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should probably remove this shit as he trademarked it and the phenomenon is much broader than that site anyhow
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[[File:Ns201gmkwzf11.png|right|300px|alt=|frameless]] | [[File:Ns201gmkwzf11.png|right|300px|alt=|frameless]] | ||
'''Fapstinence''' or ''' | '''Fapstinence''' or '''no fap''' is a purported self-improvement method often used by or advised to [[Feminization|"low-T"]] (short for low-[[testosterone]]) and [[love shyness|love-shy men]] on the [[inceldom spectrum]] that consists of avoiding [[masturbation]] and/or pornography consumption. | ||
There are links to the large and growing anti-[[porn]] movement.<ref>https://www.yourbrainonporn.com/tools-for-change-recovery-from-porn-addiction/rebooting-basics-start-here/</ref> | There are links to the large and growing anti-[[porn]] movement.<ref>https://www.yourbrainonporn.com/tools-for-change-recovery-from-porn-addiction/rebooting-basics-start-here/</ref> | ||
Anti-porn advocates are primarily focused on using | Anti-porn advocates are primarily focused on using no fap as a method of curbing porn usage and the negative effects they argue porn consumption can have on user's neurochemistry, sexual function and behaviour, but they do not necessarily advise against masturbation per se. Some have noted that the various no fap forums appear to overlap with [[incel forums]] in terms of themes and characteristics of the forum users, such as sexual inexperience and low self-esteem.<ref>https://forum.nofap.com/index.php?threads/27-year-old-and-still-a-virgin.278552/</ref> | ||
Masturbation has historically been viewed as an aberration or a sin in several major world religions, and it has therefore frequently been socially discouraged on those grounds.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_views_on_masturbation</ref> | Masturbation has historically been viewed as an aberration or a sin in several major world religions, and it has therefore frequently been socially discouraged on those grounds.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_views_on_masturbation</ref> | ||
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Some more enthusiastic NoFappers also appear to believe this T increase would positively affect their [[body attractiveness|muscle]] or [[beauty|bones]] in a noticeable way, i.e., they are using it as a [[looksmaxxing]] technique.<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/NoFap/comments/4557x3/i_finally_found_some_evidence_that_nofap_makes/</ref> It is also commonly advised in the bodybuilding/fitness subculture due to these reasons,<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPSRlANKpDw</ref> though the bulk of scientific evidence into masturbation and sports performance only suggests a weak negative link between sexual release and sports performance when it occurs right before the event, though masturbation per se has not been examined here to a great extent.<ref>https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4914923/</ref> | Some more enthusiastic NoFappers also appear to believe this T increase would positively affect their [[body attractiveness|muscle]] or [[beauty|bones]] in a noticeable way, i.e., they are using it as a [[looksmaxxing]] technique.<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/NoFap/comments/4557x3/i_finally_found_some_evidence_that_nofap_makes/</ref> It is also commonly advised in the bodybuilding/fitness subculture due to these reasons,<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPSRlANKpDw</ref> though the bulk of scientific evidence into masturbation and sports performance only suggests a weak negative link between sexual release and sports performance when it occurs right before the event, though masturbation per se has not been examined here to a great extent.<ref>https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4914923/</ref> | ||
Claims like these have led to criticism that the movement is pseudo-scientific and cultish in nature.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NoFap</ref> | Claims like these have led to criticism that the movement is pseudo-scientific and cultish in nature.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NoFap</ref> | ||
However, the modern | However, the modern nofap movement essentially proposes empirical and secular arguments against masturbation, as opposed to traditional religious arguments for celibacy of different degrees. This secular, superficially evidence-based approach may be one reason why fapstinence, in its modern incarnation as an internet-based movement, took off and become a popular trend while traditional [[religion|religious]] admonitions against "sins of the flesh" have typically failed to attain widespread appeal. | ||
