November is considered by many to be National Men’s Health Awareness Month. It’s the reason why men get together and don’t shave for 30 days: to raise awareness for men’s health issues such as prostate cancer, anxiety, depression and other mental health issues and male suicide. Yet, it somehow morphed into also being a 30-day competition to see how much men can abstain from sex and any sexual activity.
There is a belief in American culture that men must be “manly,” which means they must never complain, adopt and live by the mantra of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” and never display any emotions that are not either stoicism or anger. But this leads to more issues and disrupts the possibility of living a healthier, happier life.
Inspired by No Shave November, No Nut November, the annual event that encourages men to go a full month without any sexual release, throws everything about National Men’s Health Awareness Month in the trash, next to your used tissues. The rules are pretty simple: Don’t have sex, masturbate, or ‘nut’ in any way, shape or form for thirty days.
Someone — we may never know who — stumbled across a 2003 study from an obscure Chinese journal that hinted prolonged periods of ejaculation abstinence could have positive health benefits. What might have started as research quickly spread through the internet and, well, once the internet gets its hands on something, it has a funny way of getting it completely twisted.
According to Know Your Meme, a user by the name of bicboi6969696969 submitted the first known entry for “No Nut November” on Nov. 3, 2011. But it wasn’t until 2017 that the study-turned-challenge rose to fame via Twitter. User @I_H8THOTS tweeted: “Not even a day into No Nut November and I’ve already beat my meat like it owes me money.” Classy.
I’m not one to yuck someone else’s yum, but No Nut November has turned into a kind of joke. It’s believed by some (perhaps not entirely seriously) that once you reach a certain point on your No Nut journey, you’ll gain psychic powers, the ability to levitate, boost testosterone and reduce compulsive behavior.
But going back to the root of the challenge, National Men’s Health Awareness Month was created to raise awareness for men’s health. What’s something healthy men should do? Say “no” to the No Nut November challenge.
Ignore the claims that it benefits men’s sexual health men; the opposite is true: Harvard Medical School published an article with data that suggests that men who ejaculate regularly are at a lower risk of prostate cancer.
Scientists found that men who ejaculated 21 or more times a month enjoyed a 33% lower risk of prostate cancer compared with men who reported just four to seven ejaculations a month throughout their lifetimes.
Sometimes, going without is nothing more than a bet between you and your roommate, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but don’t be disappointed when you can’t float out of your dorm room 30 days later.
