On November 19th, International Men's Day is observed in over 40 countries worldwide. It's primary focus is raising awareness on men's and boys' health, improving gender relations, promoting...
On November 19th, International Men's Day is observed in over 40 countries worldwide.
It's primary focus is raising awareness on men's and boys' health, improving gender relations, promoting gender equality, highlighting male role models, highlighting discrimination against men and boys and to celebrate their achievements and contributions, in particular for their contributions to community, family, marriage, and child care, as well as promoting humanitarian values in general.
The special topic for this year is "Positive Male Role Models".
(I've linked the Wikipedia page here because the "official" site http://www.internationalmensday.com/ seems to be under severe load right now and is thus not consistently available)
Man here: I hate that this noble, and much needed focus got a bad thought from me at first glance. When I read “International Men’s Day” I instantly flashed to the negative online communities...
Man here: I hate that this noble, and much needed focus got a bad thought from me at first glance. When I read “International Men’s Day” I instantly flashed to the negative online communities which seem to promote some sort of faux male victimhood.. You know the ones I mean, r/mensrights, incel groups, etc.. it makes me sad that was my first thought. I think I spend too much time online.
Right? Same here. I feel like the increasingly toxic behaviour from the extreme sides sex and gender issues tends to drive even more reasonable and neutral people into thinking of the issues as if...
Right? Same here. I feel like the increasingly toxic behaviour from the extreme sides sex and gender issues tends to drive even more reasonable and neutral people into thinking of the issues as if it's a zero-sum game.
I am a man but the Men's Rights movement has still driven me to react so negatively against anything that may seem associated with them, that I completely forgot that there are valid issues that more reasonable people are still promoting.
Fun (?) fact: in Russia the Men's Day is traditionally celebrated on the 23rd of February, a federal holiday. Technically it's called “Defender of the Fatherland Day”, so technically it only...
Fun (?) fact: in Russia the Men's Day is traditionally celebrated on the 23rd of February, a federal holiday. Technically it's called “Defender of the Fatherland Day”, so technically it only concerns men in the military (as well as women in the military), but the lines have blurred over the years, so today this is the day when mothers, wives, and girlfriends give “manly” gifts to their sons, husbands, and boyfriends. Besides, it's very close to the 8th of March (also a federal holiday), so it seems almost symbolic. Stereotypical “manly” presents include: socks, deodorants and cologne, shaving accessories, and alcohol.
Happy International Men's Day to all! I love the focus on Positive Male Role Models. Pop Culture Detective is an amazing Youtube channel focused on the portrayal of men in media. My favorite video...
Happy International Men's Day to all! I love the focus on Positive Male Role Models.
Pop Culture Detective is an amazing Youtube channel focused on the portrayal of men in media. My favorite video of his is The Fantastic Masculinity of Newt Scamander. While many people have problems with the Fantastic Beasts franchise, I find it so refreshing to have a male lead whose heroic quality is that he is nurturing.
I'm sympathetic, but I can also see why they didn't and why they probably shouldn't even if they could. Let's suppose that Google did put a Google doodle for today. What exactly would be the...
I'm sympathetic, but I can also see why they didn't and why they probably shouldn't even if they could.
Let's suppose that Google did put a Google doodle for today. What exactly would be the benefit for Google or society at large for doing so? Google's already under active scrutiny by certain demographics for perceived women-hostile policies. Putting up a Google doodle would not give them a good look externally or internally at this point.
Additionally, if they celebrated International Men's Day with a doodle, certain active and prolific segments of the Internet population would be upset (or provoked into upsetness) and spread their upsetness around the Internet. This would trigger their active and prolific chiral counterparts, who are upset that the original people are upset. The original group would then be upset that people are upset about their upsetness. Accordingly, they and their counterparts would crank their respective volumes up to eleven. Repeat ad nauseam until everyone in earshot is emotionally rattled and upset.
I personally don't see how either of these would be productive for anyone, in particular for furthering of the nominal goals of International Men's Day, but I might have a blind spot.
I'm not in a position to judge anyone in that fight and refuse to implicitly do so. I don't think the policies at Google are actually relevant to either of my positions. If employees at Google...
I'm not in a position to judge anyone in that fight and refuse to implicitly do so. I don't think the policies at Google are actually relevant to either of my positions. If employees at Google perceive Google as hostile to women it's irrelevant whether they actually are: posting a pro-men doodle will probably be perceived negatively by those employees at Google and will not benefit Google.
I've only asked because using the word "perceived" is usually a dog whistle for taking the opposite view, while trying to look neutral. In other words, most people who say "perceived hostile...
I've only asked because using the word "perceived" is usually a dog whistle for taking the opposite view, while trying to look neutral. In other words, most people who say "perceived hostile policies" are really saying "these are not hostile policies, but those people think so".
Unfortunately mental health issues don't get nearly as much attention as they need. A lot of theses people are also getting told they are extremely privileged and have everything in their favour...
