On November 19, the world celebrates International Men's Day, which highlights men's health, gender equality, male role models, and encouraging masculinity in its best forms.
It's also an opportunity to celebrate people who don't fit the mould of traditional masculinity, including homosexual and bisexual men, transgender people, or men who identify as non-binary.
THE HISTORY OF WORLD MEN'S DAY: An editorial by American journalist John P. Harris in 1968 criticised the Soviet system for being unbalanced because it promoted an International Women's Day for female employees but did not provide a male counterpart. Even though Harris thought that there should be a day to honour women, the communist system was flawed because of the day.
Early in the 1990s, Thomas Oaster, the Missouri Center for Men's Studies' director, urged organisations in the United States, Australia, and Malta to have modest International Men's Day celebrations in February. These events were successfully hosted by Oaster for two years, but his 1995 attempt had a low turnout. Disappointed, he abandoned his preparations to carry out the function. Australia then followed suit, leaving just Malta to carry on the celebrations.
The day was brought back in Trinidad and Tobago in 1999 by Jerome Teelucksingh of the University of the West Indies. Although there was a day to honour fathers, he came to the realisation that there was no day to honour men who were single, or who were young boys and youngsters.
Teelucksingh recognised the value of strong male role models since his father had set a great example for him. On November 19, which also happened to be his father's birthday, his country came together to support a local soccer team's efforts to qualify for the world cup.
Since the resurgence of Teelucksingh, International Men's Day has hosted to promote the positive parts of male identity on the theory that men respond more positively to positive role models than to negative gender stereotyping. The purpose of the day is to raise awareness of the value of men's physical and mental health as well as strong masculinity, not to compete with International Women's Day.
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