The bulk update request #1453 is active.
remove alias latex (57414) -> rubber (11)
Reason: It’s about time we discuss this (in my opinion) major error on e621.
Ever since ‘latex’ has been aliased to ‘rubber’, it has caused some confusion among several people and with tagging posts properly. The main issue is the fact that we never acknowledged the true definitions of what ‘latex’ and ‘rubber’ are. Even when the original alias request was made on topic #889 about 9 years ago, barely anyone touched on this at all and the alias was implemented instantly without further discussion.
After spending some time on topic #31033 discussing the alias request from latex clothing to rubber clothing, where I posted some arguments about latex and rubber, I decided to start this forum where we can discuss the ‘latex’ -> ‘rubber’ issue in further detail.
In order to understand why, we need to take the true definitions of ‘latex’ and ‘rubber’ into account.
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Merriam Webster defines ‘latex’ and ‘rubber’ as the following:
Latex -
”a milky usually white fluid that is produced by cells of various seed plants (as of the milkweed, spurge, and poppy families) and is the source of rubber, gutta-percha, chicle, and balata.”
Rubber -
“an elastic substance that is obtained by coagulating the milky juice of any of various tropical plants (as of the genera Hevea and Ficus), is essentially a polymer of isoprene, and is prepared as sheets and then dried.”
and/or
“natural or synthetic rubber modified by chemical treatment to increase its useful properties (such as toughness and resistance to wear) and used especially in tires, electrical insulation, and waterproof materials.”
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Here is an interesting explanation I found online at https://info.unigloves.co.uk/blog/latex-vs-rubber-gloves
“Latex is a stable emulsion of polymer microparticles in an aqueous medium. It is found naturally, but synthetic latexes (or latices) can be made too. It is the liquid form, usually before it is converted into a solid product. Rubber is a durable, waterproof, elastic substance made from latex, either natural or synthetic. This is usually the finished product or at the very least a solid intermediary.”
“The term ‘rubber’ refers to durable, waterproof and elastic material made from natural or synthetic latex. Where rubber is usually the finished product, latex refers to the liquid form; a stable emulsion of polymer microparticles in an aqueous solution. It can be found naturally or manufactured synthetically and is eventually processed into a solid (non-liquid) rubber product.”
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To summarize, latex is defined as a liquid substance while rubber is defined as the final solid product created from latex. The two substances are too different to even be regarded as the same. There is already a liquid_latex tag, but it isn’t enough to resolve this issue.
An implication would be a better solution, because rubber is made out of latex but latex is NOT made out of rubber. The latex tag can therefore also be used as a fallback tag if people are uncertain whether a post features ‘rubber’ (solid) or ‘latex’ (fluid).
If you have any arguments regarding this topic, please leave your comments. I’m in for a debate ;)
EDIT: The bulk update request #1453 (forum #318570) has been approved by @Rainbow_Dash.
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