Unfortunately mental health issues don't get nearly as much attention as they need. A lot of theses people are also getting told they are extremely privileged and have everything in their favour so they have no right to feel sad when others have less than them which makes it really hard to talk about issues.
They never have before, I don't see why this year is so important all of a sudden. They did have a doodle for just men's day on fed 23rd 2008, but nothing since.
They never have before, I don't see why this year is so important all of a sudden.
They did have a doodle for just men's day on fed 23rd 2008, but nothing since.
Why do you think it's not? ~50% of the population is male, approximately 500 million globally suffer from some mental disorder. This is slightly more than women, as best I could find. Men are more...
Why do you think it's not?
~50% of the population is male, approximately 500 million globally suffer from some mental disorder. This is slightly more than women, as best I could find. Men are more likely to die by suicide. Prostate cancer is far more prevalent than breast cancer, despite breast cancer getting approximately four times the funding. To say nothing of the criminal justice system. This is just a small sampling of very real issues that do effect men.
Google has a doodle for Father's Day, as well as Mother's Day, and has been celebrating International Women's Day since at least 2005. There's no good reason I can see for them to not have one for International Men's Day.
And the ultimate point, I think, is that it's not a zero-sum game. Google could "celebrate" (because let's face it, just a doodle) both and it's not like it costs anything. Nothing is lost. They don't have to pick one or the other.
Not sure if other places have this but in Australia we have an event called Movember which goes for the whole month and focuses on mens mental health issues.
Not sure if other places have this but in Australia we have an event called Movember which goes for the whole month and focuses on mens mental health issues.
"Movember" or "No Shave November" has existed in Canada and the United States for years as well, although I certainly wouldn't call it focused. Depending on time, place, or who you asked, it...
"Movember" or "No Shave November" has existed in Canada and the United States for years as well, although I certainly wouldn't call it focused. Depending on time, place, or who you asked, it simply was celebrating NHL playoffs, or was specifically "raising awareness" for prostate cancer, or myriad of other things. To my knowledge, no single organization supports or promotes this, it's just "a thing". Arguably this campaign, if that's what you want to call it, has not been as effective as it probably is in Australia.
While both are talked about, "Movember" and "No Shave November" are not the same and I've seen people in the US getting better distinguishing them over the years. No Shave November has been...
While both are talked about, "Movember" and "No Shave November" are not the same and I've seen people in the US getting better distinguishing them over the years.
No Shave November has been official since 2009 and seems to targeting cancer in general, with participation involving no shaving or grooming of your face for the month. Movember has been an official charity since 2003 focusing on mens' health (prostate cancer, testicular cancer, mental health and suicide), with participation involving starting the month clean shaven and grow only a mustache. Movember's mustache, often amusingly bad, is a much better symbol conversation starter than No Shave November's ungroomed face, as the former is clearly deliberate while the latter is easy to confuse with laziness or getting ready for the cold winter.
I believe more people "participate" in No Shave November because it's much easier and anyone who's feeling lazy about shaving can invoke the name. I can't easily find how much they've been raising, which is a bit surprising. Movember, on the other hand, raised $79.8M AUD with 325k registered participants in the 2016 campaign alone (thru April 2017), with $22.6M with 71k people from Australia and $21.8M with 84k participants in the US.
On November 19th, International Men's Day is observed in over 40 countries worldwide.
It's primary focus is raising awareness on men's and boys' health, improving gender relations, promoting gender equality, highlighting male role models, highlighting discrimination against men and boys and to celebrate their achievements and contributions, in particular for their contributions to community, family, marriage, and child care, as well as promoting humanitarian values in general.
The special topic for this year is "Positive Male Role Models".
(I've linked the Wikipedia page here because the "official" site http://www.internationalmensday.com/ seems to be under severe load right now and is thus not consistently available)
Man here: I hate that this noble, and much needed focus got a bad thought from me at first glance. When I read “International Men’s Day” I instantly flashed to the negative online communities which seem to promote some sort of faux male victimhood.. You know the ones I mean, r/mensrights, incel groups, etc.. it makes me sad that was my first thought. I think I spend too much time online.
edit:grammar
Right? Same here. I feel like the increasingly toxic behaviour from the extreme sides sex and gender issues tends to drive even more reasonable and neutral people into thinking of the issues as if it's a zero-sum game.
I am a man but the Men's Rights movement has still driven me to react so negatively against anything that may seem associated with them, that I completely forgot that there are valid issues that more reasonable people are still promoting.
Everybody can be swayed by annoying aspects of a group causing them to loose objectively. It's positive to recognize that.
Fun (?) fact: in Russia the Men's Day is traditionally celebrated on the 23rd of February, a federal holiday. Technically it's called “Defender of the Fatherland Day”, so technically it only concerns men in the military (as well as women in the military), but the lines have blurred over the years, so today this is the day when mothers, wives, and girlfriends give “manly” gifts to their sons, husbands, and boyfriends. Besides, it's very close to the 8th of March (also a federal holiday), so it seems almost symbolic. Stereotypical “manly” presents include: socks, deodorants and cologne, shaving accessories, and alcohol.