Some modern fapstainers do take a less materialistic approach, stepping overtly into the realm of "woo" and adopting the practices and beliefs surrounding the dissipation of "sexual energy" advocated by certain Eastern religions and mysticisms, such as Chinese tantra and the Dharmic religious practice of brahmacharya (total celibacy of body and mind). These approaches to masturbation abstinence can be broadly called semen retention, as many of these people also advocate sexual activity without ejaculation among men, a practice known as coitus reservatus. Coitus reservatus has also historically been used as a form of birth control, to increase male sexual potency, to make sexual intercourse more pleasurable (esp for women),<ref>https://www.huffpost.com/entry/karezza-sex-technique-relationship_l_5d7c1a9de4b00d690598e15f</ref> and has been a common practice among many religious sects to control male sexuality, such as the utopian socialist Oneida community in the United States, who saw it as one method enforcing greater gender equality by 'liberating' women from what they viewed as the burden of reproduction.<ref>https://dspace.sunyconnect.suny.edu/handle/1951/69892</ref><ref>https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/oneida-christian-utopia-contraception-king/</ref> | Some modern fapstainers do take a less materialistic approach, stepping overtly into the realm of "woo" and adopting the practices and beliefs surrounding the dissipation of "sexual energy" advocated by certain Eastern religions and mysticisms, such as Chinese tantra and the Dharmic religious practice of brahmacharya (total celibacy of body and mind). These approaches to masturbation abstinence can be broadly called semen retention, as many of these people also advocate sexual activity without ejaculation among men, a practice known as coitus reservatus. Coitus reservatus has also historically been used as a form of birth control, to increase male sexual potency, to make sexual intercourse more pleasurable (esp for women),<ref>https://www.huffpost.com/entry/karezza-sex-technique-relationship_l_5d7c1a9de4b00d690598e15f</ref> and has been a common practice among many religious sects to control male sexuality, such as the utopian socialist Oneida community in the United States, who saw it as one method enforcing greater gender equality by 'liberating' women from what they viewed as the burden of reproduction.<ref>https://dspace.sunyconnect.suny.edu/handle/1951/69892</ref><ref>https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/oneida-christian-utopia-contraception-king/</ref> | ||
==NoFap and inceldom== | ==NoFap and inceldom== | ||
[[File:Nofap timeline.jpg|thumb|Claimed benefits from | [[File:Nofap timeline.jpg|thumb|Claimed benefits from fapstinence (source: https://1st-man.com/nofap-timeline/)]] | ||
Abstaining from masturbation would not appear to be an effective intervention to cure inceldom, in the vast majority of cases, at least, because | |||
# testosterone levels have very little to do with mating success in men<ref>https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.06.980896v1/</ref> (assuming abstention has any major effect on [[Testosterone|T]] levels, which it doesn't) | # testosterone levels have very little to do with mating success in men<ref>https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.06.980896v1/</ref> (assuming abstention has any major effect on [[Testosterone|T]] levels, which it doesn't) | ||
# some research has indicted a positive linear relationship between porn use frequency in males and their odds of being in a relationship (and thus the majority of men are not substantially limited in attaining relationships owing to their porn use).<ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1743609520300473</ref> | # some research has indicted a positive linear relationship between porn use frequency in males and their odds of being in a relationship (and thus the majority of men are not substantially limited in attaining relationships owing to their porn use).<ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1743609520300473</ref> | ||
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==Online NoFap community== | ==Online NoFap community== | ||
Fapstainers are group of people loosely linked to the [[manosphere]] entirely focused on fapstinence. These nofappers often congregate on various platforms titled "no fap" or derivations of. They frequently believe that abstaining from masturbation, and in some cases ejaculation altogether, will increase [[confidence]] levels, assertiveness, and men's sexual success, and other behaviors associated with being 'high-T' or masculine. These individuals often call themselves 'fapstronauts' and call the process of abstaining from pornography use and masturbation to be a process of 'rebooting'.<ref>https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-020-01722-x</ref> | |||
The modern fapstinence movement, though largely secular in nature, was popularized on a subreddit founded by the Christian web developer Alexander Rhodes,<ref>https://www.christianpost.com/news/christians-find-help-for-porn-masturbation-addiction-through-nofap-community-started-on-reddit-by-24-y-o-web-developer-110061/</ref> who since created a website called nofap.com. Rhodes also trademarked the term "NoFap". Rhodes is known for pursuing aggressive litigation against his critics, such as a neuroscientist who claimed that users of Rhodes's websites harassed her due to her criticism of the validity of porn addiction.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NoFap#Litigation</ref><ref>https://www.vice.com/en/article/ywa97m/nofap-founder-suing-a-neuroscientist-no-nut-november</ref> A now deleted article on Rhode's website accuses his critics of being in the pay of the porn industry.