I was going to write up something today about International Men’s Day, the me-too what-about-the-menz holiday that’s so meaningless that even Men’s Rights activists can barely remember to celebrate it. Do we really need a day to “celebrate [the] achievements and contributions” of men? Don’t we get quite a lot of that already? Do we need a day given over to “highlighting the discrimination against [men]” as if this is really a thing?
But then I discovered that today was also World Toilet Day, and realized it was probably more worthwhile to promote this event, as the lack of toilets and proper sanitation — a widespread problem in parts of the developing world, particularly in south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa — can have devastating public health consequences.
Some disturbing facts, from the UN, which I clipped from this CNN story:
- 2.5 billion people — one in three people in the world — do not have a toilet or access to sustainable sanitation
- Diarrheal diseases are the second most common cause of death in young children in developing countries
- They kill more than HIV/AIDS, malaria and measles combined
Learn more at the official website. Also, Al Jazeera has a useful infographic.
And just a note to the MRAs who have somehow concluded from this post that I am comparing men or men’s issues to toilets (!?), let me try to make my point very clear: I am contrasting a sharply focused activist campaign aimed at a very real problem — lack of toilets and proper sanitation in large parts of the developing world — with large consequences — disease and death, of adults and children alike — with a badly thought out International Men’s Day that seems largely driven by jealousy that “women get a day so why can’t we have one too.”
How halfassed is International Men’s Day? Here’s a screenshot of the International Men’s Day website’s “resources” page.
Generally speaking, you would expect a “resources” page to list facts and figures and possibly link to relevant other groups. All you get at the International Men’s Day site are some posters made from stock photos.
What I found on the site’s “about” page was much more troubling. The site was put online by a group called the Dads4Kids Fatherhood Foundation, working with the founder of International Men’s Day, Dr Jerome Teelucksingh. The Dads4Kids Fatherhood Foundation, as I discovered with a bit of Googling, turns out to be a virulently homophobic and transphobic organization that is also behind a site called Gendermatters.com. A quasi-manifesto on the site titled 21 Reasons Why Gender Matters asserts, among other things, that:
Transsexuality signals a deceptively fierce disorder. Elective castration, mastectomy, hysterectomy, etc., are futile non-solutions. The cruel, permanent disfigurement of so-called gender reassignment is not the answer. Transsexuals need psychological and spiritual insight that frees them to celebrate the chromosomes they received at conception.
So, yeah, a halfassed men’s “day” that’s associated with transphobic assholes. Not exactly a winning combination.
Look, if you’re concerned about making a difference in the lives of men, pick the issue that matters most to you, and work on that. If you want to increase funding for prostate cancer research, work on that. If you want to raise money to help male victims of domestic violence, work on that. Actually do the hard work of activism. Don’t just have yourself a “day” and pretend that it means something.
EDIT:Â Rewrote part of the first paragraph and added all the stuff after the Al Jazeera link to clarify the point of this post, because clearly some people have missed the point entirely.
cassandrasays,
“AIDS is now something that only happens to straight people?”
WTF? Its called reading comprehension and maturity-get it.
The fact that the implication is that if a white woman gets raped, it’s a black or Latino dude’s fault (Asian men are sexless, remember) and there’s a need for punishment? But no one cares if other races get raped because lolsavage?
Thanks kittesef! That’s what I meant. I was pointing out how heterosexuals suffer specific issues on average but we wouldn’t create a hetero awareness day because they aren’t the unprivileged in society. See cassandrasays-thats how you do it. Learn!
Grammar, sentence structure, and a clue – please attempt to find all three.
Nope. It’s “white women are inherently submissive and pure, so a white woman getting raped is a crime against ALL OF SOCIETY”.
I loved the use of “they”, personally. It’s an new update on the term “those people”!
“Someone should contact the Red Cross and let them know that sexually active gay men can donate blood now.”
“Funniest” part of that? Penis goes in an anus near a penis = no donation. Penis goes in an anus near a vagina = no problem. Penis goes in anus near penis = neither can donate. Either party’s penis then goes in a vagina? The person with said vagina can still donate.
The fuck is that shit? Even if anal sex between folks with penises (penii?) were way, way more likely to spread AIDS than anal sex where a vagina is in proximity, wouldn’t later partners all be at risk? Not just the ones with a penis?
That shit isn’t even internally consistant!
Moma Sita — first rule of holes.
My former fiance many years back was bi. It always grimly amused me that I would have been allowed to give blood and he wouldn’t even when we were fucking.
I’m just tired of all of the assumptions.
