But the culture of work ethic being normative for men certainly supported them!

I dunno about that; after all they were mathematicians, not investors. Historically mainstream society hasn't exactly swooned at “nerds”.

I can only speak for myself. Unlike most people, I don’t “work” at all, in the sense of doing anything with the conscious goal of making money. All I do is think about what interests me, and discuss the results of that thinking with other people. As long as governments (and philanthropists like Mike Lazaridis) are willing to pay me for my non-work, I’m happy to take their money. If they ever stop paying me, I guess I’ll have to find some other source of income.

-- Scott Aaronson

Throughout history most of the great art, music, science, literature, mathematics and technology was produced by guys who would today be classed as MGTOW.

-- MGTOW.com