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20191112185330/https://nofap.com/defend-alex/</ref> | The modern fapstinence movement, though largely secular in nature, was popularized on a subreddit founded by the Christian web developer Alexander Rhodes,<ref>https://www.christianpost.com/news/christians-find-help-for-porn-masturbation-addiction-through-nofap-community-started-on-reddit-by-24-y-o-web-developer-110061/</ref> who since created a website called nofap.com. Rhodes also trademarked the term "NoFap". Rhodes is known for pursuing aggressive litigation against his critics, such as a neuroscientist who claimed that users of Rhodes's websites harassed her due to her criticism of the validity of porn addiction.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NoFap#Litigation</ref><ref>https://www.vice.com/en/article/ywa97m/nofap-founder-suing-a-neuroscientist-no-nut-november</ref> A now deleted article on Rhode's website accuses his critics of being in the pay of the porn industry.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20191112185330/https://nofap.com/defend-alex/</ref> | ||
He also successfully sued a news website who tried to link him and his website specifically to far-right political movements.<ref>https://www.brettwilson.co.uk/blog/press-release-nofap-llc-and-alexander-rhodes-secure-substantial-libel-damages-and-apology-from-scram-news/</ref> Rhodes himself denies his website is linked to any broader movement. | He also successfully sued a news website who tried to link him and his website specifically to far-right political movements.<ref>https://www.brettwilson.co.uk/blog/press-release-nofap-llc-and-alexander-rhodes-secure-substantial-libel-damages-and-apology-from-scram-news/</ref> Rhodes himself denies his website is linked to any broader movement. | ||
== | == Fapstinence as a cult == | ||
=== Arguments for it === | === Arguments for it === | ||
# The Argument that Asceticism as historically involved with the occult (e.g. Satanism)<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueOffMyChest/comments/a2mdsa/nofap_is_a_fucking_buckshit_cult_filled_with/</ref> | # The Argument that Asceticism as historically involved with the occult (e.g. Satanism)<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueOffMyChest/comments/a2mdsa/nofap_is_a_fucking_buckshit_cult_filled_with/</ref> | ||
# | # No-fap can enable chronic anxiety<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueOffMyChest/comments/co1he5/rnofap_is_a_cult/</ref> and insomnia<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueOffMyChest/comments/n5csu7/i_have_survived_the_worst_days_of_my_life_after_8/</ref> | ||
# A lack of historical context on Victorian celibacy<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/circlebroke/comments/20ipuu/rnofap_is_turning_into_an_ascetic_cult/</ref> | # A lack of historical context on Victorian celibacy<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/circlebroke/comments/20ipuu/rnofap_is_turning_into_an_ascetic_cult/</ref> | ||
# Alpha-faking and ego-stroking (i.e. insecurity) in the movement<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueOffMyChest/comments/gf15ie/rnofap_is_becoming_a_sad_cult_of_delusional/</ref> | # Alpha-faking and ego-stroking (i.e. insecurity) in the movement<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueOffMyChest/comments/gf15ie/rnofap_is_becoming_a_sad_cult_of_delusional/</ref> | ||
=== Arguments against it === | === Arguments against it === | ||
# Those that complain that | # Those that complain that no-fap does not work, often has traits of [[Elliot Rodger]] (e.g. aggression, apathy of women, "hatred" against women). | ||
# Pornography and sexual idolatry also have historical basis in the occult | # Pornography and sexual idolatry also have historical basis in the occult | ||
=== Ulterior political motives of both sides === | === Ulterior political motives of both sides === | ||
Feminists<ref>https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/NoFap</ref> have identified that | Feminists<ref>https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/NoFap</ref> have identified that fapstinence as a practice has largely gained traction among various far-right movements, such as the "Proud Boys", who advised members to adopt "NoWanks" as a method of attaining the motivation to approach women.<ref>https://gen.medium.com/why-are-the-proud-boys-so-obsessed-with-masturbation-c9932364ebe2</ref> | ||
== | == Fapstinence as a paradoxical fetish == | ||
Orgasm denial<ref>https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Erotic_sexual_denial</ref> is a subtype of BDSM, and that ironically, those that claim to be "ascetics" and the political right are engaging in this debauchery through open declaration. There is a claim that populists and hyper-conservatives are more likely to engage in BDSM-like behaviors, since it is an analogue to authoritarian policies<ref>https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Conservative-sexual-fetishes-A-hardcore-guide-2511250.php</ref>. Others have suggested that US Democrats fantasizes about BDSM more, whilst US Republicans fantasizes about cuckoldry more<ref>https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/10/27/sexual-fantasies-republicans-democrats-politics-221919/</ref> (note: that the Democrat-Republican axis and the liberal-conservative axis can be non-equivalent). Some<ref>https://jerusalemmortimer.com/why-might-left-wing-people-have-more-bdsm-fantasies-than-right-wingers/</ref> attempted to explain that populism is the intermediating