He withdrew from relationships with women entirely. He posts about it every day.
Literal meaning: MGTOW — Men Going Their Own Way — describes a movement of men who have chosen to withdraw from romantic and sexual relationships with women, framing this withdrawal as a rational response to what they characterise as an unfair legal, social, and sexual environment hostile to men.
Origin: The MGTOW movement coalesced online in the mid-2000s, with a dedicated community forming around 2008. It draws on men’s rights activism but takes a more explicitly separatist position: rather than seeking to reform laws or social norms, MGTOW advocates withdrawal. The movement ranges from men who simply prefer solitude to those with explicit anti-woman ideologies. Reddit’s r/MGTOW was banned in 2021 for hate speech; communities migrated to alternative platforms.
Male withdrawal from relationships with women as a principled political position — where personal choice is reframed as ideological refusal.
The Appeal: MGTOW addresses genuine male experiences of family court disadvantage, false accusations, and the sense that the social and legal environment systematically disadvantages men in relationships. For men who have experienced painful divorces or custody battles, the “go your own way” logic is not merely resentment — it is risk management. The movement also includes men who simply prefer autonomy and solitude, without ideological investment.
The Friction: The political framing of personal withdrawal is the analytical core. Sigma Male is the identity framework: withdrawal reframed as superiority. Blackpill is the more extreme terminus: if the system is rigged and cannot be changed, withdrawal is the only rational response. The movement’s ideological spectrum is wide — from benign autonomy preference to explicit misogyny — but the community structures tend to escalate: researchers including Michael Flood have documented how MGTOW forums radicalise members toward more extreme positions over time. The comparison to JOMO — Joy of Missing Out — is instructive: both frame withdrawal as choice, but MGTOW frames it as political resistance rather than personal preference.
Why This Matters: MGTOW makes visible how personal choices get politicised — and how a community organised around withdrawal can become organised around resentment. The choice to be alone is entirely legitimate. The ideology built on top of it is something different.
Related terms: Blackpill · SMV (Sexual Market Value) · Manosphere · Incel · Red Pill · Hypergamy · Sigma Male · JOMO · Deplatforming
Read more:
- Men Going Their Own Way — Gotell, L. & Dutton, E. (2016). *International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy_, 5(2), pp. 65-80
- Digital Culture, Online Misogyny, and Gender-based Violence — Ging, D. & Siapera, E. (2018). The Handbook of Gender, Communication, and Women’s Human Rights. Chapter 13