL readers self-identified as being attracted to men (including homosexuals and bisexuals, etc.). Three of the 21 male BL readers are not attracted to men (including two heterosexuals, and one who had not experienced love or felt attracted to anyone before). In this study, male readers who are attracted to men are immersed in the homosexual love stories and feel a sense of love. They enjoy reading BL because of their desire for romance and the consolation for failed romantic relationships. Furthermore, they can resonate with BL because of their sexual orientation and they may also affirm their sexual orientation firmly. On the other hand, male readers who are not attracted to men love reading BL because reading a sweet story can make them feel happy and relaxed. They also like to read about the equal relationship between gay couples and the sensitive feelings of male characters. In addition, some male readers experience a sense of incredulity when reading BL. In spite of the feeling that some elements of BL seem unreal or “out of place,” male readers are still attracted to reading BL for the reasons mentioned above. Firstly, based on their life experiences living as men, they find it strange that male characters have so much internal conflict and interact with each other so intimately. Secondly, based on their personal experience of homosexual love, they feel that some plots are too fantastic and unreal. For instance, male characters can confirm their sexual orientation without much time or consideration; heterosexual characters can fall in love with men easily, or they sometimes do not seem sincerely in homosexual love; other characters can easily accept homosexuality without doubt. Furthermore, according to their understanding or experience of homosexuality, male readers feel that the love relationship and sex scenes do not closely reflect the homosexual love they see in real life. This study also compared the pleasures of reading BL between male and female readers. Some of the pleasures of reading identified by Lin (2011) do not occur in the reading of male readers. Based on the reader’s gender being male, the pleasure of resisting negative female stereotypes, and the pleasure of reversing the stance of men staring at women were not experienced by male readers in the study. Moreover, based on their sexual orientation of being attracted to the same sex, male readers do not experience the pleasure of wallowing in the love stories between two men and rarely feel the sense of taboo when reading BL.