Happy #InternationalMensDay!

It’s International Men’s Day and I am trying SO HARD not to be sarcastic about it right now. I’m probably going to fail a couple of times.

The day is a kind of response to International Women’s Day on March 8, the BBC explains:

Calls for an International Men’s Day began in the 1960s but it did not get under way until the 1990s. It is celebrated on 19 November in more than 60 countries, according to the organisers. In the UK, there are debates and get-togethers being held across the country. The idea is to promote male role models, increase awareness of men’s health issues, improve gender equality and highlight discrimination. Or simply to get people to show some appreciation for the men in their life.

The easiest reaction, certainly for me, is to say something like “ALSO WHY ISN’T THERE A WHITE HISTORY MONTH” and head over to the internet to make fun of it. Alexandra Petri of the Washington Post put together this tongue-in-cheek schedule for the day, including “9 a.m.: Walk to work, unhassled by strangers whistling and telling you to ‘smile’” and “1 p.m.: Mansplaining, ‘Splained: A man condescendingly explains how to condescendingly explain something to a woman who is an expert in that field.”

Once feminists have gotten the snark out of their systems, however, it’s worth noting that we should be having serious discussions about trans men, male victims of rape and domestic violence, toxic masculinity, increases in male suicides, and low educational achievement among boys.