International Men's Day: Is it really sexist to discuss men's mental health?

Just because we live in a world dominated by patriarchal nonsense doesn't mean we can't use one day to get blokes to better consider their mental health.

Researchers found that even in high income countries, nearly half of all those with depression do not receive treatment (Time to Change)

The defence of International Men’s Day will be familiar by now to anyone who has followed the debate.

On an average day in the UK, 13 men take their own lives. Suicide is the biggest killer of men under 45. Three-quarters of UK suicides are by men. Men live for an average four years less than women. Some men also suffer sexual and domestic abuse. There remains taboo around some of these issues - and encouraging discussion can begin to address longstanding problems.

Is it really sexist to discuss this?

Critics claim every day is men’s day. That’s true - only in so far as you can speak universally about “men”, across nations, income, social background, (dis)abilities, ethnicity, age… which is quite the sweeping statement. The generalisation that, overall, men get an easier ride - a fact supported by several millennia of anecdote and data - obscures the real human tales, the lives of men who actually face huge disadvantage or hardship, who could have done with a kind word at a terrible time. Not all men enjoy uninterrupted privilege.

Do we all believe masculinity is currently working well?

Boys and young men are socially drilled to hide their emotions. Does that sound like a recipe for psychological good health, for happy relationships throughout life?

Pausing to think about a few of these issues, for a single day a year, does not stop us acknowledging that the gender pay gap is a disgrace; that girls continue to be force-fed ancient concepts of gender identity in a way that limits the life choices of so many; that our Parliament will never be representative while it erects barriers to half our population; that our legal system, our sports, entertainment, media and businesses are overwhelmingly run by men; that women are still expected to assume a disproportionate burden of caring; that women around the world face daily violence at the hands of the other 49 per cent of Earth’s population; that we live in a world dominated by patriarchal bullshit. All of that still stands.

But if International Men’s Day prompts men to begin to take their health more seriously, if it makes young men reconsider their roles in a changing world (rather than cling hopelessly to outdated stereotypes), if it saves a single life that would otherwise be lost to suicide, then it is a day to be celebrated - by all of us. One day the man needing help might be yours.