19th of November every year is globally observed as International Men’s Day since the year 1999. It is recognized to celebrate overall achievements of men. This day is observed to appreciate the role of men as an individual, as fathers, as brothers, as husbands, as friends, and as colleagues. The objective of this day is to foster gender equality, admire the contributions made by men to the society. It also highlights discrimination against men, gender disparity, impacts of feminism, mental imbalance, and cultural burden. The day holds noteworthy value as it features the “Six Pillars of International Men’s Day”, which encompasses their contributions towards the nation, union, society, community, family, marriage, and childcare. This day is also marked as an important day because it creates and promotes awareness towards issues in respect to men’s health, physical, mental and emotional.
It is very important for all of us to value the men around us, to make them feel special and to understand them, not only today but everyday. In developing nations like India, even today men are perceived as the economic provider and financial supporter. And we tend to ignore all the contributions made by them as we are binding by such preconceived notions that it is their obligation to leave their passion, their dreams and provide for us. We have to acknowledge the fact that men also go through emotional traumas, mental breakdowns, physical exhaustion, depression, and other health issues. How often do we apprise the men around us that we love them? How often do we actually praise them? How often do we sit and talk to them and try to understand them? To bring a vast change to the societal norms we have to start from the men around us. Yes! Sometimes they are unable to express their feelings. Sometimes they have to be strict and rigid with their behavior. And Yes! They often pretend to be unaffected by ethnic and social pressure. But, why do they always need to manifest their perceptions and tenderness? How can a society take stand for women’s virtues and no one thinks to come forward for men’s equal rights. The pressure of providing for one’s family, the constraint to earn better, tension regarding family and children, stress to cope up in the society and friend circle, burden to always furnish others requirements before ourselves, sorrow of leaving behind one’s dreams and passion just to earn decent, and never complaint. We have created certain perceptions that men always need to be tolerable and acceptable which is not fair
The theme of International Men’s Day 2021 is “Better relations between men and women.” The theme arrays not only a celebration of the positive role of men but also an attempt to promote gender equality. It shows that men and women are equal at all stages of life. We have to realize that not all men are rapists, not all men are molesters, not all men are arrogant, but that all men deserve to be loved and given equal respect. The changes can be brought by providing equal paychecks to all the genders just on the basis of their abilities and intellectual, by having equal opportunities and financial independence, by equally contributing for running a household, by equal freedom to marry the person they love and pursue the career they want, and by receiving equal credits for all the achievements. We have developed this so-called perception that man is known for his masculinity and leadership, but at times a man can be gentle and fragile and that does not make him any less of a man. If a woman is appreciated for being strong and tough, a man should also be acknowledged for his soft-heartedness and emotional attitude.
I have often heard this through people around me while a male goes through emotional trauma that, “You cannot cry! You are a man!” or “No! You can’t complaint.. you have to deal with this issue by yourself.” But who are we to expect them to constantly remain unaffected! Even they have feelings, even they want to explode with tears sometimes. And even they need a shoulder to lean on. We also have many examples of great and successful men who have set an example for all the people around the globe irrespective of their genders. The personalities like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs, Shahrukh Khan, Ranveer Singh, Elon Musk, Kim Taehyung, Harry Styles, Walt Disney, Sonu Sood, Mufti Menk, Mohammed Ali, and Khabib Nurmagomedov, etc are true examples of how gentlemen should be. But we need to understand and accept that no creature is perfect and that everyone needs a chance to prove themselves.
On this International Men’s Day we have to celebrate all the beautiful men around us. And we have to honor men not only today but everyday. All the sacrifices they make are note worthy and beyond usual. The way we appreciate and recognize women for all their mere achievements, we are obliged to appreciate all precious men around us. To the all-giving fathers, brothers, husbands, and friends, we all love you and respect you from the core of our hearts and we need you in all phases of our lives. We are very grateful to have your presence in our entities. And we hope you always stay happy and healthy. Happy International Men’s Day to all the lovely men out there!
Aishwarya Says:
I have always been against Glorifying Over Work and therefore, in the year 2021, I have decided to launch this campaign “Balancing Life”and talk about this wrong practice, that we have been following since last few years. I will be talking to and interviewing around 1 lakh people in the coming 2021 and publish their interview regarding their opinion on glamourising Over Work.
If you are interested in participating in the same, do let me know.
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We also have a Facebook Group Restarter Moms for Mothers or Women who would like to rejoin their careers post a career break or women who are enterpreneurs.
We are also running a series Inspirational Women from January 2021 to March 31,2021, featuring around 1000 stories about Indian Women, who changed the world. #choosetochallenge