All you need to know about International Men’s Day

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When do people all over the world celebrate International Men’s Day?

International Men’s Day (IMD) is a global holiday. People celebrate it annually on November 19 to recognize and celebrate the cultural, political, and socioeconomic achievements of men.

What is the objective of celebrating this day?

International Men’s Day celebrates worldwide the positive value men bring to the world, their families, and communities. One of the six pillars of International Men’s Day is to improve gender relations and promote gender equality not only for men but for women too.

The objectives of celebrating an International Men’s Day are set out in ‘All the Six Pillars of International Men’s Day’. The 6 Pillars of International Men’s Day are:

  • To promote positive male role models; not just movie stars and sportsmen 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 to 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.

What is the history of International Men’s Day?

Thomas Oaster inaugurated the project in 1992 on 7 February. However, he conceived the project of International Men’s Day one year earlier on 8 February 1991. However, he re-initialized the project in 1999 in Trinidad and Tobago.

The longest-running celebration of International Men’s Day is in Malta, where events have occurred since 7 February 1994. Now as Malta was the only country that observed the February date of celebrating Men and their contribution to society, the Maltese AMR Committee voted in 2009 to shift the date for IMD to 19 November.

How did International Men’s Day begin?

Dr. Jerome Teelucksingh founded this day on November 19, 1999. He was a history lecturer at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad and Tabago.

Authorities made the calls for the creation of International Men’s Day since at least the 1960s, with The New York Times writing in February 1969: “Many men have been agitating privately to make February 23 International Men’s Day, the equivalent of March 8, which is International Women’s Day.”

Global calls for its creation continued but various attempts for its launch did not get much response. In the later decades, people made attempts in individual countries to celebrate International Men’s Day, such as in the U.S., Canada, France, Colombia, Russia, Canada, China. But these smaller initiatives suffered a lack of publicity and were discontinued as a result.

The day only gained international traction after it was inaugurated by Teelucksingh in 1999, receiving overwhelming support in the Caribbean region.

The day is now independently celebrated in several countries, including the U.S., Canada, U.K., Singapore, Australia, India, South Africa, Haiti, Jamaica, Hungary, Malta, Ghana, and Moldova, while “interest in the event is increasing rapidly,” the website says.

What is the theme of this day in 2021?

Better relations between men and women”. This is the theme for Men’s Day 2021. International Men’s Day encourages men to teach the boys in their lives the values, character, and responsibilities of being a man.

Mahatma Gandhi said, “We must become the change we seek”  It is only when we all, both men and women, are led by example that we will create a fair and safe society that allows everyone the opportunity to prosper.

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.

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