MEN WANT WHAT??

International Men?s Day doesn?t get a lot of coverage. It generally passes by without so much as an op-ed piece or panel discussion.

No rallying calls to arms for affirmative action; no pulse-taking about the status of men in society and how the men?s movement is trucking along.

Well, no surprises there: there isn?t one. Protest movements are, after all, borne of need.

But what would a men?s movement look like? What would men need ? or want ? to achieve to make their world better?

In 1999 UNESCO started up International Men?s Day on November 19 to honour men?s contribution to society. Its stated objectives are to focus on male health, improving gender relations, promoting gender equality, and highlighting positive male role models.

?It is an occasion for men,? says the official statement, ?to celebrate their achievements and contributions, in particular their contributions to community, family, marriage, and child care, while highlighting the discrimination against them.?

?Men make sacrifices everyday in their place of work, in their role as husbands and fathers, for their families, for their friends, for their communities and for their nation. International Men?s Day is an opportunity for people everywhere of goodwill to appreciate and celebrate the men in their lives and the contribution they make to society for the greater good of all.?

Warwick Marsh, the Australian co-ordinator of International Men?s Day, reiterates with his five key goals of the day:

? Improving gender relations
? Addressing the problems and challenges men face
? Promoting gender equality
? Highlighting positive male role models
? Creating a safer and better world

(Which sounds a bit like what women want.)

The theme of this year?s international Men?s Day is Positive Male Role Models and, Marsh says, this means ?not just movie stars and sportsmen? but ordinary working men leading honest lives.

Men are still the ones who go to war, the ones who rush into burning buildings. Mostly they are the ones who perform the most dangerous jobs in the world. It is mostly men who die for their country, and Marsh makes note that today is also the anniversary of the sinking of the HMAS Sydney, in which 645 men lost their lives in 1941.

Men are also railroaded and trapped by gender roles. They too feel the burden of society?s expectations.

In the name of gender equality (and ad hoc social research), we at The Hoopla want to throw this issue over for discussion. How should we honour men?s contribution to society on International Men?s Day today?

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What particular problems and challenges do you think they face?

And in keeping with this year?s theme ? what sort of male role models should we be promoting?

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Source: http://thehoopla.com.au/men-want/

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