The bulk update request #5782 is active.
create alias rubber (11) -> latex (59289)
Reason: Public opinion across several forum topics has shown that the community wants to resolve the rubber vs latex tagging issue. Opinions have shifted significantly over time, with varying stances on how best to settle it. Distinctions have been drawn between industrial vs fetish wear, liquid-like latex vs solid rubber and technical definitions of latex vs rubber. For far too long we have been prisoners in some tight nebulously defined latex-rubber-polymer bodysuit of ambiguous material with no escape in sight. I brought this subject to the attention of Rainbow_Dash, and was advised to open a BUR to restart this discussion.
I have done my best to create a list of various forum topics and BURs on this subject. I have summarized the general consensus of the discussion / the outcome of the discussions, but obviously I can't summarize all the details here.
See sources below:
- (1) https://e621.net/forum_topics/31033 - alias latex_clothing -> rubber_clothing [Rejected, concerns about latex being a kind of rubber but not rubber itself]
- (2) https://e621.net/forum_topics/31106 - Discussion of latex and rubber differences, remove alias latex -> rubber [Accepted, lots of discussion on TWYS and the distinction between fetish wear vs industrial wear]
- (3) https://e621.net/forum_topics/36113 - alias latex_clothing -> polymer_clothing [The idea was specific subtypes could be tagged from polymer_clothing, rejected so discussion take place]
- (4) https://e621.net/forum_topics/36227 - Discussion of latex_clothing -> polymer_clothing [Public opinion shifts towards Latex becoming the main tag]
- (5) https://e621.net/forum_topics/37375 - BUR to alias latex_clothing tags and a BUR to alias rubber_clothing to latex_clothing [Public opinion shifts towards Latex becoming the main tag]
Generally we have a few lingering issues to address.
1. Is it realistic to ask users to distinguish between latex / rubber material? If not, then should we alias all rubber tags to latex?
2. How do we tag posts where the latex clothing is 'liquid'?
3. How do we tag posts where the latex clothing is for some specific situation (medical latex gloves or industrial rubber boots / hazmat suits)?
It is my opinion that the popular usage of the term 'latex' to refer to solid rubber clothing and other polymer type clothing should win out. Under the TWYS policy it is not realistic to expect users to differentiate between distinct types of polymer clothing. All these different types of polymer have a lot of visual similarity and across many fetish communities the terms are used interchangeably. The term latex is so closely tied to latex clothing that the Wikipedia page states 'The word latex is also used to refer to natural latex rubber, particularly non-vulcanized rubber. Such is the case in products like latex gloves, latex condoms and latex clothing.', now obviously Wikipedia is not a definitive source but it is a representation of what term people tend to use. There is even a page for Latex Clothing. It would be cleaner to have a single family of latex clothing tags, then add tags such as 'glistening_clothing' or 'liquid_latex' to individual posts to help distinguish situations where the material has different characteristics. For industrial or medical type clothing which happens to be made of latex, it may make more sense to use or create tags like 'medical' / 'medical_clothing' or similar to distinguish those posts from more fetish clothing type posts. Even if rubber is the preferred name for this group of tags, then the alias should just be flipped around.
This issue has been ongoing for years now and I think we really ought to wriggle our way out of this uncomfortably tight and sticky discussion.
Depending on how this develops, additional BURs can be created to encompass more tags with this topic serving as the "Forum Topic" for them.
EDIT: The bulk update request #5782 (forum #380636) has failed: Error: Alias would modify other aliases or implications through transitive relationships. (create alias rubber -> latex)
EDIT: The bulk update request #5782 (forum #380636) has been approved by @Rainbow_Dash.
Updated by auto moderator