Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW)
Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW) is a movement that forms the so-called manosphere.[1] The MGTOW movement is seen by many scholars as misogynist, anti-feminist and male supremacist,[1] though it is denied by its followers.[2]
Origin
The MGTOW reportedly started online in the early 2000s when some bloggers wrote about their desire to avoid women and form a single-gendered society.[1] It gradually became popular with the rise of social media,[1] and was seen as one of the causes for Donald Trump to get elected as the President of the United States in 2016[3] and 2024.[4]
Beliefs
Scholars claimed that the MGTOW held the following beliefs:[1]
- Men should limit their contact with women
- All cultures are feminist unless proven otherwise
- Third-wave feminism seeks to turn men into objects of women
- Double standards that hurt men exist in dating, workplace and the legal system
- Western society has been corrupted by third-wave feminism, which seeks to redefine traditional gender roles
Causes
Scholars claimed that some men supported the MGTOW ideas because of rejection by women, perceived discrimination, unrealistic beauty standards or changing cultural norms.[1]
Similar movements
The incel movement is seen by scholars as a similar movement to the MGTOW.[2] Followers of the incel movement are called incels.[2] Scholars claimed that the incels believed that they were unable to get sex or any romantic partners.[2] Contrary to public misconceptions, incels can be men, women or non-binary people.[2]
Reception
Groups associated with the incel or MGTOW movement are often criticized by left-wing academics due to their disagreement with these groups' opposition to certain progressive values.[2][6] However, many believe that those criticizing the incel or MGTOW movement ignore the cause and effect of their existence.[6] Some critics see those criticism as "alarmist, inaccurate, and misrepresenting" the problem.[6] Mass media have also been criticized for their coverage of these groups,[6] some of which directly compare the problem to Islamic terrorism regardless of context.[6]
Media
In January 2023, The Times claimed that half of the persons referred to the Prevent,[6][7] a British counter-extremism programme, were "incels" in the year ending March 2021.[6][7] However, critics pointed out that there was no evidence to support such a claim.[6]
Government
United Kingdom
The public data from the UK Home Office showed that only 22~25% of those referred to the Prevent were classified as having "mixed, unstable or unclear ideology" (MUU) – a category for anything other than right-wing or Islamist extremism.[6][8] Among the small percentage of the referred, a small number of them were seen as potential terrorists,[6] with some referrals dropped by specialists as they did not know the definition of incel.[6]
Academia
Some scholars emphasized that most incels or MGTOW were lonely, depressed young men,[6][9] many of whom were neurodivergent,[6][9] of diverse ages, religions, ethnicities and sexual orientations.[6][9] The social stigma is said to be refutable but repeatedly promoted by self-declared experts against the "lonely, depressed young men".[6] The self-declared experts were also criticized for misusing dubious statistics (e.g. cherry-picking) to support their bias.[6][10]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW): What You Need to Know". Anti-Defamation League (ADL). March 20, 2024. Retrieved April 16, 2025.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6
- Rauch, Allison (January 13, 2025). "red pill and blue pill". Britannica. Retrieved March 4, 2025.
- Friedland, Roger (2018). "Donald's Dick: A Man Against the Institutions". In Mast, Jason L.; Alexander, Jeffrey C. (eds.). Politics of Meaning/Meaning of Politics: Cultural Sociology of the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 115–133. doi:10.1111/soin.12328. ISBN 978-3-319-95944-3. S2CID 210440082.
- Ging, Debbie (2019). "Alphas, Betas, and Incels: Theorizing the Masculinities of the Manosphere". Men and Masculinities. 22 (4): 638–657. doi:10.1177/1097184x17706401. ISSN 1097-184X. S2CID 149239953.
- Goldwag, Arthur (March 1, 2012a). "Leader's Suicide Brings Attention to Men's Rights Movement". Intelligence Report (Spring 2012). Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
- Goldwag, Arthur (May 15, 2012b). "Intelligence Report Article Provokes Fury Among Men's Rights Activists". Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). Retrieved February 9, 2020.
- Hodapp, Christa (2017). Men's Rights, Gender, and Social Media. Lanham, Md.: Lexington Books. ISBN 978-1-49-852617-3.
- ↑ Nagle, Angela (2017). Kill All Normies: Online Culture Wars From 4Chan And Tumblr To Trump And The Alt-Right. Alresford, England: John Hunt Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78535-543-1.
- ↑ Fernando, Christine (November 30, 2024). "Emboldened 'manosphere' accelerates threats and demeaning language toward women after US election". Associated Press (AP). Retrieved January 20, 2025.
- ↑ French: Peinture de style kalighat, "Femme battant un homme avec un balai," Calcutta, Inde, 1875.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Kates, Naama (January 23, 2023). "The moral panic over incels". Spiked. Retrieved March 4, 2025.
- 1 2 "Prevent anti-extremist scheme must tackle incels, MP warns". The Times. January 20, 2023. Retrieved March 4, 2025.
- ↑ "Individuals referred to and supported through the Prevent Programme, England and Wales, April 2020 to March 2021". UK Home Office. November 18, 2021. Retrieved March 4, 2025.
- 1 2 3 Costello, William; Arevalo, Vania Rolon; Thomas, Andrew G; Schmitt, David (2022). "Levels of well-being among men who are incels (involuntary celibates)". ResearchGate. doi:10.31219/osf.io/tnf7b. Retrieved March 4, 2025.
- ↑ Signal, Jesse (September 26, 2022). "That New Report On Incels Is A Cherry-picked, Misleading Mess". Signal-Minded. Retrieved March 4, 2025.