I think there may be some of the not wanting to stand up but I imagine most is escapism.In my opinion, a man cave is for males who don't have the balls to stand up to their wives and say NO, we're not going to do that. For instance, my wife loves elephants and I don't mind some of her elephant stuff, but NO we are not going to have an elephant theme. I know that is a harsh saying, but it is true, women run the house. Your house is either your domain that your woman gets to share with you or it's her domain and you get a little tiny man cave. Now don't get me wrong I love my woman's touch in my house, my woman helps me complete my house and when we lived in a bigger house @Proverbs3.5 helped me pick colors for some of the rooms, but now in our 275 square foot home, it is just white with white cedar trim inside.
I am not a sports bro, a video gamer or golfer etc or any any other get away from wife and family type of hobbiest. Prefer home and family.
I like to shoot which would qualify but happily my wife likes it also so we can share the hobby.
I just get the vibe that in our modern world where both men and women are outside of our evolutionary niche and by extension really unhappy. Guys are listless and unsatisfied because they have no mission, no crusade, no big challenges to overcome. No meaning in their lives.
Figure if you are unhappy, you will try to escape to silly fantasy world or useless pursuits.