If you’ve been on the Internet, you’ve undoubtedly heard of “No Nut November”—an annual challenge that dares young men to abstain from ejaculating for a full thirty days. The challenge has become a viral meme, but its origins can be traced to the online NoFap community, whose male adherents tout its pseudoscientific benefits, as a tool not only to quit porn addiction but also to regain autonomy and masculine power. Though it stylizes itself as a self-help group for men, it has gained a negative reputation in recent years for its connection to right-wing and white supremacist groups that condemn the emasculating, pathological effects of masturbation, ranging in severity from Jordan Peterson to the Proud Boys.
However weird this men’s forum may seem, anti-masturbation rhetoric has a surprisingly deep history. Click the link to my article with the Los Angeles Review of Books (2023) to find out more! This article was featured on POLITICO Playbook’s Weekend Reads (guest-curated by New York Magazine journalist, Olivia Nuzzi), as well as Lit Hub Daily.
Aya Labanieh 