How Factitious Security is Created; A Feminist Analysis of a BDSM Boy-Love Manhwa
I spend my days doing two things that may seem antithetical; reading about women's oppression and reading Yaoi. While my political beliefs would best be categorized as radical feminist, the media I consume can at first glance seem far from it, unless of course you're unfamiliar with radical feminism and believe we are all man haters and nothing more. Boy Love is the perfect genre for the misandrist, as almost every BL features some sort of male suffering. Non-con (or if we're being frank about it, rape) is almost impossible to avoid, and every time I start a new one I pray the expected assault will at the very least not be between the main couple who is supposed to end up in love. If there isn't outright rape, there is usually some form of unbalanced power dynamic or sexual harassment between the main characters.
This was the case for "From The Point of Three" as well. The Top/Seme, which I'll refer to as Male Love-interest, is a wealthy actor with ulterior motives. He approaches the Main Character, who works as a cameraman, and asks him to film him and his partner. When we are introduced to this partner, the Second Male Love-interest, he is tied up and blindfolded, with marks all over his body. I almost clicked away then and there - but I am so glad I didn't! From the get go, it was clear that the ML would end up manipulating the cameraman to join in, but instead of the usual sweeping under the rug how immoral this is to do, he faces repercussions for his actions. The manipulation itself and the slow breakdown of the MC's defenses was very well done and could honestly serve as a PSA. The only thing I'd change about the story to make it full on feminist is the ending - some actions are unforgivable, and by cutting the last couple chapters where they get back together again this would read as a full on kink-critical manhwa.
Using Money to Control People
Let's take a closer look at this manipulation. The ML knows that the MC has a debt to pay off and gives him an offer hard to turn down. The economic disparity between the MC and ML immediately shows the reader the unbalanced power dynamic between them, and how consent gets fuzzy once money is involved. Sure, the initial proposal didn't include sex/prostitution, but such is often the case. Since this comic is set in South Korea, let's use a Korean example; room salons. For those unaware, it is these underground bars in Korea businessmen go to where you pick a pretty woman to sit next to while drinking with your colleagues. Obviously, the room salon girls end up doing more than just sitting next to these men, even if that is what they were originally hired to do. Likewise, the MC would soon end up doing a lot more than filming.
The ML immediately starts blurring the lines by inviting the MC over on a day they aren't set to film, convincing him through lying about it being his birthday. After the MC has gotten drunk, he receives a phone call from his abusive ex the ML then inquires about. When the MC refuses to share because it's a private matter and he knows he has to keep his distance to the ML, the ML says this;
"Honestly, you know I'm paying you a ridiculous amount. Did you really think all you had to do was four sessions of filming? There's naive and then there's just stupid. I mean, I'm paying you several times over what you'd normally make. I don't think being a little nosy is crossing a line"
And plays it off as a joke. So far he has; guilted the MC into visiting, lowered his inhibitions through alcohol and then leveraged the money he was paying him, all the while flirting jokingly. The flirtations were a vital part of the plan - if you aren't being serious, a serious rejection isn't warranted, therefore you can continue inching closer towards the person. The typical "take a joke" tactic.
Many abusive men will camouflage their immorality with pretending not to know that what they were doing was wrong, thinking they can Robin Thicke their way out of accountability. Instead of violently assaulting their victims, this type of abuser inches closer to achieving the same exact thing, but at a slow pace so that when the actual abuse happens their victim has a difficult time accusing them. At the second filming session, the author brilliantly illustrates the way of which this kind of man reels in their victim.
The ML knows the MC had drawn an imaginary line between himself and the couple he is filming to protect himself. Without letting the MC know his true intentions, he circumvents this by giving MC a wireless controller to the vibrator inside 2ndML. He then leaves the two of them alone. When the 2ndML says he's in pain, the MC does what any normal person would do and rushes to help him - thereby crossing the line he drew.
Before the next appointment, the MC's abusive ex harasses MC who is then saved by the ML, which later is revealed to have been orchestrated by ML so that he would be shown in a good light as well as further the grip he has on MC. It ends with them kissing and MC's crush on ML growing.
So you know how MC came to 2nd ML's aid when he was controlling the vibrators inside him? Well, the 2nd ML never used the safe words and so during the third film session he calls for MC to be punished for prematurely freeing him of his restraints. MC was already tied up underneath his clothes, after ML used his "birthday wish" to ask him to practice shibari on him. They all sleep together.
By the fourth filming session, MC has fallen in love with ML, and they've also had normal sex with each other several times. So they drop the pretext and have a threesome straight away. MC is given his own safe words but, and this is my favorite part, he doesn't use them and ends up crying. I love this because it shows how, despite this being a supposed "simulated" situation every part can back out of whenever they want on paper, consensual and healthy sex isn't as simple as having a couple of safe words. Because MC has fallen for ML and is worried about this being their last session, he pushes himself to take more than he can bear. MC thinks;
"If I ask him to stop, will that be the end of this altogether?"
Then, after bursting into tears which puts their activities to a halt, he blames himself.
"But I just couldn't say it. I felt like I couldn't stop, not now. I didn't want to disappoint you. I didn't want you to be disappointed in me"
I found this scene to be painfully realistic and is what spurred me to write this. How many women don't convince themselves they're OK with certain sex acts or sex in general just to keep a man they love? ML had by now spent a month working behind the scenes to push MC to this point. If we weren't made aware of this, one could think that it really was just MC who had grown increasingly interested in BDSM, and ended up biting off more than he could chew.
Aside from contributing to a wonderful representation of polyamory (aka it's a mess of jealousy and doesn't work out), the 2ML provided opportunities to show MC's personality; he's a bit of a pushover, but far from stupid. At times, viewing abusive relationships from the outside can be confusing; "how could they be this idiotic, can't they see how evil their partner is? How bad the relationship is?", but I don't think the MC is dumb at all, and I don't think women in similar situations are dumb either. This Manhwa does a great job in showing how people who find themselves in abusive relationship oftentimes arrive there like a lobster being boiled alive.
When all the behind-the-scenes puppeteering of ML is discovered, MC decides to take revenge on him and boy did that make me happy to see. Meanwhile, ML began a redemption arc that was surprisingly well done, (although in real life I don't think one should ever go back to a man who did half the things ML did). I appreciated the slow pace of revealing ML's backstory that explained but didn't excuse, then actually SHOW him change but have that still not be enough, and only after around half a year break where the ML suffered tremendously does MC take him back.
Would I put this manhwa on my bookshelf next to Andrea Dworkin and Naomi Wolff? No. But in a genre infested by the most gruesome and unrealistic relationships, this was a breath of fresh air. It was wholly unpredictable to me as an avid Yaoi reader - every time it presented a situation that in all the works I've read before predated something awful, it'd take an unexpected turn. I hope this is a trend not a one off case, that I'll keep running into well written non sadistic Boy Love. Well, maybe a little sadistic, or my name isn't misa-ndry.
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