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No question, danmei, or ‘‘indulge in beauty,’’ the erotic stories and manga that originated in Japan and have put down deep roots in China, can be strong stuff.

Rich, some would say perverse, fantasy reigns in this literary genre, which is characterized by underground, gay-themed novels, short stories and comics, mostly distributed online.

Danmei almost always involves sexual relations, often between celebrities, politicians, sports figures, actors and film characters, with key themes including the humiliation of powerful men in gay relationships, father-son incest, even superheroes having sex. In one recent story posted on the website Danmei Chinese Net — ‘‘How Much Passion Can There Be in One Night?’’ — a celebrated architect has just been fired from his job. His naked male lover tells him, ‘‘You’re not even as good as a eunuch.’’ His debasement is complete, and that’s only the opening of the first of 39 chapters.

It would seem a specialized taste. So why is it so popular in China, with the websites where people post their writings and drawings recording millions of page views a day and millions of members?

The answer is tied to the surprising identity of the writers: young, mostly heterosexual women, researchers say.

The Japanese cultural import (it’s called yaoi and took off there in the early 1980s) is ‘‘roaring’’ in China, said Katrien Jacobs, a sexual culture specialist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. It is also popular in Thailand and Indonesia after sweeping through Taiwan and Hong Kong in the 1990s and the Chinese mainland in the 2000s.

Danmei is part of an ‘‘ongoing sexual revolution’’ with feminist characteristics in China, perhaps the country’s first, said a Chinese academic who requested anonymity. China is currently undergoing a crackdown on pornography that has netted danmei writers and website managers, and closed some sites, sexual rights advocates said. ‘‘The campaign is really having an impact,’’ the researcher said.

Creating and consuming danmei is a way for women to explore their long-repressed sexuality, said Ms. Jacobs.

‘‘I think Chinese culture is still harsh on women in terms of how far they can go in developing a fantasy life or erotic art forms,’’ she said. ‘‘I think they have to be very careful in coming out with their fantasies. The norm is stifling.’’

So those fantasies, safely projected onto ‘‘other,’’ gay, male bodies, represent a revolt against a deeply conservative culture, which expects passivity and childlikeness from women, Ms. Jacobs and the Chinese researcher said.

One website, Jinjiang Literature City, has about five million members, though it’s unclear how many actively post stories or read them. ‘‘Some people say you can’t call that a subculture anymore; it’s too big,’’ said Ms. Jacobs. The Chinese researcher estimated Jinjiang has about two million views a day.

One popular subgenre, father-son incest, in which, in a reversal of the usual narrative, the son controls the father, is a veiled call for social and political change, the Chinese researcher said. In Confucian culture, the relationship between father and son mirrors that of ruler and servant, so subvert the father and you subvert the state.

‘‘Young people really want to change this relationship of dominance,’’ Ms. Jacobs said.

The Chinese government may not be aware of the social and cultural implications of danmei but regards it as pornography.

‘‘As a lover of danmei literature, seeing websites I like being shut down on grounds of sexuality, I’m totally downcast,’’ said a university student called Bai Song in an email from an advocacy group that includes many gay and transgender activists.

Antipornography campaigns come on a regular basis, but the current one is the harshest since 2011, said the Chinese researcher. ‘‘It’s a cycle. But they can’t eliminate it.’’

In fact, she said, danmei’s appeal is growing, part of China’s vast social ferment.

‘‘It’s about sexual freedom and autonomy,’’ she said. ‘‘And that’s connected to other freedoms.’’