A Few Words from the Researcher

Although I primarily teach in the area of media studies, my research interests are in the social construction of identity, especially with regard to sex, gender, and sexual orientation.

When I first considered studying boy’s love manga, I was sure it had already been “done to death.” But as I scoured the web, bookshelves, and academic journals for formal research on yaoi and shounen-ai, I realized that relatively little scholarly work on the topic has been published in English. That amazes me, because the fan community is huge, and the number of yaoi/shounen-ai works being released in English is growing rapidly.

My command of Japanese is limited to a few words learned in my childhood judo classes, so I've only read shounen-ai or yaoi manga in English translation. This limits my research, but it's also part of the interesting aspect: in what ways is this imported genre being received in English-speaking cultures?

I think that “boy’s love” is going to become increasingly visible as it shows up on the shelves of book and video stores. It’s also an interesting genre to consider in light of the U.S. debate over the acceptance of same-sex relationships. In the future, I hope to expand my research to include yuri/shoujo-ai works, as well.

If you want to tell me more about your thoughts on the boy's love genre, or its readers and fans, than the online survey permits, please feel free to email me. Your identity will be kept confidential.

I'm a tenured professor at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, California, where I've been working for seven years. I'd like to thank the members of CLU's Institutional Review Board and Faculty Academic Development Committee for supporting this research project.

I'm also the editor in chief of The Harrow, a webzine dedicated to publishing horror and fantasy fiction and poetry.

– "Dr. Dru" Pagliassotti

Educational Background:

Ph.D., Communication Theory and Research, 1996
Annenberg School for Communication
University of Southern California

Certificate, Study of Women and Men in Society, 1996
University of Southern California

M.A., Communication Theory and Research, 1993
Annenberg School for Communication
University of Southern California

B.A., Sociology, 1989 &
B.A., Communication, 1989
University of California, Santa Barbara