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“No man is useless while he has a friend,” are the immortal words of famous author Robert Louis Stevenson. Last Tuesday, 19 November, was International Men’s Day. On that day, men the world over did not feel useless. They had some friends in the media for a change. Better still, they felt some sense of pride for being a man for a change.

These days, men grow up in an atmosphere of shame and vilification. “Don’t you realise that masculinity is toxic and that all men are, for the greater part, wife-bashers and rapists?” Yes, I have heard this dribble, either as a direct verbatim attack or insinuated time and time again in the mainstream media.

The relative absence of such spurious slander, even if only for one day, is such a relief. It is apt to put a smile on your face and a spring in your step. Sadly, this momentary relief does not prevent 2,419 men from killing themselves each year here in Australia. Almost 7 men a day, or 46 men per week. That is 3 men to every one woman. Twice the annual road toll.

Yet, no one seems overly concerned!

That is, except Paul Withall from Zero Suicide Community Awareness, with his 2,400 men’s shoes displayed annually at Parliament House, Canberra, every International Men’s Day. Dads4Kids has supported Paul financially each year. Robert Day, a Dads4Kids board member, filed this video report from this year’s event last Tuesday.

Even better news is that later that day, Senator Pauline Hanson, in a speech in parliament about the scourge of men’s suicide, asked for a Minister for Men. This is the first time this has been formally requested by a Senator or an MP in the history of Parliament. Twenty-one years ago, Dads4Kids put forward a similar suggestion in our 12Pt Plan.  Patience is a virtue, especially when advocating for men.

Dads4Kids has been underwriting the international promotion of International Men’s Day (IMD) for the last 17 years. Before 2008, Men’s Day celebrations were not held on the same day. We built the .com world website and worked with global groups to coordinate 19 November as the official celebration of International Men’s Day.

The place of agreement is the place of power, and disunity is death, as the man said. The good news is International Men’s Day is still growing exponentially around the world. Here are 5 examples below.

1. Wonderful discussion on the importance of men and masculinity in Great Britain Video News, with over 13,000 views.

2. Dan Roman is the author and host of the Men Need to Be Heard podcast, which focuses on raising awareness on the issues men and boys face in today’s society. See his video with over 9,000 views celebrating International Men’s Day:

3. House of Commons 2024 International Men’s Day debate in London, UK, with 22,000 views.

4. Senator Pauline Hanson makes a speech in Parliament on why Australia Desperately Needs a Minister for Men + Labor’s Shocking Response, with over 20,000 views and growing.

5. The last video of our top 5 picks for International Men’s Day 2024 is by popular Gamer Hero Hei from the USA, supporting International Men’s Day with over 117,000 views and going up. He deals with the social media bias in a friendly but firm way and points out that International Men’s Day is getting bigger and bigger on Twitter.

The above videos are a small fraction of hundreds (maybe 1000s) of new International Men’s Day YouTube videos for 2024. The really good news is 95% of these videos are very supportive or, at the least, promote intelligent and good conversations about the valuable contributions that men make to society. Many of the videos are by women.

Dr Jerome Teelucksingh, founder of International Men’s Day, rang me and told me he received an Award of Recognition from the Trinidad-Tobago Government for his global work for men and boys. He was even more excited to tell me that International Men’s Day made the front page of the nation’s main newspaper and also the nation’s most popular TV news program.

Lovework

Share some of these stories with your family and friends. Men need women, and women need men, but our children need to see us working together for them and for a better world.

Together, we make a difference.

Yours for Positive Male Role Models,
Warwick Marsh

PS: The total of just the above five YouTube videos supporting men and boys for IMD is currently 181,000 views and climbing. This figure is a small fraction of our total impact. We are directly helping tens of millions and possibly hundreds of millions of men. More importantly, together with our International Men’s Day Facebook campaign and the organic explosion of International Men’s Day across the world, we, with your help, are saving thousands of men across the world from premature death from suicide. Partner with us so we can do more: DONATE NOW!

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Republished with thanks to Dads4Kids.