A growing online movement known as “NoFap,” based on a series of dubious health claims about the supposed risks of masturbation—and benefits of abstaining from autoerotic activity—has attracted a following of about 450,000 on the internet forum Reddit, and about five percent of the NoFappers are women, according to a report by The Guardian newspaper.
One female NoFap adherent, identified only as Kristel, has turned her self-proclaimed non-masturbatory habits into a YouTube video with more than 1.5 million views. She told The Guardian that since she adopted a masturbation-free lifestyle, her acne has cleared up, and her hair has become healthier. “I’ve been told how much more attractive I’ve got,” she claimed.
She also said that refraining from masturbation has given her “more motivation, more willpower and more discipline.”
But beyond anecdotes such as those offered by Kristel, medical professionals generally agree that long-held beliefs about the health risks of masturbation—and the supposed benefits if abstaining—are simply myths.
In fact, according to a recent report by ScienceAlert, research generally supports the view that the practice of masturbating regularly has “actually got a whole lot going for it.”
In addition to causing the release of dopamine, the neurotransmitter that allows human beings to experience feelings of pleasure, masturbation can also serve as a painkiller by causing production of endorphins, the body’s “feel good chemicals,” according to Medical News Today, that enable the nervous system to cope with pain—and feel less of it.
In women, masturbation can reduce menstrual cramps, and also stimulates production of the hormone prolactin, a natural sleep remedy, meaning that masturbation can also help reduce insomnia, according to ScienceAlert.
The NoFap movement itself, founded eight years ago by Alexander Rhodes—who is not a medical professional or scientific researcher, but a web developer from Pittsburgh—appears to have been based upon by rather thin science.
According to The Guardian, Rhodes was inspired by a 2003 study at Hangzhou Normal College in Hangzhou, China, which found—based on a sample of only 28 men—that testosterone levels spiked on the seventh day of abstinence after ejaculation. The limited study did not, however, distinguish between ejaculation brought about by masturbation, and by sexual intercourse or other sexual activity with a partner.
In addition, the study found “no regular fluctuation [in testosterone] observed following continuous abstinence after the peak.” In other words, according to the study, abstinence from ejaculation for more than seven days would produce no benefits.
Nonetheless, The NoFap movement claims that refraining from masturbation is a method to “reboot” the brain.
Even though a growing cohort of women appear to be drawn to the NoFap Reddit forum, The Guardian reports that NoFap remains a male-dominated movement that regularly highlights “fundamentally misogynistic rhetoric.”
“The movement’s focus on testosterone inherently idealizes masculine traits, and the oft-cited claim that NoFap makes men more attractive to the opposite sex objectifies women and frames them as the 'prize' in the game of who can hold out for longest,” The Guardian report stated.
Illustration By Gustav Klimt / Wikimedia Commons Public Domain
