how to celebrate international men's day
International Men's Day is a time for many people to reflect on the contributions, sacrifices and progress made by men in society.
Thank a man for giving you the right to vote!
Fun historical fact! Did you know that suffragists would never have gotten ANYWHERE without the men who generously agreed to let them have the vote? Even though the suffragists were super rude about it? Like, they didn't HAVE to do that. That was SUPER NICE of MEN.
Read a book by a man!
Whatever your interests are, chances are pretty good that a man has written 4 or 500 pages about it. Politics? Cooking? Gardening? Sure! The experience of childbirth? What your period pain ACTUALLY is? How to change the way you talk to get your husband to listen to you? Absolutely! How to navigate your workplace as a woman? The problem with "PC" culture? SO MANY TIMES.
Not only will reading books by men help you understand your own experience better once you understand a man's idea of a woman's experience, but you'll also be economically supporting MEN, who have historically been undervalued voices in publishing. Did you know that women's books are ONLY priced 45% lower than men's books are? When you think about how much men have contributed to books? Compare the soaring lyricism of CHARLES DICKENS and the hard-hitting truth bombs of JORDAN PETERSON to chick lit like The Sixth Extinction and The Broken Earth trilogy, or feminazi manifestos like To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and Bridget Jones' Diary? 45% seems honestly insulting.
Hire a man at work!
Look, it's not enough to Tweet that you love men. If you support men, you have to HIRE. MEN. And you have to PAY THEM FAIRLY. And by FAIRLY, I mean AT LEAST 122% of the median pay that women receive. It's INTERNATIONAL MEN'S DAY and it's HIGH TIME WE MADE THINGS RIGHT. FOR THE MEN.
Learn about a man in history!
Believe it or not, men have done lots of things. A man might even have invented or discovered something that you use every day!
SURPRISE! Victoria's Secret? Owned by a man! You probably couldn't even tell from VS's super feminist advertising and body-friendly product design, but yeah, can we get a shout-out to the MEN for this shining example of LITERALLY DEDICATING THEIR CAREERS TO THE SUPPORT OF WOMEN.
Another example: in 1953 James Watson and Francis Crick published their groundbreaking findings about the discovery of the double helix in our DNA! Did you even know James and Francis's names? Like, of course you didn't, and that's WRONG. Because it's these unsung heroes whose stories deserve to be told, and definitely not the stories of people like "Rosalind Franklin," who "photographed the double helix in 1951" and "whose image was given to James and Francis without her permission." Don't be SELFISH, ROSIE. It's MEN'S DAY.
Listen to some music by men!
Apparently, there are dozens of male musicians! Dozens! According to this Rolling Stone list of top 100 singers of all time, 78 of them are men! You read that right. ONLY SEVENTY EIGHT! Only 78% of the "top 100 singers of all time" are men and on this International Men's Day we need to ask ourselves: is 78% enough? IS IT ENOUGH?
I think we all know the answer to that question.
Follow more men on Twitter!
You definitely need more men's voices in your life. Also, studies have shown that men are followed and retweeted far less infrequently - twice as less infrequently, in fact! - than women are. And THAT HAS GOT TO CHANGE. It's 2019 PEOPLE.
Thank a man for being chivalrous!
He offered his seat on the bus to you? That was so nice of him! Now he wants to talk to you, don't be rude! It's International Men's Day! Now he's asking which stop is yours, you should tell him, he's so nice! Remember when he gave you his seat on MEN'S DAY? He's a PRINCE! A knight in shining armor! You should BE so lucky to put your butt where his butt once sat. Now he wants to know if you have plans tonight and... you do? Can you cancel them? You can't? Well can he have your phone number? Okay, you guess he can? But are you happy about it? LOOK HAPPIER, HE'S A GOD AMONG MEN. Don't give him a fake number either because brilliant feminist genius philanthropist that he is, he's going to check it by calling you while he stands 4 inches from you on a crowded bus and for this you will THANK HIM because it's MEN'S DAY.
Make sure the men around you feel safe, today and every day!
It’s a hard time to be a man. For the first time in their lives, men have to think before they speak. He has to consider if the hilarious boob joke he just thought of might make Cynthia feel uncomfortable, or if the woman he just hired might be in a difficult position when he tells her he wants to see her succeed in this company, and side note, unrelated question, does she want to have a drink tonight?
It seems like men can’t do ANYTHING anymore! So on International Men’s Day, let your hair down (they like it long) and thank them for their nice compliment about your shirt and whatever’s underneath it, because we all know they didn't MEAN it to be embarrassing or dehumanizing, and what they MEANT to do matters the most.
Make sure that the men in your life know that they’re safe with you - they can trust you not to ever “cancel” them with “consequences” for their “choices” that they made as “adults” who are "capable of learning" and "have chosen not to" because "freedom of speech."
Make sure your brothers, co-workers, roommates, landlords, bosses, and old friends know: they don’t have to make themselves uncomfortable by worrying about your feelings or dignity or safety. Just smile, thank them, and say “Boys will be boys,” or “That’s what testosterone does, I get it!” or “I don’t know what she expected, dressing like that for Halloween.”
Get out there and celebrate the men FOR ONCE! Happy International Men’s Day!
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It’ll be the first one he’s ever seen.