The way modern "yaoi" and "yuri" anime/manga are totally make sense when you realize 90% of it is meant to feed the sexual appetites and gay/lesbian fetishes of straight women and men. Which has been true of bl since the beginning, since it was always meant to be an outlet for Japanese women to explore their sexuality sans the patriarchal norms that loomed over even fictionalized heterosexual couplings. Yuri arguably started in a more genuinely queer place, but since then it has been almost totally co-opted by himedanshi.
Source: wiktionary