Apparently I’m “manly” every Christmas! :)
I've always felt kind of insulted if someone gets me deodorant, but not if they give me cologne. Which is kind of silly, when you think about it.
Happy International Men's Day to all! I love the focus on Positive Male Role Models.
Pop Culture Detective is an amazing Youtube channel focused on the portrayal of men in media. My favorite video of his is The Fantastic Masculinity of Newt Scamander. While many people have problems with the Fantastic Beasts franchise, I find it so refreshing to have a male lead whose heroic quality is that he is nurturing.
It's disappointing Google didn't find today important enough to warrant a Google doodle.
I'm sympathetic, but I can also see why they didn't and why they probably shouldn't even if they could.
Let's suppose that Google did put a Google doodle for today. What exactly would be the benefit for Google or society at large for doing so? Google's already under active scrutiny by certain demographics for perceived women-hostile policies. Putting up a Google doodle would not give them a good look externally or internally at this point.
Additionally, if they celebrated International Men's Day with a doodle, certain active and prolific segments of the Internet population would be upset (or provoked into upsetness) and spread their upsetness around the Internet. This would trigger their active and prolific chiral counterparts, who are upset that the original people are upset. The original group would then be upset that people are upset about their upsetness. Accordingly, they and their counterparts would crank their respective volumes up to eleven. Repeat ad nauseam until everyone in earshot is emotionally rattled and upset.
I personally don't see how either of these would be productive for anyone, in particular for furthering of the nominal goals of International Men's Day, but I might have a blind spot.
In your opinion, what is the difference between women-hostile policies and perceived women-hostile policies? Can you give a concrete example?
I'm not in a position to judge anyone in that fight and refuse to implicitly do so. I don't think the policies at Google are actually relevant to either of my positions. If employees at Google perceive Google as hostile to women it's irrelevant whether they actually are: posting a pro-men doodle will probably be perceived negatively by those employees at Google and will not benefit Google.
I've only asked because using the word "perceived" is usually a dog whistle for taking the opposite view, while trying to look neutral. In other words, most people who say "perceived hostile policies" are really saying "these are not hostile policies, but those people think so".
Unfortunately mental health issues don't get nearly as much attention as they need. A lot of theses people are also getting told they are extremely privileged and have everything in their favour so they have no right to feel sad when others have less than them which makes it really hard to talk about issues.
They never have before, I don't see why this year is so important all of a sudden.
They did have a doodle for just men's day on fed 23rd 2008, but nothing since.
Every year they don't do it shows they still don't believe it's important enough to warrant a Google doodle.
Why do you think it's not?
~50% of the population is male, approximately 500 million globally suffer from some mental disorder. This is slightly more than women, as best I could find. Men are more likely to die by suicide. Prostate cancer is far more prevalent than breast cancer, despite breast cancer getting approximately four times the funding. To say nothing of the criminal justice system. This is just a small sampling of very real issues that do effect men.
Google has a doodle for Father's Day, as well as Mother's Day, and has been celebrating International Women's Day since at least 2005. There's no good reason I can see for them to not have one for International Men's Day.
And the ultimate point, I think, is that it's not a zero-sum game. Google could "celebrate" (because let's face it, just a doodle) both and it's not like it costs anything. Nothing is lost. They don't have to pick one or the other.
Because I believe there are many men's issues which are overlooked, and it would be nice if Google could be part of the solution.
Not sure if other places have this but in Australia we have an event called Movember which goes for the whole month and focuses on mens mental health issues.
"Movember" or "No Shave November" has existed in Canada and the United States for years as well, although I certainly wouldn't call it focused. Depending on time, place, or who you asked, it simply was celebrating NHL playoffs, or was specifically "raising awareness" for prostate cancer, or myriad of other things. To my knowledge, no single organization supports or promotes this, it's just "a thing". Arguably this campaign, if that's what you want to call it, has not been as effective as it probably is in Australia.
In Australia I have seen signs up in retail stores about it and mental health.
While both are talked about, "Movember" and "No Shave November" are not the same and I've seen people in the US getting better distinguishing them over the years.
No Shave November has been official since 2009 and seems to targeting cancer in general, with participation involving no shaving or grooming of your face for the month. Movember has been an official charity since 2003 focusing on mens' health (prostate cancer, testicular cancer, mental health and suicide), with participation involving starting the month clean shaven and grow only a mustache. Movember's mustache, often amusingly bad, is a much better symbol conversation starter than No Shave November's ungroomed face, as the former is clearly deliberate while the latter is easy to confuse with laziness or getting ready for the cold winter.
I believe more people "participate" in No Shave November because it's much easier and anyone who's feeling lazy about shaving can invoke the name. I can't easily find how much they've been raising, which is a bit surprising. Movember, on the other hand, raised $79.8M AUD with 325k registered participants in the 2016 campaign alone (thru April 2017), with $22.6M with 71k people from Australia and $21.8M with 84k participants in the US.