International Men’s Day 2020

International Men’s Day (IMD) is an international event that takes place annually on the 19 November. The day is observed by 44 countries and the intention – analogous to International Women’s Day (IWD) – is to celebrate the achievements of men as well as highlight men’s issues.

To address the elephant in the room, its fair to say that IMD is not as widely known, nor celebrated as much as International Women’s Day which takes place annually on 8 March. I have lost count of how many times men have asked me “Why is there an International Women’s Day and not an International Men’s Day?” and I have to ironically mansplain to them that in fact it’s on the 19th November.

So, let’s take some time to learn a little but more about it.

History

IMD has been around for a very long time and isn’t some new woke trend. In the late 1960’s American journalist John P. Harris criticised the lack of balance in the Soviet system whereby female workers were celebrated on International Women’s Day without promoting a day for men. He saw this as a flaw in the Communist system and concluded that "this strikes me as unwarranted discrimination and rank injustice”. This criticism continued up until the 1990s, until finally the first Men’s day began to be celebrated.

Initially, small informal events took place in the early 1990s to celebrate the day in the US and Europe, however it was in 1999 when citizens in Trinidad and Tobago were the first to observe IMD on 19 November officially.

Themes

2020’s theme is “making a difference to men and boys’ lives” and in the UK, this year the intention is to shine light on men’s issues such as:

• the high male suicide rate;

• short life expectancy and workplace deaths;

• male victims of violence and domestic violence, and;

• the challenges faced by men as parents, particularly new fathers and separated fathers.

Across November in the UK there will be a Parliamentary debate, policy launches, employer days, community events, health days, business events, debates, student events, political events, gigs, conferences, competitions, comedy nights and charity fundraisers.

There were over 200 events in 2018 – and in 2019, #internationalmensday was the biggest Twitter trend in the UK on the day itself.

Last year, Theresa May, became the first British Prime Minister to acknowledge International Men’s Day saying: "I recognise the important issues that this event seeks to highlight, including men’s health, male suicide rates and the under-performance of boys in schools, these are serious issues that must be addressed in a considered way."

Controversy

All you have to do is Google “International Men’s Day controversy” to see that both men and women have mixed opinions on the matter.

Some women take the stance of “every day is international men’s day”, and state that men are still running politics, corporations, sport and the media, hence they don’t need a day.

Some of the men who are actually aware of the day and would like for it to be celebrated, are often left frustrated that unlike International Women’s day, the day is not mentioned on Facebook and Google, and is overshadowed by the UN World Toilet Day which is celebrated on the same day.

At FLO, we are in support of IMD as we recognise that men, just like every group of people on this planet, are diverse. Not all men across the world are the same nor do they face the same issues. We cannot move forward as an equal society without recognising that male suicide rates are real, men also are victims of domestic violence, men get raped and men are separated from their children.

I hope that the men that ask me every 8th March on International Women’s Day ‘why isn’t there an International day for men?’ take the time to read this article and can take something away from it. It’s time to stop using International Women’s Day to educate men about their own festivities. Therefore, I am dedicating this article to all the men in my life who have asked me sarcastically why men don’t have their own day…because you do!

Happy International Men’s Day!

Words by Ayisha Paw