It seems the straights have gotten ahold of another word they don’t quite understand. On TikTok, a series of posts, from seemingly straight men, have been heralding the arrival of “Locktober” and “Locktober Fest.” They’ve been encouraging each other to “lock in” on personal and fitness goals, giving each other daily updates, and even making t-shirts under a banner that fetishists have been using for almost a decade to mean something wholly different. But shockingly, there are some striking parallels between the two meanings.
“Locktober challenge starts soon,” Brendan Ruh from Santa Cruz Medicinals says in a video that seems to be the genesis of the new trend. “What is Locktober? What do I want you to do? No processed food for 30 days.” He continues: hit protein goals, read one book before the end of the month, and “work out like a demon.” In addition, the challenge advocates for discarding vices like alcohol and drugs. The trend appears to be a self-help scheme for people to “lock in” to build a better version of themselves. Operating much in the way of Lent and Dry January, it advocates for eschewing some of the either unhealthy or less desirable parts of yourself in a concerted effort to get closer to your goals.
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And while there’s some commonality, this is not the same thing as the Locktober event that started online as far back as 2015, which entails 31 days of being in chastity, a fetish where one wears a locked device on their genitals. Unlike what some may report or believe, chastity and Locktober are not exclusive to gays or queer folk. It, too, is an exercise of focus and willpower, often incorporating concepts of dominance and submission. For some, chastity devices involve orgasm denial for the duration of the month. For others, it only requires orgasm denial from penile stimulation, allowing those who are locked to focus on other sources of pleasure (NSFW link).
Like the newly co-opted version, the kink community’s Locktober also comes with its own social media updates. Those indulging on social media often post photos to track their progress (again, these links are NSFW). Others with keyholders (a person who holds the keys to their chastity devices) may be subjected to random cage checks where they are expected to take a photo of themselves in chastity within a specific amount of time to ensure they haven’t removed it. (Some individuals in chastity self-lock and do not have a keyholder.)
Another coincidental similarity: A fetishist’s Locktober can also sometimes lead to muscle gains. While locked, some participants find that going to the gym and staying physically active can distract and sometimes allow them to vent pent up energy that builds as a result of being caged.
As gays in the know continue to poke fun at these bros, maybe the social media mishap can turn into some mode of discovery for the new Locktober adopters. Chastity can be practiced as an extremely private fetish! Who’s to say that under the sweats and gym shorts, these straight boys don’t already have something they are leaving out of their Locktober descriptions.
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