A note before I start. I use the terms "gender" and "sex" sometimes interchangeably. The term "gender" should refer to the person's mental image (what they feel to be in their mind) and "sex" should refer to the type of body they are in. I apologize if I mistakenly use the wrong term, but for this rant it does not make a huge difference.
"Rule 63"
So, a few episodes ago on the Cutie Art Crusaders podcast, we did an episode entirely about "Rule 63". While I was very excited about this episode, and managed to state a lot of my opinions on the matter, I didn't quite get to say everything as clearly or uniformly as I wanted to. So, I thought I'd take this opportunity to gather all my points on Rule 63 into this rant. Sounds like fun? Let's get to it.
First of all, what is R63? I'll skip over the origins, and give you the generally accepted definition:
"For every given male character, there exists a female version of that character (and vice-versa)."
So, Rule 63 is basically an easy way to describe a "gender swap", right? Well....yes and no. We've immediately run into a problem shortening it to that definition. Why? Because defining what a "gender swap" is does not limit itself to one definition. Let me explain.
For a gender swap to be clarified, you have to look at WHEN the gender swap has occurred. There are two generalized times that we can look at:
1) A gender swap at birth, and
2) A gender swap in the present day.
A gender swap at birth assumes the character's sex was always the opposite of what the character is portrayed as, whereas a present day gender swap assumes a character was born of one sex, and somehow suddenly is placed into the opposite.
Why is this distinction important? It's important because of sexuality and gender studies. Different genders and sexes are treated differently from birth by not only their own bodies (in the form of hormonal changes), but also from external forces!
Before we get into all of that, let's tackle the "easier" of the two: the "suddenly switches sex" scenario. For this situation, let's use Twilight Sparkle as our example. After all, she's probably the most likely to accidentally cast this spell anyways! So, Twilight casts a spell randomly that turns her from a female body to a male body. In this case, we have a female mind in a male body. This is a very interesting situation because while people around her might start treating her as a male, she'll still be female in her own head! There's a lot of debate about whether the hormones that have changed might influence the mind, and I personally think that after constant exposure it would probably affect the person ...but even if those hormones do that a bit of hold, she's still had many years of being a female and being treated as a female piled on top of her new male experiences. This new combination of characteristics lies in a strange grey area because of the blend between mind and body (gender and sex). Unfortunately, we have no such spells to test any of these theories, so we can only make educated guesses.
What I DO know is it would still differ greatly from our second situation: gender swap from birth. Any of the mane six being born as a male will fit as an example. So why would this absolutely be different? The reason I say this is because the characters we know being born as a different gender would fundamentally and completely change the character. This is not just a change in sex, but a change in gender! This is an important distinction because it basically asserts that the character's mind has changed. Well....why has it changed?
As much as equality is a wonderful thing that we strive for in human society, the fact remains that males and females are fundamentally different from each other. More importantly, males and females are treated completely differently as well. The two sexes have many overlapping similarities, but they also have completely different sets of problems, solutions, experiences and influences. A character model can walk down the same exact "story path" twice, once for each character, and at the end they could come out as two completely different characters. They'd most likely be pretty similar, sure. But there would be, without a doubt, visible distinctions. Let me give you an example, using all of the mane 6 and their gender roles within society.
Let's look at this chart of "personality types", made by my wonderful assistant Bernd01. On the left, we'll put more "masculine" personalities, and on the right we'll place more "feminine" personalities. This line down the middle will indicate the split in the sexes (Male on left, female on right of course). Keep in mind that in practice, that line is not defined, but rather quite blurred due to the wide variety of personality ranges. I'm just simplifying it for this example.
I've plotted the mane 6 onto this chart in a personality order. Rainbow Dash has many traits traditionally associated with males, so she goes on the left, and Rarity is seen as a strong feminine personality, so she's on the far right. Please note: if we look at the scale as a whole, you'll see that RD falls almost directly in the middle of the scale, whereas Rarity is on the extreme end of the entire thing. Rainbow Dash, when combining personality type and sex is considered a mix. Now what happens when we apply Rule 63?
You might falsely try to mirror the scale, but that would be wrong. In practice, Rule 63 personality types don't dramatically change from their base types, so instead we will shift all 6 down the scale so they lie within their new male boundaries. Rainbow Dash still keeps her sporty, competitive attitude; Rarity is still a confident, detail-oriented fashionista. But this shift has revealed something interesting. By simply moving the symbols, now Rarity is the mixed type! Her personality still exemplifies a strong "feminine" presence, but because of her sex, she now faces the same greying of the gender line that Rainbow Dash was previously a part of. Meanwhile, look at Dash's spot! She's now a masculine personality in a male body, so she's taken the place on the extreme end of the scale.
While pony society as we see it in the show seems to not apply many (if any) gender or sexuality stereotypes, let's explore the conceptual changes that these gender swaps should produce. Let's compare Rarity in a normal human society. As a woman, Rarity would not have a lot of gender or identity issues. Traditionally, her flare for the dramatic, and passion for fashion are pretty standard for her sex. As a man however...Rarity immediately faces new barriers. Men and fashion? That connotation immediately puts pressure on the gender identity he is trying to form. Most of you should be able to admit that while female Rarity would not have her sexuality questioned in your mind, a male Rarity would raise a few eyebrows. Don't even lie about it, you know you'd immediately make that connection.
Of course, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with having a mix like Rainbow Dash or R63 Rarity. It's wonderful we get to see a wide variety of personality types on the show, and it's great to see both males and females encouraged to just be who they are as opposed to what people around them tell them they should be. You absolutely should not have to conform to the traditions and pressures just because you were born as one or the other. But it's very important to recognize these elements do exist, for better or for worse. And it's important to realize how these elements can and will affect a character.
One more example, pulled straight from a CAC question from a few weeks ago. Someone asked us recently: "If RainbowPlasma was suddenly changed into a girl, would any of the rest ask her out on a date?" All of them said no. And, looking at the concepts I've presented here....of course they wouldn't! I wouldn't for them! We've all known each other as males for the last few years. Even if any of us suddenly switches bodies, it wouldn't change the mental building blocks that have been established between us through countless encounters. BUT! I firmly believe that if any of us had the other scenario placed upon us (I refer to the gender swap from birth), and happened to follow the same path up to meeting each other online, that the answers could in no way be predicted. Men and women act differently around the opposite sex. We immediately change our behaviour not just based on the person we're talking to, but also what gender that person is. For all we know, if I was born a female, I would've made a completely different impression on the people I've met, and vice-versa. We really have no way of knowing, but honestly? If we get along this well as same-sex individuals?
Well, I'll leave the rest up to hypotheticals. Haha.
Rule 63 isn't just: "Look, Character A is the opposite sex." Good Rule 63 takes into account the difference between a birth swap and a sudden swap. Good Rule 63 studying assesses how character personalities play in their society, and how different sexes with the same personality can be treated differently. This is what separates the people who really think and care about characters versus people who don't. And, as an artist, or a writer, or frankly anyone who deals with characters, you should be thinking about what you're making.
Thinking is the key. I mean heck... it's what separates us from horses after all!
Hope you enjoyed this, and maybe learned a little too! Have a wonderful day.
Edit: I realized I never put in the actual screencaps. Whoops! Fixed now.
