Rule 34 – from TikTok trends to My Little Pony.

Many of us are at least somewhat familiar with the rule 34 – the idea that if something exists, there must be porn of it. Nowadays, mature content, ranging anywhere from heteronormative representations of sex to stuff inspired by fantasy creatures,  has become much easier to access, pushing down the really weird stuff further back in the search engines.[1] While this is not something most of us think of daily or often at all, it has recently caught my eye through a series of TikTok videos.

User @Jessicajska on TikTok.

A trend, revolving around the sound captured in a children’s cartoon, quite literally pictures a giant woman (or in certain TikToks men and animals) and is an interesting play of angles and aesthetics – something to enjoy and appreciate. However, never have I even anticipated that something seemingly so innocent, may be turned into fetish content or, in other words, proof of how true the above mentioned rule is.

@anne.stravaiger

Its such a cute trend but its called the Giantess f3t!sh and men are having a field day on here. #tiktoktraditions #giantwoman #fyp #edinburgh

♬ A giant woman – Pink
User @anne.stravaiger on TikTok.

Normally, this may not be something I’d look into – I’m a strong believer that people should post whatever they want to post (as long as it’s not harming anyone else), as literally everything can be turned into a fetish, but the trend did remind me of the sudden growth of popularity of Lady Dimitrescu, a character in the popular game Resident Evil. Lady Dimitrescu is generally known for being extremely tall and feminine presenting, traits that appear to quite often be over-sexualized and fetishized, much like the content under the “Giant Woman” trend.  

“Lady Dimitrescu Reads Thirst Tweets” on Buzzfeed Multiplayer.

Not only that, but as of recent, my TikTok feed seems to be filled with videos of people guessing what may or may not be fetish content, which has opened my eyes to just how many seemingly innocent videos may be or may be turned into fetish content online.

@lenarae.lh

#duet with @5.minute.crafts #soap this week on “is this fetish content?”

♬ original sound – 5-Minute Crafts
User @lenarae.lh on TikTok.

To an extent, this may be connected to my previous blog posts, discussing the sexualization of women in digital media or the dangers of internet to children, however, the fetishization of digital content seems to go much further than that. The above-mentioned traits – such as the portrayal of the giantess or 5-minute-crafts as something “sexy” – are just the very tip of the iceberg. Fetishization of online content goes way further than that and does not only involve pretty women or weird crafty videos – recently, I’ve encountered plenty of posts of people sexualizing fantasy creatures, ranging anywhere from vampire smut to Bigfoot erotica on Amazon.[2]

if i have to see it, so do you

Not only that, but I have seen people discussing stepping on bugs or posting pictures of themselves wearing diapers (without really having the need to), which only proves that online content does, indeed, serve the fetish community. However, given that certain videos may very well be aimed towards certain audiences, it does seem worrying that TikTok trends using children’s cartoon sounds or monster-like video game characters can be so easily turned into sexual content. While, as I’ve mentioned above, I do believe that people should be able to post whatever they want to, particularly given the fact that everything can be sexualized nowadays, it does seem worrying that certain content, such as the My Little Pony drawing above, can be turned into something sex-related, does it not?


[1] London, Jerome. “‘If It Exists, There’s Porn Of It: The Origins Of Internet ‘Rule #34‘”. Thought Catalog, 2019. https://thoughtcatalog.com/jeremy-london/2018/03/everything-has-been-made-into-porn-the-origins-of-internet-rule-34/

[2] Albizu73, “Why Do We Keep Sexualizing Fantasy And Horror Creatures?”. Speculative Tertulia, 2021.

https://ingmaralbizu.com/why-do-we-keep-sexualizing-fantasy-and-horror-creatures/