“No Nut November” (NNN), originally called “No Fap November”, is an internet challenge where people, often men, challenge themselves to intentionally avoid the act of masturbation for an entire month. However, there can be many different reasons behind it.

The concept of “No Fap Week” surfaced on 4chan as early as 2006,¹⁾²⁾ with the first major event occurring between June 10, 2007 to June 16, 2007.³⁾ A user notes the connection to the 1993 Seinfeld episode, The Contest.⁴⁾ Soon after, one user took it a step further and conceptualized a “No Fap Month”,⁵⁾ except nobody really joined in as the challenge was unplanned and immediately after the last.

It eventually took place in October 2008.⁶⁾⁷⁾ This particular one was significant as people were eager to start another,⁸⁾ even calling it “No Fap November”,⁹⁾ and it somehow spread onto other internet forums. It'd all culminate in the creation of /r/nofap on Reddit in June 20, 2011 and a rather dubious¹⁰⁾¹¹⁾ study had users believing that it allegedly increases your testosterone levels.¹²⁾

Before the interest died off, somebody came up with the “No Nut November” alliteration, leaving an entry at Urban Dictionary on November 3, 2011.¹³⁾ Several years would pass before humor-oriented communities revisited “No Nut November” in 2017,¹⁴⁾¹⁵⁾ often joking that “Destroy Dick December” would succeed it,¹⁶⁾ and the less serious /r/nonutnovember on Reddit was shortly created on November 3, 2017.

However, the revival saw pushback over concerns of far-right infiltration¹⁷⁾ as anti-pornography purists often show up with antisemitic or misogynistic remarks, hoping to recruit young impressionable males.¹⁸⁾¹⁹⁾ In an attempt to draw in attention to said issue, the “Coomer” meme²⁰⁾ was highlighted as potential evidence, since it takes advantage of the youth being confused about their sex drive.²¹⁾

Due to the challenge's simple premise, there are many reasons why people would voluntarily participate in this challenge and many reasons to lie about it. Some possible examples of this are listed below:

• They saw the aforementioned Seinfeld episode and decided to pitch the idea for fun.
• They are young and confused about their own sex drive, somehow mistaking this as a bad thing.
• They became interested in the concept of coitus reservatus or sexual abstinence.
• They were misled by the 2003 Zhejiang University study,²²⁾ which has since been retracted.²³⁾²⁴⁾
• They don't actually care about the challenge, browsing and posting memes about it.
• They are lying to bait people into dumping their porn stash or encourage production of adult content, employing a reverse psychology tactic to fish for content that they could masturbate to.
• They might be a far-right propagandist seeking to recruit young impressionable men, utilizing dog whistles to suggest that the porn industry is some vast conspiracy to control the herd.²⁵⁾²⁶⁾

Of course, it should be reminded that masturbation is healthy and perfectly normal, even if those around you refuse to admit to it, as it can provide you with better sleep, reduced stress, and so forth.

• “Fap” is the onomatopoeia for male masturbation, while “nut” is a slang term for ejaculation.
  • If you're curious, “schlick” is the onomatopoeia for female masturbation. Back in the day, at least.²⁷⁾
  • Under the old name, you could theoretically have sex during “No Fap November”.
• I unfortunately recall seeing the old name for “No Nut November” in the late 2000s, so I have mostly written this to correct what the Know Your Meme²⁸⁾²⁹⁾ and Wikipedia³⁰⁾ articles get wrong.
• The concept of incel didn't reach 4chan until January 11, 2007³¹⁾ and it's important to note that the users mocked it,³²⁾³³⁾ prior to the 2014 Isla Vista killings and alt-right movement.

• /r/nofap and /r/nonutnovember - The two main Reddit communities.