Rule 34 (Internet meme)

For other uses, see Rule 34 (disambiguation).

Rule 34—"If it exists, there is porn of it – no exceptions"—is a prevalent meme that states that Internet pornography exists concerning every conceivable topic. The most popular targets of Rule 34 are fictional characters from shows and videogames.

Origin

This memetic Internet "rule" may have originated from a 2003 webcomic,[1] captioned "Rule #34 There is porn of it. No exceptions.", which was drawn by Peter Morley-Souter to depict his shock at seeing Calvin and Hobbes parody porn.[2][3] Morley-Souter posted his comic on the United Kingdom website Zoom-Out in 2004, and it has been widely reproduced. The exact origin of Rule 34 is unknown, though it may be related to the "Rules of the Internet", a list of protocols and conventions which first appeared on 4chan.[4]

Popularization

Internet users have made Rule 34 into a prevalent meme, owing to the ubiquity of Internet pornography, especially among genres such as fan fiction, slash fiction, and hentai.

In 2008, users of the imageboard 4chan posted numerous sexually explicit parodies and cartoons illustrating Rule 34. In the special argot of 4chan request forums, "porn" is called rule 34, Pr0nz.[5] One dictionary of neologisms claims that Rule 34 "began appearing on Internet postings in 2008."[6]

As Rule 34 continued spreading on the Internet, traditional media began reporting on it. A 2009 Daily Telegraph article listed Rule 34 as third of the "Top 10" Internet rules and laws.[7] A 2013 CNN story said Rule 34 was "likely the most famous" Internet rule that has become part of mainstream culture.[8]

According to Ogi Ogas and Sai Gaddam, "Today, Rule 34 thrives as sacred lore on blogs, YouTube videos, Twitter feeds, and social networking sites. It's frequently used as a verb, as in 'I Rule 34'ed Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell on the judging table'." They propose the reason why the maxim resonated with so many people is because it "certainly seems true" for "anybody who has spent time surfing the Web."[9]

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," which "bespeaks a certain sophistication—a gourmet approach to life."[10]

Variations and corollaries

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

The conundrum of finding an Internet pornographic exception to Rule 34's "No exceptions" led to the Rule 35 corollary. On 12 October 2006, an early "Rules of the Internet" list, posted to the cyberculture wiki Encyclopedia Dramatica, included

Rule 35 is also often referred to as Rule 34b.

Another expression of these rules is:

Thus, "The rules suggest that if you can think of a pornographic scenario, theme, or style—no matter how esoteric or unlikely it may seem—then such porn will already have been made, and it will be available online. If this is not the case, then it is only a matter of time before such porn is made."[13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Rule 34 appears valid. Is its corollary true?".
  2. ↑ Ogi Ogas and Sai Gaddam, A Billion Wicked Thoughts: What the Internet Tells Us About Sexual Relationships, Penguin Books, 2011.
  3. ↑ Ask me about inventing Rule 34, Something Awful, 15 May 2009.
  4. 1 2 The rules of the internet, 4chan archive, 15 February 2007.
  5. ↑ Parmy Olson, We Are Anonymous: Inside the Hacker World of LulzSec, Anonymous, and the Global Cyber Insurgency, Hachette, 2012, p. 33.
  6. ↑ Charles Clay Doyle, Wolfgang Mieder, and Fred R. Shapiro, eds. The Dictionary of Modern Proverbs, Yale University Press, 2012, p. 204.
  7. ↑ Tom Chivers, Internet rules and laws: the top 10, from Godwin to Poe, The Daily Telegraph, 23 October 2009.
  8. ↑ Todd Leopold, Meet the Rules of the Internet, CNN, 15 February 2013.
  9. 1 2 Ogi and Gaddam, 2011.
  10. ↑ Cory Doctorow (1 October 2011). Context. Tachyon Publications. pp. 70–. ISBN 978-1-61696-078-0.
  11. ↑ Doyle et al., 2012.
  12. 1 2 Leopold, 2013.
  13. ↑ Paasonen, Susanna (2011), "Introduction: carnal appeal", in Paasonen, Susanna, Carnal resonance affect and online pornography, Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, p. 1, ISBN 9780262016315.
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