No, non-white people aren’t “savages”, “uncivilized”, “backward”, “unadvanced”, or inherently amoral until the white man came along.
I’m tired of people assuming that because I’m not white, that my race is backwards and unadvanced. Just, no.
“Those people”? You mean those savages who can’t control themselves around sexualized blondes?
Really, the AIDS bit could well have been just a error in wording, you fix it and move on. But rape riots because of how “they” react to blondes?
OT — that bit about homeless female soldiers falls under the category of “things I’ve asked pecunium to write about when he gets a chance”…silly busy, Mr. Mango is.
You know how they are when they see a white woman. Why no, phrasing things that way isn’t dehumanizing at all!
Finding racism irritating is so immature.
Alice,
WTF Alice? How in the world did you misinterpret my post in such a jalopy manner? Yes, its true blond women are made out to be exotic in many countries and they have rape riots because of it. Your failure to take rape seriously is quite anti-feminist. Its called intersectionality -learn it and get off your self-righteous rocker. Race issues dont have to come at the expense of gender issues. Just because were talking about racism against a white person doesn’t even remotely mean I’m saying this: “The fact that the implication is that if a white woman gets raped, it’s a black or Latino dude’s fault (Asian men are sexless, remember) and there’s a need for punishment? But no one cares if other races get raped because lolsavage?” Did you just avoid reading my post so you can go on an unrelated rant to feel self-righteous? Yes, it happens and I have no idea why you’re being so small-minded about it. Also, check this out; its the 21st century not 1950, white people only make up 53% of the U.S. population, its not some giant monolith anymore and guess what; racism knows no colors! Yes I get that we still have white privilege but take it down a notch and actually comprehend what I’m writing about. Its like you only want to believe that white people are racists and in a non-white majority population those people don’t have their own racist peccadillos to contend with. Don’t censor these womens experiences to be PC and close-minded.
http://www.businessinsider.com/race-war-heats-up-at-wisconsin-state-fairwait-the-race-war-2011-8
http://travelingwhilefemale.blogspot.com/2012/10/sexual-harassment-of-white-women-in.html
Argenti – Seriously. Just, what the hell? Why are gay men singled out and told not to donate period, even though last I heard, there’s actually a method to remove HIV?
Poll time! Trolling or just stupid? I was initially thinking just stupid, but I’m starting to lean towards trolling.
kittehsef,
It wasn’t a wording glitch, it was a reading comprehension glitch by cassandrasays.
Idk about removing it, but I know there’s a quick test of the “while you wait” sort, and things like rape they do waiting periods. Like ,when I got my cartilage piercing, if I hadn’t been sure it was sterile, I’d have had to wait 6 months. Ok, that makes sense. So why is sex any different?
I can’t deal with Moma Sita’s gripe about reverse racism after Du(m)b. I’m still fuming.
@ Alice
Also, gay men who use condoms all the time versus straight people who don’t. The latter group can give blood.
Moma Sita – Dude. First off, I’m not white. I’m not an idiot, I know other races can be raped. I’m not a fucking self-hating Asian.
Second of all, you know how you were going about “reading comprehension”? You might want to try that. Reread it, and then take a guess on what my actual tone was. And try “context”, before you start ranting on how I don’t know shit about intersectionality.
Ugh, that guy.
(Hugs to Argenti, Ally, and anyone else who was stressed out by his bullshit.)
Classic Cassandra! Its pointed out how much of a mistake you made and how anti-social and feral you were in trashing me for a mistake YOU made and youre calling ME the troll? Grow up.
Anyone else hate how there’s always some feral poster who starts yelping ‘troll’ once someone disagrees with them? This is why blogs aren’t a place for ‘having your voice heard.’ Its due to people like Cassandra and the other close-minded zealots who lack reading comprehension. David aint banning me Cassandra so quit making yourself out to be the trollish fool you are. You have nothing. However why don’t you take the time to grow the hell up.
Now now, Alice, don’t you want to let the nice white lady explain intersectionality to you?
(We’re going to need Falconer’s kids soon to help retrieve the rolling eyeballs.)
Argenti – I feel like someone’s explaining to me how I’m supposed to feel, because apparently I’m too stupid to know how I, a non-white person, feel on the issue of rape.
Ah, so this one is a return visitor.
Neither, honest to goodness asshole.
Yeah, it’s Cassandra’s reading that’s the problem, that’s why all four of us thought you said the same thing and kitteh offered that maybe it was just bad wording. You should’ve gone with “whoops, apparently it was”
(Thanks Cassandra, he hit my you do not go after my friends button)
(Are you OK now? Ally has been MIA for a while, I hope it’s just because she went to bed.)