The very first time I heard about men going their own way, it sounded kind of like when modern women would talk about Lysistrata, 'lets' just deny men sex until they come round to our way of thinking.' There's shallow merit to withholding. A secondary aspect was yeah, you're frustrated I get it, that sounds like a great idea, spend time on your own, figure some shit out. Haven't we taken ourselves out of the market at some time? But then it soon became clear MGTOW was just guys festering out loud rather than doing the sometimes solitary, often difficult work of self-examination.