While International Women’s Day has become a firm fixture on the calendar, there are still many people who aren’t even aware that International Men’s Day even exists, let alone when it takes place.
The event was certainly brought to everyone’s attention this year, however, when Susan Popoola from Mosaic Fusions in Milton Keynes staged A Celebration of Men, to recognise International Men’s Day, and its theme of Promoting Positive Role Models. The day is held each year on November 19 to recognise men’s contribution to society and address their unique challenges, and to emphasise the need for gender equality.
Held at Margaret Powell House in Milton Keynes, the event included networking, guest speakers and question and answer sessions. The range of speakers included impactful stories from women who have found male role models, or for whom men have simply been inspirational in some form, and from people of all genders who have been inspired by men in their lives.
Guests included the Lord-Lieutenant of Buckingham-shire, Countess Howe; the High Sheriff Kurshida Mirza BEM; Julie Mills, Chair of Women Leaders UK; and Nicholas Mann, Chair of the Milton Keynes Business Leaders Partnership.
Susan said: “There’s a danger that a lot of the dialogue about men is regarding issues and problems and things men get wrong. We don’t talk about the positives nearly enough and that’s what I wanted to do with this event.
“Since I became aware of it, I’ve started sending messages to some of the men in my network wishing them a Happy International Men’s Day, and I was surprised at how many came back to me saying they’d never heard of it. So, I decided to do something to celebrate it and recognise it, because there are a lot of positive things to say.
“You might ask why a woman is organising this event, but I think that because there is, quite rightly, a lot of focus on women and how far we still have to go in terms of gender equality, men may feel like they will be criticised if they stage an event solely celebrating men. You often hear things along the lines of ‘isn’t every day Men’s Day?’, but the fact is there are a lot of men out there who don’t have all the male privilege we hear so much about.
“The fact is that for the sake of society, if we celebrate the positives across the genders, we’ll all benefit.”
After the inaugural event, Susan is hopeful that International Men’s Day will be celebrated each year in Milton Keynes and, while she’s happy to carry on organising, she is keen to see more men get involved in this and events throughout the year, and also to see local businesses come on board to sponsor the event. Both law firm Howes Percival and Milton Keynes Business Leaders Partnership provided some support this year, but the need for more sponsors to come on board is clear.
“It will evolve, and I’m happy to continue to lead, but I would like to see more men come forward to help organise an event and to have some input in what they want from it.
“Events like this are recognition that things are changing and evolving and ultimately, we are looking for an inclusive, equitable society and we need to work together to help define what the new roles for men might look like. There’s a focus on women because we haven’t made the progress yet that we need to make, and we need men to feel they have a role in helping with that; men who feel secure and included, and who can support other men and women in our society.”
Find out more about International Men’s Day at www.internationalmensday.com
Find out more about Mosaic Fusions at www.mosaicfusions.com
