The strange death of the English hobby.

It is better to have a hobby than to be entertained.

Hidden pergola, London.

Hobbies are important. They provide a taste of MGTOW for men who are not living the MGTOW life. He may be in an oppressive marriage but while he is engaged in his hobby he is free. Wise women have always understood this. It is necessary to allow men time with other men so that they can return to the family home refreshed.

Unfortunately this escape is now under a double attack. We have our employers who encroach upon our private life. The traditional English notion of keeping ones work and private life separate was an essential part of the lost English civilisation that many still morn.

We also have increacing demands upon our time from women. Women's magazines sell their readers the notion of the soul mate- someone who completes the other. This idea is destructive because it tells women they are incomplete on their own and it causes them to become crazy and possessive over time men spend without them.

A man will often return from work to find that his 'free' time has already been planned for him in advance by his wife or girlfriend. This may include visits to friends, shopping trips and DIY. These activities may be pleasant enough but they are by no means 'free' time.

A man who lacks free time will eventually forget who he is. This is a terrible and real danger and a major cause of male suicide.

The only solution to this is free time. This may be enjoyed alone or it may be with ones peers but it must be unsupervised by any authority.

The traditional way in which men have enjoyed this time is through hobbies and it is time we reclaimed them.

There is a right way and a wrong way to do so.

A London mews street.

I read an article on Gentleman's Gazette on hobbies (written by a woman). She came up with an interesting list. Cooking, Sport participation, Culture, Travel and Art.

This is almost the same list that I had produced for myself.. But when it came to the reasons. Oh dear! According to Gentleman's Gazette one should do all these things to attract women!!

In other words hobbies are to be taken up for the appearance and not for their innate pleasure. The hobby becomes one more supervised activity except that the supervision is done at a distance. One more thing a man must do or must be in order to be worthy of praise.

I take another approach. Let us look at the list once again.

Cooking. A love of food shows that a man values himself and takes a European, more pleasure oriented approach to life. In most of continental Europe work stops for lunch which shows that the Europeans value themselves. To my mind this does not show laziness but a healthy self esteem and is very MGTOW.



My 'sport' is to walk in London.

Participation Sport. This indicates that one is a team player and respected by other men. These are good qualities in a husband and an employee but they are also good MGTOW qualities too. Men do not bond over feelings. They bond over joint activities such as sport.

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Culture. This is taken to mean 'high culture', art appreciation and so on. This is attractive to women and employers because it shows us to be rounded humans rather than beasts from the fields. It can also benefit us in ways that are hard to describe. It is good for the soul to enjoy beauty without feeling the need to own it. If we can learn to do this we can develop a rich inner life even while we are poor. Unfortunately this will only happen of we appreciate the culture for what it is and not as a means of promoting ourselves. This is why lists such as the one promoted by Gentleman's Gazette are so dangerous. They point to a new world but slam the door shut on it at the same time. If art is experienced as a means of showing off it becomes meaningless.

Travel. This broadens the mind, so they say. There is a part of all of us that wish to escape from where we are so the exotic stranger is always exciting. It shows employers that we are self reliant and can get things done. Nevertheless the main reason to travel is self development. We should do these things for ourselves and not for any other person.

Artistic Creation. Artists and rock stars are attractive to women and many employers like to pretend they are 'creative industries' so they employ starving artists to do office work.  We should take advantage of this if we need to but we should never become an artist for anyone's sake but our own.

IN SHORT the hobby list is a good one. Only the motives are wrong. Pick one that appeals and run with it but never ask yourself if it is the 'right' hobby for a girlfriend or a job.