Locktober

About

Locktober is an informal chastity challenge, similar to No Nut November, popularized by the BDSM community in the late 2010s. Like No Nut November, it involves denying oneself an orgasm for an entire month, though it can involve the addition of a sex toy specifically designed to prevent contact with genitalia, such as a chastity cage. The challenge is mostly for men in romantic relationships. In 2024, Locktober earned an alternate meaning based on the idea of Locking In, meaning to focus and improve oneself. Mostly straight men on TikTok and elsewhere began using Locktober in this context, resulting in humorous reactions from people in the BDSM community who were aware of its original meaning.

History

It's unclear when "Locktober" started, but it has been credited to the BDSM community and appears to have started in the mid-late 2010s. One of the earliest known references to Locktober was posted to the orgasm-denial fetish Tumblr account Edging.Spaces^[1] on September 30th, 2017, who reblogged the post from his partner's deleted Tumblr account, keephimcaged. The post serves as an introduction to Locktober. The process involves putting one's penis in a chastity cage for the month, denying orgasm, while providing orgasms to their partner.

On October 4th, 2018, Urban Dictionary user Kinggold93^[6] posted a definition for Locktober, receiving over 280 likes in five years (shown below).

Over the following years, the "event" progressively gained more mainstream coverage each October, as it saw a 2018 article in IntoMore^[2] and The Independent,^[4] a 2019 article in MEL Magazine^[3] and a 2023 article in Daily Beast.^[5] Additionally, some sex toy manufacturers and online pornography content have created an economy around Locktober.

Online Presence

On Twitter, Locktober participants take advantage of the site's lax rules on adult content to post evidence of themselves participating in the Locktober challenge. On TikTok, the Locktober hashtag, which has over 25.3 million views,^[7] features sexual teasing as well as some safety protocol and joke videos about the challenge.

For example, on November 8th, 2021, TikToker kinkylifecoach posted a video about the necessity of having multiple keys for the chastity cage available in case of emergency, gaining over 25,000 likes in two years (shown below).

On October 21st of that year, user kinkytom posted a video joking about what it's like being a man participating in Locktober, gaining over 6,700 likes (shown below).

2024 Resurgence / Alternate Meaning

On September 29th, 2024, TikToker^[8] @co1inwiw posted a video with a caption reading, "L🔒cktober." In the video, he stressed that the year was almost over but that people could participate in Locktober to get their lives in order, like going to the gym, eating right and focusing on their life goals.

The TikToker was seemingly unaware of Locktober's original meaning and was instead trying to riff on the When You Gotta Lock In meme that became popular in early 2024. Over 17 days, the video received roughly 953,200 plays and 122,300 likes (shown below).

Also on September 29th, TikToker^[9] @santacruzpaleo posted a video about Locktober, reiterating the meaning present in the abovementioned video. Over the same timeframe, the TikTok gained roughly 585,800 plays and 72,300 likes (shown below).

Going into October 2024, other seemingly straight male influencers on TikTok spread the alternate meaning of Locktober. The buzz led to users, aware of Locktober's original meaning, to post memes and reactions about its rebranding. For instance, on October 10th, TikToker^[10] @andy_mosity posted a video skit about "Unassuming straight men" promoting Locktober, gaining over 1.3 million plays and 156,700 likes in six days (shown below).

Search Interest

External References