Ah, actual reportorial evidence of why yaoi is popular. From a feature article in New York Magazine, "The Cuddle Puddle of Stuyvesant High School" (though I do have to wonder about the extent to which these kids were yanking this guy's chain):

Elle is watching, enthralled, as two boys lock lips across the hall. "Oh, my," she murmurs. "Homoerotica. There’s nothing more exciting than watching two men make out."

But then there's this:

When asked how many of her female friends have had same-sex experiences, Alair answers, "All of them." Then she stops to think about it. "All right, maybe 80 percent. At least 80 percent of them have experimented. And they still are."

Which suggests an emerging market for yuri (assuming that the aforementioned chain-yanking is not as severe as I suspect it is). There are plenty of examples to be found in anime, manga, and slash fan-fiction, but has it materialized yet in retail narrative fiction?

Labels: deep thoughts, social studies, yaoi