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: 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.
OT but LOL, the wind just blew a branch right in front of the door my cat was standing in front of and she jumped in the air and made a half turn at the same time. Kitty Olympics!
alice,
You have not PROVED that my post was racist. I have a right to my opinion and to defend it. Capitulating under the guise of sensitivity would be self-censorship. You’re the one who made the claim it was racist and I’d like you to prove it. Capitulating would also mean the censoring of women’s experiences in parts of the world where they’re stereotyped and sexually assaulted based on these erroneous racist presumptions. Just because you capitulated does not mean I will. Perhaps in regards to your squabble with cassandra you would’ve defended yourself you would’ve explained yourself better and fostered a healthy environment of internet cooperation and diverse voices or you perhaps you really were in the wrong and needed to apologize unlike myself. You are suggesting I simply say that I was wrong….and for what, to get along with a bunch of bratty cliquey vipers? Prove my post was racist and if you can I’ll apologize. Lets have some debate or do like you did with Cassandra and apologize for calling me a racist without evidence.
Moma Sita’s obsession with snakes is starting to concern me. Also, why vipers in particular? Cobras need some love too.
I understood you just fucking fine. And would like to see actual numbers.
As for Alice proving you were racist, you have quite clearly proven that no matter what we say you’re just going to call us vipers. So why bother?
Have you had breakfast? No, you den of vipers! What is the square root of 64? It’s vipers again.
argenti,
I’m calling you vipers because you are. You called me a racist and have not proved it, what is more fitting a definition of viper than that? By proving that my post was racist you would prove yourself not to be a viper but a debater. However I know you are avoiding a debate because you are simply wrong and have clearly lost the debate and are now desperately hiding under the excuse of worrying about being called a viper.
It’s because we all know what happens when you wander into a den of vipers.
Very tangentally, it appears my brother will not be coming home tonight. He must be staying with the co-owner of his snake. (He insists they aren’t a thing, but, well, he was home when I accidentally came out, so idk if I believe him…whatever, snakey is cool)
The definition of a viper is definitely someone who calls someone else racist on a blog. Snakes are well known for their typing ability.
I’m worried about being called a viper? That’s hilarious.
Things I am worried about currently — my mac’s CPU temp, whether I can nuke my coffee without waking the asshole.
RE snakes, I once stayed at someone’s apartment and they didn’t tell me they had a snake until I woke up with it on me, at which point he was all oh, yeah, so I have a snake.
Pro tip – this is the kind of thing you should probably warn guests about before they go to sleep.
Go ahead and write to David, Moma Sita. While you’re at it, why don’t you call the police too?
Cassandra,
Viper is a common term for those who backstab and use deceitful means. It is not a zoological reference. Come on, prove my post was racist and that you weren’t just posting a bunch of hyperbole that lacked critical thinking abilities and reading comprehension skills. Is this your way of saying you were wrong and that you lost? Kitteh agreed with my post and said it was a good point. Why would kitteh say that if it wasn’t fact?
Oh and my verb tenses in my email to Sir Pecunium wherein I attempted to use Early Modern English. I know I got the pronouns and general mood right, but idk on the “to be” verbs, they’re wonky.
“Pro tip – this is the kind of thing you should probably warn guests about before they go to sleep.”
YA THINK!?
I love snakes and I’d probably freak (no, really, there’s a picture of me at about 4, on the ground, attempting to hug my uncle’s 10’~ python)
“”tteh agreed with my post and said it was a good point.
Pretty sure she was agreeing with the parts about suicide and homelessness.
@ Argenti
Once I realized what was going on I was fine with it, but that really isn’t the kind of thing you should spring on someone unannounced. It was a decent sized snake too, 6 ft or so.
Alright, you guys lost and you admit it. Thanx!
And why yes I will write to David katz about this very hostile environment by posters who feel fit to censor others based off of seniority and I do believe David will give a shit especially being a journalist who gives a fuck how his blog is perceived by others and would want to avoid giving ammunition to MRAs to accuse him of hypocrisy. I would at least like an explanation and some clarity, perhaps a post for others to read and a link referencing it regarding the standards, expectations and atmosphere he would like to create so others can read it and know what to expect. There is already the explanation that this is not a safe site, perhaps one explaining the hostility one can expect to find here and the frustration that many will experience trying to have their voice heard due to the antics of some self-appointed authoritys within the manboobz forums who feel fit to censor others based off of seniority? Perhaps I mistook this site as having been cleaned up from all the trolls that frequented it at manboobz earliest inception-however they were usually MRAs.
Katz! I have some potential inspiration for you.
If I could draw I would be working on drawing a herd of perfectly synchronized dancing snakes right now.
Nope argenti it was regarding the issue of heterosexuality. Ten seconds of search would’ve cleared that up for you. But you like your delusions a bit too much to care about facts, right? Where else would you get that undeserved sense of self-righteousness from harassing others from?
“I read it more as heteros suffer problems such as AIDS, not that it’s specific to them (at least I hope I’m reading that right). Still, that’s one sentence and I think Moma Sita makes a good point.”
Hint: one page back-go and see
Gawd,
I hope you all get them mental help you need because your issues simply drips with problems all over this forum which ends up keeping this blog from capitalizing on the potential it has. Ciao losers! Cant wait to post tomorrow!
Reading comprehension, you should get some.
“I read it more as heteros suffer problems such as AIDS, not that it’s specific to them (at least I hope I’m reading that right). Still, that’s one sentence and (except for that) I think Moma Sita makes a good point.”
Seriously, you whine and accuse about our reading comprehension but can’t graps that that’s what kitthe meant? Or are you being willfully dishonest? Probably that, seeing how you keep throwing “delusions” around but accused Cassandra of ableism for calling you stupid.
“If I could draw I would be working on drawing a herd of perfectly synchronized dancing snakes right now.”
I’m tempted, I really am, but kinda already making my mac overheat with the borg figure.
Remember, Moma, there’s a 2-point penalty for not sticking the flounce.
If someone is going to animate this can the snakes be dancing to Kazaky?
@Moma Sita
I’m a newbie and have found this board pretty friendly. Boards need regulars, that’s how they exist and lashing out furiously at three of them is not a good way to ingratiate yourself.
Several of your comments were brutal and sound much worse then you realize or will admit.
When you are discussing rape in third world countries, don’t point to an article titled “Sexual Harassment of White Women” from a blog called Traveling While Female. Yes, white foreign reporters being gang-raped in Egypt and India have been reported in the news and traveling blogs aimed at white Western tourists will discuss the dangers white visitors will face. That said, the vast majority of women who are gang raped and/or murdered in countries like India, Egypt and South Africa are not white or foreign. It’s horrific what the women of those countries are dealing with, so don’t say shit about how “rape riots” over blond white women in those countries are examples of white oppression and intersectionality. The majority of women in those countries aren’t white and can’t avoid rape by following travel advisories.
I was offended by what you said and you can stuff your “reading comprehend” whining.
-1/10
Negative score warranted by being ableist as fuck while calling someone ableist for saying “stupid”.
“Reading comprehension”