Rule 34

Rule 34 is an Internet meme which claims that some form of pornography exists concerning every possible topic. The concept is commonly depicted as fan art of normally non-erotic subjects engaging in sexual activity.{{cite news |last=Dewey |first=Caitlin |date=April 6, 2016 |title=Is Rule 34 actually true?: An investigation into the Internet's most risqué law |newspaper=The Washington Post |publisher=Nash Holdings |location=Washington, D.C. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2016/04/06/is-rule-34-actually-true-an-investigation-into-the-internets-most-risque-law/ |access-date=May 27, 2018 |archive-date=May 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200529095553/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2016/04/06/is-rule-34-actually-true-an-investigation-into-the-internets-most-risque-law/ |url-status=live }} It can also include writings, animations, images, GIFs and any other form of media to which the Internet provides opportunities for proliferation and redistribution.

History

The phrase Rule 34 was coined from an August 13, 2003, webcomic captioned, "Rule #34 There is porn of it. No exceptions." The comic was drawn by TangoStari (Peter Morley-Souter) to depict his shock at seeing Calvin and Hobbes parody porn.{{cite book |last1=Ogas |first1=Ogi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jwU8_m8y5X0C |title=A Billion Wicked Thoughts: What the Internet Tells Us About Sexual Relationships |last2=Gaddam |first2=Sai |date=2011 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=9781101514986 |location=New York City |postscript=none |author-link1=Ogi Ogas |access-date=December 22, 2015 |archive-date=March 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322060713/https://books.google.com/books?id=jwU8_m8y5X0C |url-status=live }} Although the comic faded into obscurity, the caption instantly became popular on the Internet. Since then, the phrase has been adapted into different syntactic versions and has even been used as a verb.{{Cite journal |last=Ogas |first=Ogi |date=2013 |title=A billion wicked thoughts: What the internet reveals about sexual desire |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/e638152013-018 |doi=10.1037/e638152013-018 |access-date=2020-12-26 |website=PsycEXTRA Dataset |archive-date=March 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322060724/https://psycnet.apa.org/buy/PE |url-status=live }} A list of "rules of the Internet", created on the website 4chan, includes Rule 34 within a list of similar tongue-in-cheek maxims, such as Rule 63.

In 2008, users on 4chan posted numerous sexually explicit parodies and cartoons illustrating Rule 34; in 4chan slang, pornography may be referred to as "rule 34" or "pr0nz".{{Cite book |last=Olson |first=Parmy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ncGVPtoZPHcC |title=We Are Anonymous: Inside the Hacker World of LulzSec, Anonymous, and the Global Cyber Insurgency |date=2012-06-05 |publisher=Little, Brown |isbn=978-0-316-21353-0 |language=en |access-date=December 22, 2015 |archive-date=March 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322060715/https://books.google.com/books?id=ncGVPtoZPHcC |url-status=live }} The Dictionary of Modern Proverbs claims that Rule 34 "began appearing on Internet postings in 2008".{{Cite book |last1=Doyle |first1=Charles Clay |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.12987/9780300183351/html |title=The Dictionary of Modern Proverbs |last2=Mieder |first2=Wolfgang |last3=Shapiro |first3=Fred Richard |date=2017-12-31 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-18335-1 |editor-first= |doi=10.12987/9780300183351 |jstor=j.ctt1nq6jk |oclc=794004254 |author-link2=Wolfgang Mieder |author-link3=Fred R. Shapiro }}

As Rule 34 continued spreading throughout the Internet, some traditional media began reporting on it. A 2009 Daily Telegraph article listed Rule 34 as the third of the "Top 10" Internet rules and laws.{{Cite web |last=Chivers |first=Tom |date=23 October 2009 |title=Internet rules and laws: the top 10, from Godwin to Poe |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/6408927/Internet-rules-and-laws-the-top-10-from-Godwin-to-Poe.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=2022-08-07 |website=telegraph.co.uk |archive-date=May 19, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170519063836/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/6408927/Internet-rules-and-laws-the-top-10-from-Godwin-to-Poe.html |url-status=live }} A 2013 CNN story said Rule 34 was "likely the most famous" Internet rule that has become part of mainstream culture.{{Cite web |last=Leopold |first=Todd |date=2013-02-15 |title=Meet the Rules of the Internet |url=https://www.cnn.com/2013/02/15/tech/internet-rules/index.html |access-date=2022-08-07 |website=CNN |language=en |archive-date=June 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608083436/https://www.cnn.com/2013/02/15/tech/internet-rules/index.html |url-status=live }}

