Happy International Men's Day!

I dont know why you didnt stick to the topic of IMD unless feminism was actually what you wanted to rant about.

You're the only one who has called you any names.

 

Back on topic...

Why do you think men suffer disproportionately from social and personal issues?

Ive seen men with seemingly close friends and family still struggle with drugs, depression and gambling. i dont think social isolation explains all of it, does it? From what ive seen, social isolation seems to be a consequence of depression rather than a cause.

 

Wasn't he just quoting from the article he linked?

 

Despite the spin added by MH, IMD isnt actually about feminism.

So why focus on the agenda of 200 people at a university on the other side of the world? At least 1000 more people at the same university wanted the day to go ahead. Was that really the most interesting or significant issue to highlight on International Mens Day? What happened in australia? What are the issues facing australian men? What are the solutions? IMD still went ahead. Is anyone interested in that or should we just wonder about some academics and students on the other side of the world. Is that really where we should be directing our concern?

 

I agree with you on this part - setting aside a day to consider and discuss the issues some men are facing is very important.

The solutions seem very few as the issues are both largely misunderstood and difficult to admit to. Proper treatment and support is needed - isn't a matter of finding motivation, looking within or being cheered up. I'm sure Robin Williams, being as successful and as funny as he was, was very motivated and cheerful which unfortunately didn't help his plight. Frankly I feel offended by the ignorance of some people in this thread.

 

It had the signs early on that it was likely to go to **** unfortunately

 

Obviously your passionate @Mombius Hibachi and frustrated with the support and societies understanding of the issues. The same can be said about the breast cancer movement while millions are dying from other cancers, particularly prostate which is male issue and yucky

The feminists you mention would be the extremist oxygen theives, the feminist movement today doesn't exist like it once did and the term should no longer be used. It's now simply equality. Women can do anything these days and this topic will need another thread on it own!

 

You obviously haven't been exposed to the delights of death metal.
Open up your heart and let the hate out.

 

Sorry MH you feel you've had to 'to suck it up' and 'take it like a man'. That's the pressure that masculinity places on men. It's toxic. If men were encouraged to share their feelings and be vulnerable and open, perhaps we wouldn't have such a huge issue with violence against women. These are constraints that patriarchy have placed upon men (it places different expectations and constraints upon women). I suggest you watch The Mask We Live In--all about masculinity and the harm it does to men.

Don't understand the attack on feminists though. Women are your best friend here: we believe in your humanity.

Yes, there are issues that men alone face: mental health and associated alcohol, drugs and housing issues; rape in prisons; homelessness. There are some great men's groups out there doing outreach work: men's sheds and Top Blokes are two that come to mind. Unfortunately other men's rights organisations spend more time trying to detract from women's issues and they then lose credibility. Jane Gilmore wrote a great article on IMD where she raises some of the issues that men face: International Men’s Day – what are the men’s issues that didn’t get a mention? Be sure to watch the TED talk at the end. Porter is so on point.

 

You seem to group feminists and women together when the former is a very small subset of the latter, why is that?

 

because she does not label people according to their personal beliefs. Higher vision.

 

thank you higher vision and can I add intelligence

 

wars are started by labeling people and not seeing them as human and disconnected from humanity. This is the insanity of the human race that enables people to kill other people and justify it.

All people are people first, I don't even see genders, men and women are exactly the same to me and I don't see cultures and differences and that goes write down to personal beliefs that people have. It is an intelligence MTR

 

Feminists are a small subset of women? Don't think so. We should all be Feminists, what's wrong with the idea? Not all Feminists are raving loonies like that idiot germane greer

 

While @Xenia's gender and culture blindness is laudable, I'm happy to
Identify as a feminist because im interested in equality for both sexes and womens issues.

I think any movement that represents a few billion people is going to have to encompass a massive range of beliefs and priorities. We ( feminists) don't all think alike and agree on everything. Personally, I think feminism has to encompass 'womens issues' (as well as equality) because biologically we are different to men and often have different challenges and issues.

I think being a parent of a boy and a girl has really clarified my concerns for both genders. I absolutely want happy, healthy, fulfilling futures for both of them, but i can see that they will face different hurdles and are at risk from different threats. Society will shape them and treat them differently, even though they are very similar at the moment.

I think the blog linked by @BigKahuna did a great job of identifying the main issues for men; suicide, violence, imprisonment and family.

Depression and violence are probably the issues i worry about for my son and husband. I know that when my kids are teenagers and off to parties that it will be my son who runs the greatest risk of being attacked and hurt, not my daughter. Ive never been hit in my life, whereas my husband has had to deal with violent situations quite a few times.
I think the recent spot light on domestic violence will help men too, because regardless of the gender of the victim, the perpetrator is usually male.

I think we need to work out how we can help boys so that we dont end up with so many angry, depressed, destructive and self destructive men.

 

I don't consider myself a feminist. Treat every person with love and respect that they deserve and the world would automatically become a better place. Do unto others as you would yourself, regardless of gender.

 

You are allowed to call youreslf whatever you want Esel and stand for whatever is meaningful for you.
Don't ever allow anyone tell you otherwise.

 

Sounds like a feminist manifesto to me.

Why dont you consider yourself a feminist?

 

You summed it up excellently above. It's about equality. But the term "feminist "is outdated and has a multitude of definitions depending who you ask and the era they refer to