For those unaware, there is a movement that is called MGTOW. "MGTOW" is an acronym for "Men Going Their Own Way". Essentially, this movement is men who are not wanting to be held down by societal expectations of relationships, marriage, having a family. The MGTOW wants to be as far away from that as human possible. This movement is not without criticism though. It has drawn a bit of a stereotype about being "basement dwellers" or men who just had bad relationships so now they generalize on the character and behavior of all women. Until recently, I had thought about becoming MGTOW, that is, swearing off relationships, giving up on marriage, but then I had a realization. This movement is absolutely not for me.
Why is that though? There are actually quite a few reasons for this. Movements within identity politics are defined by the lowest and most fringe practitioners. The lowest and most fringe practitioners in MGTOWs case are the misogynist "all women are the enemy" type of MGTOW and I do not want to give credence to movements that justify third wave feminism. Now I am not saying that ALL MGTOWs are misogynists. The misogynist ones are just happening to get the largest platform. Look at The Mayor of MGTOWn to see exactly what I mean.
The Mayor made a video (recently responded to by Armoured Skeptic) wherein he referred to women as "the enemy". Maybe it is just the fact that I was raised in a virtually all female household, but this is not a viewpoint that I hold. This is not to say I grew up without a father because I did have my dad growing up to. I value all of the lessons that I have learned from both of parents. It's vital for children to have at the very least figures by which they learn and grow. Without that, we are not only doing a disservice to individuals. Without that, we are creating individuals who don't know how to deal with their own problems.
But I am a man who has not really been in a great deal of relationships (in terms of quantity or ones that have been functional). This being said, MGTOW should appeal to me; however, why shouldn't I work on self-improvement? Why shouldn't I do something about who I am as a person? Why shouldn't I strive to be the best version of myself that I can be?
This is merely my subjective opinion, but I feel as though MGTOW is a useless ideology. It makes you hate people you don't know and make an enemy where there is not one.
Dave - This is the same kind of post written thousands of times by authors who don't understand MGTOW but profess that they do. First, MGTOW is not a movement. It is a lifestyle choice.
Finding an example of someone who is a MGTOW that YOU identify as a 'misogynist' and using that to claim MGTOW is a useless ideology is an extremely weak argument.
Try researching how men are robbed of their due process when a woman simply accuses him of something like assault or rape; or in family court. How many men are made to pay child support for children proven not to be theirs? How about how men are sentenced to longer prison sentences than women are for the same crimes. Look at the way men are portrayed on television. Look at how society sees it as permissible for women to assault men. Belittle them. On and on. And men are powerless to do anything about it because the laws are stacked against them. Look at the Violence Against Women Act, which is basically just a law that establishes that even when a man is assaulted by a woman, the man will get arrested. And so they do the only thing they can do - they stay away from women. Your post reflects a clear lack of research and understanding about the actual topic. I'm really not sure why you bothered to write this. You obviously didn't care enough about the topic to gather even a little bit of information.
So agreed with you.
Super condensending post by Mr. I know everything better than you.
OMG, he sounds like a wife.
=O
Well said
"The lowest and most fringe practitioners in MGTOWs case are the misogynist "all women are the enemy" type of MGTOW and I do not want to give credence to movements that justify third wave feminism."
Clearly he doesn't understand. Women use the state against men. Women also rob from men by getting free crap from the government. Women do pay taxes but as a whole they get a lot of it back whereas men don't. On top of that women want men to pay for dates when these women bring noting to the table other than their used vagina. This isn't hating women. I didn't go my own way due to shitty relationship I went my own way because I saw how men are treated. Women don't want to do any chores if they can get away with it or at least the minimual amount.
Never want to live with a woman let alone get married. Since women complain men don't do enough of the house work they can live on their own. I am fine living alone cooking and cleaning for myself.
The last woman I dealt with didn't even cook she had her sister cook two sausages for us. I had one sausage for a meal. When i got to work I had to eat another meal because she didn't even provide enough. Now you think I'm entitled but as soon I wasn't working during the day she wanted me at her place. That meant I couldn't even go home and cook myself a meal to eat. I spent more money on her with flowers and even bought her food for mothers day which cost me $80.
Yeah, it seems a bit silly to make that into one's ideology. One should just respect himself as a man and seek things that make him happy.
Sometimes it's a relationship, sometimes it's anything but.
Well, after men choose to go there own way, they tend to work on self-actualization because everyone needs to have goals and things to work on, but they do not do it for a woman, as they are not going to get married. However, based on your questions I can tell that you want to improve yourself so that you can be a man who can please a woman, you want to improve yourself for her. Each to their own, if pleasing a woman and getting words of appreciation in return is enough to give your life fulfillment, then that is what you should do.
well put
since it's not an ideology, makes your article ridiculous.
Its more to do with laws against Men and the continuous battle to replace men in society with women .
Its safer to go your own way than to face the continuous sexism in favour of women , to avoid universties that seek out and favour women , to avoid the courts that favour women , to avoid the films that are majority made for women , to avoid the fake rape accusations where women must be believed and not questioned , to avoid joining in with a society that seems set to destroy the very men who built it and pay the taxes for it .
if you want to risk entrapment via divorce , or child payments for life or maybe a fake rape charge then then go ahead but for some the line has been crossed and men dont trust the women / government pact with their money children lives or liberty - its not a game and the rules are one sided .
Even bad publicity is good publicity.
I once subscribed to this ideology myself. Heaven knows what for, though.
I've only had one relationship so far in my life, and I actually dumped her for not being honest.
I ended up coming to the realization last year that my life, circumstances, problems and pain could ultimately be pinned on no one but myself.
I've since embarked on a course of self-improvement with the intention of becoming who I've always wanted to become.
I'm happy keeping an open mind when it comes to relationships, but I don't need to assign blame to women to account for my shortcomings, which, contrary to what most self-proclaimed mgtow like to state again and again, is exactly what mgtow does.
As far as marriage goes, it never made sense to me anyway - marriage sucks for men from all angles. They're spot on with that assertion.
I don't consider myself MGTOW but I watch videos sometimes and I have to say that there is plenty of self improvement in MGTOW from what I could see.
Check out my latest video, MGTOW Actualized. I'm starting a self improvement series.
Marriage is betting half your stuff that she will love you for the rest of your life. Pretty bad odds.