factor. In UK politics<ref>https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2015/02/13/50-shades-left-and-right-sex-and-politics-britain</ref> Labor (Left) are more likely to engage in Oral Sex and Role Play, whereas LibDem and UKIP (Libertarians) are more likely to engage in masturbation and bondage. | Orgasm denial<ref>https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Erotic_sexual_denial</ref> is a subtype of BDSM, and that ironically, those that claim to be "ascetics" and the political right are engaging in this debauchery through open declaration. There is a claim that populists and hyper-conservatives are more likely to engage in BDSM-like behaviors, since it is an analogue to authoritarian policies<ref>https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Conservative-sexual-fetishes-A-hardcore-guide-2511250.php</ref>. Others have suggested that US Democrats fantasizes about BDSM more, whilst US Republicans fantasizes about cuckoldry more<ref>https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/10/27/sexual-fantasies-republicans-democrats-politics-221919/</ref> (note: that the Democrat-Republican axis and the liberal-conservative axis can be non-equivalent). Some<ref>https://jerusalemmortimer.com/why-might-left-wing-people-have-more-bdsm-fantasies-than-right-wingers/</ref> attempted to explain that populism is the intermediating factor. In UK politics<ref>https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2015/02/13/50-shades-left-and-right-sex-and-politics-britain</ref> Labor (Left) are more likely to engage in Oral Sex and Role Play, whereas LibDem and UKIP (Libertarians) are more likely to engage in masturbation and bondage. | ||
The paradox goes further, and that religious fundamentalists, [[Tradcon|TradCon]] and anti-democracy advocates are are likely to both use porn, and desire the banning of pornography.<ref>https://doi.org<nowiki/>/10.1207/s15327825mcs0703_2</ref> Those who are prone to porn addiction are more likely to be low in Emotional Stability, Extraversion, and Conscientiousness whilst being high in Agreeableness<ref>https://doi.org<nowiki/>/10.1016/j.jsxm.2020.01.007</ref><ref>https://www.heighpubs.org/jatr/pdf/jatr-aid1011.pdf</ref>, which are more likely to fit the psychological profile of "Right Wing Authoritarians" and unlikely to fit with Dark Triad traits. Rapists are not prone to porn use however.<ref><nowiki>https://archive.ph/HmWrb</nowiki></ref> Pedophile, are ironically, more biologically masculinized,<ref>https://doi.org<nowiki/>/10.1038/s41398-018-0326-0</ref> while those that are against promiscuity are more feminized.<ref>https://doi.org<nowiki/>/10.1098/rsbl.2014.0977</ref> From an evolutionary perspective, it can be said that rapists and pedophiles are more likely to be fast LH whilst those that are [[Tradcon|TradCon]] and are more emotional about | The paradox goes further, and that religious fundamentalists, [[Tradcon|TradCon]] and anti-democracy advocates are are likely to both use porn, and desire the banning of pornography.<ref>https://doi.org<nowiki/>/10.1207/s15327825mcs0703_2</ref> Those who are prone to porn addiction are more likely to be low in Emotional Stability, Extraversion, and Conscientiousness whilst being high in Agreeableness<ref>https://doi.org<nowiki/>/10.1016/j.jsxm.2020.01.007</ref><ref>https://www.heighpubs.org/jatr/pdf/jatr-aid1011.pdf</ref>, which are more likely to fit the psychological profile of "Right Wing Authoritarians" and unlikely to fit with Dark Triad traits. Rapists are not prone to porn use however.<ref><nowiki>https://archive.ph/HmWrb</nowiki></ref> Pedophile, are ironically, more biologically masculinized,<ref>https://doi.org<nowiki/>/10.1038/s41398-018-0326-0</ref> while those that are against promiscuity are more feminized.<ref>https://doi.org<nowiki/>/10.1098/rsbl.2014.0977</ref> From an evolutionary perspective, it can be said that rapists and pedophiles are more likely to be fast LH whilst those that are [[Tradcon|TradCon]] and are more emotional about fapstinence are more likely to be slow LH. | ||
==No Nut November== | ==No Nut November== | ||
Another subgroup of the fapstinence effort, is the group No Nut November. The main goal of this group is to avoid ejaculating for an entire month, typically the month of November. This month was largely randomly chosen, so there is no fixed commemoration. However, it has largely the same end goal as the other major fapstinence group, NoFap, although each adherent has slight differences in its manifestations. As a counterpoint, Destroy Dick December is by some embraced to make good for the previous month of abstinence.<ref>https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/destroy-dick-december-masturbation-challenge-meme/</ref> | Another subgroup of the fapstinence effort, is the group No Nut November. The main goal of this group is to avoid ejaculating for an entire month, typically the month of November. This month was largely randomly chosen, so there is no fixed commemoration. However, it has largely the same end goal as the other major fapstinence group, NoFap, although each adherent has slight differences in its manifestations. As a counterpoint, Destroy Dick December is by some embraced to make good for the previous month of abstinence.<ref>https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/destroy-dick-december-masturbation-challenge-meme/</ref> | ||