One of my favourite things to do is to take some silly topic like this and give it a serious treatment, so to illustrate a point I have or to give people a new perspective. In my opinion, nothing is free of thorough analysis, no matter what shield of jest it has put up. Herein, I want to discuss No Nut November (NNN) a bizarre case study in memetics.
NNN has enjoyed a unique longevity and only increasing popularity, as a result of a few factors: firstly, that it taps into young men’s conscience about their shame in porn and masturbation; there is the alliterative aspect that impresses on the memory; great flexibility for bawdy jokes; and it can be constantly revived every year. Any tradition, broadly speaking, would have it’s origins in the long-standing repetition of some ritual, that basically begins with a first instance, and is then repeated, which transforms the action into a ritual. NNN has a unique genesis when compared to other rituals, because there was not a first instance of occurrence. It begun life first as the myth of a tradition, wherein hypothetically men take a month of abstinence, and was thereafter transformed into a real tradition.
I believe that NNN has a unique attractiveness in the Western world, because we lack long traditions or holidays that feel like our own legitimate tradition. It seems we only really have Christmas and Easter, two holidays we feel are calcified and outworn, disconnected from their meaning, more defined by money and economics. Secular Western society does not have a special period of time of around a month the way other cultures do; we don’t have something like Lent or Ramadan, nor the frequent multi-day festivals seen in countries with non-Abrahamic religions. The presence of these kinds of traditions in other cultures makes me think it’s just something humans like to do, we are innately attracted to these kinds of rituals yet our society has none. With no religion as a source of such a ritual, we’ve latched onto something, absurd as it is, that fulfills this gap. The justification is that it would be ‘funny’ to ‘actually do No Nut November’, which is strange because it’s not really funny at all. Perhaps those people feel compelled to give some reason and must make one, absurd and false as it is, as a placeholder for the truth: that we innately desire this kind of long-form tradition, which breaks up life to prevent monotony and distinguishes the months.
I should address also that NNN is likely an expression of the puritanical streak of zoomers, that comes from the complex and combative relationship with sexuality many guys have. NNN serves to encourage self-control, and to feel supported by the idea that others are participating at the same time. In those who take the practice seriously, I think it’s almost certain this is a major part of it.