Fan fiction has parodied events such as the 2016 United States presidential election,{{citation |title= The Political Erotica of 2016 |first= Talia |last= Lavin |magazine= The New Yorker |date= July 21, 2016 |url= https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-political-erotica-of-2016 |access-date= 2021-01-18 |archive-date= December 3, 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20211203053514/https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-political-erotica-of-2016 |url-status= live }} the 2021 Suez Canal obstruction,{{citation |title= Yes, there's already erotic fanfic about the ship that got stuck in the Suez Canal: Rule 34 is alive and well |first= Siobhan |last= Ball |work= The Daily Dot |date= March 29, 2021 |url= https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/suez-canal-ship-ever-given-fanfic/ |access-date= 2021-01-18 |archive-date= January 18, 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220118183850/https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/suez-canal-ship-ever-given-fanfic/ |url-status= live }} and Brexit.{{citation |title= Oh, Good, Now There Is Brexit Erotica |first= Mark |last= Hay |date= June 27, 2016 |work= Vice |url= https://www.vice.com/en/article/vdqm4b/brexit-erotica-political-smut-pounded-by-the-pound-vgtrn |access-date= 2021-01-18 |archive-date= January 18, 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220118182835/https://www.vice.com/en/article/vdqm4b/brexit-erotica-political-smut-pounded-by-the-pound-vgtrn |url-status= live }}

Analysis

According to researchers Ogi Ogas and Sai Gaddam, the maxim resonated with so many people because of its apparent truth to anyone who has browsed the Internet. Ogas said that following the 2009–2010 study, the consolidation of the porn industry onto large market share video aggregators has reduced the visibility of the niche market videos. The sites favor mainstream content directly by steering users towards it and indirectly by disadvantaging small producers who cannot afford strong anti-piracy measures, bringing into doubt the ability of the rule being able to keep up with market.

Cory Doctorow concludes, "Rule 34 can be thought of as a kind of indictment of the Web as a cesspit of freaks, geeks, and weirdos, but seen through the lens of cosmopolitanism, bespeaks a certain sophistication—a gourmet approach to life."{{cite book| author=Cory Doctorow| title=Context| url=https://archive.org/details/context0000doct| url-access=registration |date=October 1, 2011| publisher=Tachyon Publications| isbn=978-1-61696-078-0| pages=[https://archive.org/details/context0000doct/page/70 70]–}}

John Paul Stadler concluded that Rule 34 reflects the codification of paraphilias into social identity structures.{{Cite journal| last=Stadler| first=John Paul| date=2018-10-12| title=The Queer Heart of Porn Studies| url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/705280| journal=Journal of Cinema and Media Studies| language=en| volume=58| issue=1| pages=174| doi=10.1353/cj.2018.0079| s2cid=194935601| issn=2578-4919| access-date=February 11, 2021| archive-date=June 21, 2022| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220621013329/https://muse.jhu.edu/article/705280| url-status=live}}

Variations

The original rule was rephrased and reiterated as it went viral on the Web. Some common permutations omit the original "No exceptions."

"Rule 34: There is porn of it."
"Rule 34: If it exists, there is porn of it."
"Rule 34: If it exists, or can be imagined, there is Internet porn of it."
"Rule 34: If you can imagine it, it exists as Internet porn."
"Rule 34(r): If it exists, there is a subreddit devoted to it."

Corollaries

"Rule 35: If there is no porn, it will be made."{{cite book| last=Paasonen| first=Susanna| author-link=Susanna Paasonen| title=Carnal Resonance: Affect and Online Pornography| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2wqbC17l5iUC&pg=PA1| year=2011| publisher=MIT Press| isbn=978-0-262-01631-5| page=1| access-date=December 27, 2020| archive-date=March 22, 2023| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322060715/https://books.google.com/books?id=2wqbC17l5iUC&pg=PA1| url-status=live}}
"Rule 36: There will always be more fucked up shit than what you just saw."
"Rule 63: For every given male character, there is a female version of that character and vice versa."{{Cite web |title=Rule 63 Meaning & Origin {{!}} Slang by Dictionary.com |url=https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/rule-63/ |access-date=2022-05-06 |website=Dictionary.com |language=en-US |archive-date=May 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220506001950/https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/rule-63/ |url-status=live }}