Seme
From Fan History Wiki
[edit] Introduction
Seme is a Japanese word that is commonly used by English-speaking fans to describe the dominant member of a relationship. This person is the one who "tops." The seme is stereotypically more masculine than the uke.
The position of characters in relationships is a constant source of problems in practically every fandom. In slash, some fans believe that the man who "bottoms" loses his masculinity.
[edit] Historical Definitions
The following definition dates to March 2002 in the anime fandom:
- Seme: the guy "on top" during sex. Or if not on top, the one doing the inserting. Performing oral sex is also a typical seme activity (usually before penetration).
- There are all sorts of conditions for being a typical seme or uke. Aestheticism's page (linked above) goes into it in more detail. I don't really like convention, though, so I just make up my seme/uke preferences myself (so do the Japanese, apparently, because I've seen quite a few QuatrexTrowa doujinshi...).
- The seme and uke are separated by an 'x.' So, for DuoxHeero, Duo's the seme and Heero's the uke. ^_^ [1]
The following definition dates to May 2006 in the anime fandom:
- The top in a yaoi pairing... denoted first when listing a pairing.[2]
