{{Short description|Internet slang regarding pornography}} {{pp|small=yes}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2020}} {{Other uses}} [[File:Wikipe-tan Commission 2 by SpagMushrooms.png|thumb|upright|alt=Illustration of Wikipe-tan, an unofficial mascot of Wikipedia, wearing lingerie, suggestively looking at the viewer while holding a whip.|An illustration of Wikipe-tan in a stylized softcore adult-themed costume, featuring fishnet stockings, stiletto heels, and holding a whip; Rule 34 states that such illustrations can be found on any subject.]] '''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.<ref name=":2">{{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 }}</ref> 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 in 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.<ref name=":2" /><ref name="OgasGaddam2011">{{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 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{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 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> 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.<ref name="Leopold" />
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".<ref>{{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 }}</ref> ''The Dictionary of Modern Proverbs'' claims that Rule 34 "began appearing on Internet postings in 2008".<ref name=":0">{{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 }}</ref>
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.<ref>{{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 }}</ref> A 2013 CNN story said Rule 34 was "likely the most famous" Internet rule that has become part of mainstream culture.<ref name="Leopold">{{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 }}</ref>
Fan fiction has parodied events such as the 2016 United States presidential election,<ref>{{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 }}</ref> the 2021 Suez Canal obstruction,<ref>{{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 }}</ref> and Brexit.<ref>{{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/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 }}</ref>
==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.<ref name="OgasGaddam2011" /> 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 the market.<ref name=":2" />
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."<ref name="Doctorow2011">{{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]–}}</ref>
John Paul Stadler concluded that Rule 34 reflects the codification of paraphilias into social identity structures.<ref>{{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| url-access=subscription}}</ref>
==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."<ref name=":0" /> * "Rule 34: If it exists, there is porn of it."<ref name="Leopold"/> * "Rule 34: If it exists, or can be imagined, there is Internet porn of it."<ref name=":2"/> * "Rule 34: If you can imagine it, it exists as Internet porn."<ref name="OgasGaddam2011" /> * "Rule 34(r): If it exists, there is a subreddit devoted to it."<ref name="OgasGaddam2011" />
==Corollaries== * "Rule 35: If there is no porn, it will be made."<ref name="Paasonen2011">{{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}}</ref> * "Rule 36: There will always be more fucked up shit than what you just saw."<ref name="Paasonen2011" /> * "Rule 63: For every given male character, there is a female version of that character and vice versa."<ref>{{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 }}</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|Erotica and pornography|Internet}}
* ''Behind Closed Doors'' (book) – Unreleased pornographic ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' book * {{Annotated link|Cartoon pornography}} * {{Annotated link|Clop (erotic fan art)}} * {{Annotated link|Hentai}} * {{Annotated link|Not safe for work|aka=NSFW}} * ''Overwatch'' and pornography – A notable case of pornography inspired by the video game ''Overwatch'' * ''Pokémon'' and pornography – Another notable case of pornography inspired by the ''Pokémon'' media franchise * {{Annotated link|Pornographic parody film}} * ''Rule 34'' – A novel by Charles Stross referencing this rule * ''Rule 34'' – A film by Julia Murat referencing this rule * {{Annotated link|Rule 63}} * {{Annotated link|Yiff}} * {{Annotated link|List of Internet phenomena}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{Commons-inline}} * {{Wiktionary inline|Rule 34}}
{{Pornography}} {{Internet slang}} {{4chan}}
Category:2003 neologisms Category:Adages Category:Internet memes introduced in 2003 Category:Internet slang Category:Pornography 34 Category:Sexuality and computing Category:4chan phenomena Category:Internet censorship in India