Men’s day indeed!

- November 19, 2022

You know what date it is today, don’t you?

A few years ago, a young man challenged me about the importance of today, the 19th of November. Now it is the birthday of a darling friend and the wedding anniversary of another dear one, and I wish them tons of joy and happiness, is what I told him. No, in a haughty proof of his superior knowledge on topics general, he enlightened me that the day is observed as International Men’s Day (IMD) the world over. I thought it was a joke, and a very poor one at that. But what the heck? Turned out he was right.

This men’s day thing has been observed since 1992 and here I thought that every day was men’s day since that genius Adam somehow convinced his partner to bite into an apple, the fruit which was the first one to make it into Bible, and create all this chaos. We shall talk about apples some other time. Right now, my only concern is – the present, i.e., today.

It was obviously a man, Thomas Oaster, who had in 1992, decided that IMD be observed. Looks like men then went back to being men, watching sports channels with beer or whatever they drank, in their hands and men’s day went into a vacuum.

Again in 1999, Jerome Teelucksingh jolted men back into observing the day to ‘honour his father's birthday’ and also to celebrate ‘how on that date in 1989 Trinidad and Tobago's football team had united the country with their endeavours to qualify for the World Cup.’ Ask Google baba, if you don’t believe me. Had he been in India, he would have chosen some cricket match, maybe the 1983 World Cup win, to celebrate.

When Teelucksingh revived it, it was with the objective, “They are striving for gender equality and patiently attempt to remove the negative images and the stigma associated with men in our society.”

Now this is confusing. It is one thing to share repetitive jokes and poorly made videos about wives and women torturing men, but the idea of IMD did not start as a protest/rebellion by any man abused by woman or women. So, what kind of gender equality were they seeking?

You see, the UN does not recognize IMD, though it is mostly men in there who make the decisions and the policies. Are they not convinced enough? The UN does, however, observe and celebrate International Women’s Day on a big scale. That makes one thing clear to me. Women need empowerment and restoration of rights more than men do.

Moreover, the United Nations, in 2013, decided that World Toilet Day should be observed this day. Toilet and men, any connection? Perhaps they agreed that toilets and sanitation are essential for health, hygiene and environment, yet forgive me for putting it this crudely, it is the men who have no qualms about exposing themselves as they choose to unzip their pants and water the walls anywhere any time.

We have words like mankind, man-made, man days, manpower, manhunt, manhole, even heroes. Doesn’t that make it obvious that it has been a man’s world all along?

What a simple woman’s mind, mine, does not understand is why do then men need women to show their worth and masculinity and why do they find it easier to achieve that by showing women in a bad light. Is offence the best form of defence? Just look at these ads from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

Left: Martini & Rossi 1960s Middle: Cigar Institute of America 1960s
Right: Leggs trousers 1970s
The top photo is an ad for Lucky Tiger Hair Tonic in the 1950s. Do men think his is how a woman's mind works?

If you are a male reader, let me share this with you. Your gender is celebrating the day so that you achieve these objectives:

To promote positive male role models: not just movie stars and sports men but every day, working-class men who are living decent, honest lives.

To celebrate men’s positive contributions to society, community, family, marriage, child care, and the environment.

To focus on men’s health and wellbeing: social, emotional, physical, and spiritual.

To highlight discrimination against men in areas of social services, social attitudes and expectations, and law.

To improve gender relations and promote gender equality.

To create a safer, better world, where people can be safe and grow to reach their full potential

That is a lot of English for me.

If you are one of those, who think they have to slog to earn, look after the family and you are the poor oppressed population on the earth, go ahead, be a woman for one day and let me know how much you enjoyed it.

Anyway, let me share with you that the theme this year is ‘Helping men and boys.’ I have no idea how men aim to achieve that. My suggestion? Request your dad, train your son, tell your brother, to provide a level playing field to women. What do I mean by that?

Merely looking at and appreciating consumer company ads showing how men (should) share a woman’s task or respect her, is not sufficient. Centuries of oppression has egged women on to work harder and prove themselves better. They are coming up in a big way. So, prepare boys and men for fair competition, let the women have their due.

Australians plan to observe it as ‘Celebrating mateship’ (#MakeTime4Mates),‘Men Leading by Example’.

So till you figure out how you plan to achieve this, go ahead and enjoy the thought of having a day to your gender. Happy Men’s Day to all the men on this planet!