MGTOW logo as shown in episode "Men at War" of the BBC series Reggie Yates' Extreme UK[1]
Men Going Their Own Way (more commonly abbreviated MGTOW, pronounced (/ˈmɪɡtaʊ/)) is a mostly pseudonymous online community[2][3] supported by websites and social media presences[4] cautioning men against romantic relationships with women, especially marriage.[5] The community is part of what is more broadly termed the manosphere.[6].
According to columnist Martin Daubney, members of the MGTOW community believe that legal and romantic entanglements with women fail a cost–benefit analysis and risk–benefit analysis.[7] Jeremy Nicholson writing for Psychology Today similarly described MGTOW as men frustrated with the lack of incentives to date who choose to opt out of dating and focus on taking care of themselves.[8]Kay Hymowitz has stated that some self-identified MGTOW express discontent because they see women as hypergamous and manipulative.[9]Business Insider reporter Dylan Love wrote a "fully-realized MGTOW (there are levels to it) is someone who shuns all relationships with women, short-term, long-term, romantic, and otherwise. He eventually shuns society as a whole."[10] Celibacy is another option, a MGTOW that chooses celibacy over relationships is said to be "going monk"[11] and some embrace maintaining their virginity.[12] MGTOW use the word "gynocentric" to describe conditions that favor women to the detriment of men, and are opposed to such circumstances.[13]
According to Roselina Salemi, writing for La Repubblica, the Japanese concept of herbivore men is a subset of MGTOW.[14] Mack Lamoureux writing in Vice sees herbivore men as a consequence of Japanese socioeconomic conditions and MGTOW as an ideological choice.[4] In a DELFI article MGTOW are described as a protest against feminist laws in the West whereas herbivore men are a response to traditional gender roles in Japan, such as those of salarymen.[15] Isaac Simpson writing for Animals likens MGTOW to a Western version of Japanese Herbivore Men with the caveat Herbivore Men are not typically angry, politically motivate or engaged in criticism of gender roles.[16]
^"Men at War". Reggie Yates' Extreme UK. Season 1. Episode 2. January 12, 2016. 22 minutes in. BBC. BBC Three. Archived from the original on 2016-04-01.
^Daubney, Martin (November 15, 2015). "Meet the men giving up on women". www.thesundaytimes.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2017-02-08. Retrieved 2015-12-30. As a result of these views, such men are making what they see as logical, factual and cost-benefit-based decisions about women, dating and sex – and their brutally stark conclusion is that it's simply not worth the risk, expense or effort.
^"Finalmente soli". La Repubblica (in Italian). January 12, 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-04-01. Retrieved 2016-02-08. Dentro c'è di tutto: “erbivori” (nel senso di per nulla carnali) stile giapponese, ..." (Translated: "Among [the MGTOW] there are all sorts of things: "herbivores" (meaning: no carnal relations) of the Japanese type, ...
