{"id":7729,"date":"2022-08-12T16:29:02","date_gmt":"2022-08-12T16:29:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/?p=7729"},"modified":"2022-08-12T16:29:02","modified_gmt":"2022-08-12T16:29:02","slug":"bl-meaning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/bl-meaning\/","title":{"rendered":"BL \u2013 Meaning, Origin and Usage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Did someone tell you they enjoy watching '<em>BL<\/em>' Anime content? This post unpacks the meaning and origin of this expression.<\/p>\n<h2>Meaning<\/h2>\n<p><strong>The acronym '<em>BL<\/em>' stands for <em>'boy love<\/em>.' It's a term created by the Anime industry, describing Anime content relating to young boys, typically teens. The content has a sexual innuendo and theme, and many experts consider it a form of soft-core porn.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Since '<em>BL<\/em>' videos are Anime, no innocent children are being exploited in the videos. However, many liken it to a grooming tool for male sexual predators. BL is also an acronym for <em>'Boy love'<\/em> in Thailand, which describes the pop culture scene around young boys.<\/p>\n<p>It can also describe a young boy exhibiting homosexual behavior. In Japanese, '<em>BL<\/em>' is a modern term for '<em>Shounenai<\/em>,' meaning \u2018<em>Boy love<\/em>.\u2019 <em>BL<\/em> is often in replacement for the Japanese word '<em>yaoi<\/em>,', especially in manga and Anime. If Anime content falls under the <em>BL <\/em>category, it likely has references to homosexual behavior between men and boys.<\/p>\n<h2>Example Usage<\/h2>\n<p>\"I think he has a case of 'boy love.' He can't stop watching the BL videos by Thai boys on TikTok and YouTube.\"<\/p>\n<p>\"I have a case of boy love. My BL is so bad that I Have every single BL manga title ever made. I think it's a bit of an unhealthy obsession.\"<\/p>\n<p>\"This BL category of Anime is something else. I mean, people could basically consider it soft-core porn for pedophiles, right?\"<\/p>\n<p>\"I don't watch BL manga. It's terrible. There are so many categories of Anime. Why do people settle on fringe stuff like BL titles? There are so many other great ones.\"<\/p>\n<p>\"I don't like the BL category of Anime. It's weird. However, if you visit an anime site, you'll see it's one of the most popular niches.\"<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-7730\" src=\"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/BL-300x273.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"273\" srcset=\"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/BL-300x273.jpg 300w, https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/BL.jpg 380w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-7731\" src=\"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/BL2-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/BL2-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/BL2-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/BL2-120x120.jpg 120w, https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/BL2.jpg 554w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Origin<\/h2>\n<p>The acronym 'BL' originates from the Anime industry. It's a popular niche of manga content, first available in the late 1990s. This Anime niche developed a cult following by the mid-2000s, with the first entry of the term into the Urban dictionary in January 2004.<\/p>\n<p>The gay community continues to support BL anime content. However, some activists claim BL content is nothing more than soft-core porn. During the mid-2000s, sex tourism to Thailand began to include the term 'BL,' referring to men that like to have sex with young boys.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"What is the meaning of BL in Thailand?\" width=\"512\" height=\"288\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/XhPxs44fsDw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'Fira Sans Extra Condensed', serif; font-size: 1.75rem;\">Phrases Opposite to BL<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>GL.<\/li>\n<li>Girl Love.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What is the Correct Saying?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>BL.<\/li>\n<li>Boy Love.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Ways People May Say BL Incorrectly<\/h2>\n<p>Some people on social media may use 'BL' to describe boy love by older men for young boys. However, while the term has a sexual reference, it's more common for people to use it in reference to young pop stars in Thai and Japanese pop culture and Anime.<\/p>\n<h2>Acceptable Ways to Phrase BL<\/h2>\n<p>You can use the acronym 'BL' when describing 'boy love' in Thailand or Japan. It's a popular subculture in Anime and pop-music culture throughout Japan and Thailand. You can use 'boy love' in social situations. Typically, 'boy love' is referred to in a sexual context on social media. It describes an older man who loves young boys, which some people may view as a form of pedophilia.<\/p>\n<p>You can use 'boy love' when describing someone's obsession with boy love content online. The expression could mean they are gay or they have a fetish for the sort of content. If you say someone has a case of 'boy love,' you're inferring that they might be gay. Men and women can experience 'boy love,' but it's more common to have a homosexual connotation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-2\">Did someone tell you they enjoy watching 'BL' Anime content? This post unpacks the meaning and origin of this expression. Meaning The acronym 'BL' stands for 'boy love.' It's a term created by the Anime industry, describing Anime content relating to young boys, typically teens. The content has a sexual innuendo and theme, and many [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7729"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7729"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7956,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7729\/revisions\/7956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}