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]

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]

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

Scholars claimed that some men supported the MGTOW ideas because of rejection by women, perceived discrimination, unrealistic beauty standards or changing cultural norms.^[1]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]