Why men are taking part in No Nut November
Why would they put themselves through this self-inflicted torture? THE FACE's sex and relationship's columnist, Charlotte Bayes, investigates.
Life
Words: Charlotte Bayes
The thought of not wanking for an entire month by choice not only terrifies me, but also leaves me with one question: why the fuck would anyone voluntarily subject themselves to that kind of torture? When I am playing orgasm denial with a dom, if he denies me for even 10 minutes, I feel as though my world has ended and beg like my life depends on it. Thinking about my magic wand toy gathering dust for a whole month is simply implausible to me. But in a corner of the internet, a group of people, predominantly men, take part in “No Nut November”, a kind of sexually sadistic Movember or Dry January.
The rules are simple: you cannot cum through masturbation or sex of any kind. You can get a boner and you can watch porn. Those who like to live dangerously can even edge themselves. But if you cum, you’re out.
There are various subreddits dedicated to No Nut November. Most are filled with relatable memes, posts with words of encouragement and even viral songs. At first glance, the challenge appears to be a not entirely serious thing to do on the internet with friends.
But you don’t have to read the subreddits and other message boards for too long to realise that No Nut November was born out of the “No Fap” movement, which has more serious motives. “No Fap” subreddits and 4Chan boards focus on completely eliminating “fapping” or masturbating altogether. Going hand in hand with the No Porn community, they believe that overcoming addictions to porn and masturbation will contribute to their overall self-improvement. Men’s self-improvement ideologies have been linked with Men’s Right Activists, Jordan Peterson and other notable Far Right groups like the Proud Boys, who actively encourage no masturbation.
In the No Fap community, one of the big arguments for imposing a wank ban is the supposed health benefits. But medically speaking, there are none. Wanking regularly actually has many positives, including reducing the risk of prostate cancer and Type 2 diabetes.
Now, that isn’t to say that everyone who abstains from wanking as a method of self control and self-improvement is an MRA. In fact, Redditors and 4Channers are not the only groups that take part in No Nut November. Within the BDSM community – submissive and, particularly, sissys who enjoy chastity – have the opportunity to lock up their goods and abstain for an entire month.
While I will not be taking part in No Nut November – ever – I will be taking part in Destroy Dick December, a month reserved for the victors who survived 30 days of not nutting and me, who just really likes destroying dicks. In the meantime, as we wait for the dick demolishing festivities to commence, I spoke to three men taking part in No Fap November to find out why they’re willing to put themselves through such torture.
Anonymous, 21, Phoenix, Arizona
This my fifth No Nut November. None have been successful. I take part in it for the jokes and because I know other people are doing the same thing. I want to see how long I can last – I think the longest was about 14 days. I first heard about it in sophomore year of high school, from seeing memes on Facebook. Since then, me and my friends have participated every year. It’s a fun challenge. Also, I hear that it’s to create awareness of male prostate cancer or something. [Scientific data actually suggests that men who regularly ejaculate are at lower risk of prostate cancer.]
In 2020, I went through a break up in September and, in October, I was watching porn more than usual. For No Nut November, I did try to slow down my porn addiction that started after the break up. It helped, but I still watched porn after I failed. I just didn’t jerk off like three times a day. It was once every other day.
[When I was masturbating three times a day] I remember being late for work because I just needed to jerk off one more time before leaving. It used to keep me up late, making me wake up late and I’d do it all over again. It was interfering [with my life]. But this year for NNN, it’s back to being just for jokes. I’m comfortable with how much I masturbate now.
Anonymous, 20, Scotland
This is my third time attempting No Nut November. I have an addiction to masturbating. I’ve been doing it every day for four years, multiple times a day. Currently, it doesn’t interfere with life so much, I just find myself masturbating a lot.
I got involved because my friends asked me if I wanted to partake with them and they explained everything to me. I use the subreddits: we are all in this together and we use each other as motivational aids to keep going. It’s fun when there’s other people in your position.
I hope my overall self does improve by not masturbating. If I can go a week without masturbating I’ll be happy. The ideal goal is to go the entire month, though. Usually, I end up edging and then accidentally cum. Once you start, you can’t stop. For me, it’s just the feeling. I think it’s better that I cut down, or soon it’ll start interfering with day-to-day life.
Anonymous, 32, St. Louis, Missouri
I decided to take part [in No Nut November] for the challenge, I suppose. I split up with my girlfriend about eight months ago. I’ve always been dominant sexually and I’m kind of bored of casual sex. I bartend so I meet people organically. Otherwise, I use Tinder, but I don’t use dating apps often.
Getting laid is relatively easy, but this sounds impossible and I’m intrigued. I found a domme to help coach me through it, so I’m planning on trusting her judgment because I won’t be able to do it alone. This will be my first time being sub, so we’ll explore as we go!
