David M. Halperin

While the genre has moved beyond its women writing for women roots, and large numbers of men, many of them openly gay, are involved in the production of the shows in Thailand and elsewhere, there remains a strong female presence among the writers and directors.

Are BL dramas queer? Thomas Baudinet explains that he is inspired by the seminal definition of queer from theorist David Halperin as whatever is at odds with the normal, the legitimate, the dominant.

Does BL constitute a threat to the hierarchical and the normative? In China, the authorities certainly think so.

They have censored BL shows and blackballed the actors, while fining and imprisoning writers.