International Men’s Day

IMD was launched in 1992 on 7th February by Professor Thomas Oaster from the Missouri Center for Men’s Studies at the University of Missouri. In 1999, the event was revived by Dr. Jerome Teelucksing. He was a history lecturer at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad Tobago. He chose 19th November to honour his father's birthday and also to celebrate how on that date in 1989, Trinidad and Tobago's football team had united the country with their endeavours to qualify for the World Cup.

The six primary components/pillars of International Men’s Day include:

• Focus on health
• Improve gender relations
• Encourage gender equality
• Highlight male role models
• Celebrate achievements and contributions
• Promote basic humanitarian values

Theme of International Men's Day 2021

Out of the six pillars of International Men's Day, one is to improve gender relations and promote gender equality not only for men but for women too. This year the theme for 2021 is "Better relations between men and women."

You can celebrate International Men's Day 2021 by spending quality time with the men in your life, your father, husband, partner, brother, uncle, grandfather, boyfriend, son or nephew and by telling how they enrich the lives of those around them. 

WHY INTERNATIONAL MEN’S DAY?

BECAUSE MEN: 

Life expectancy figures at birth and at age 65 years are higher for females than for males

Men are less likely to report both mental and physical illnesses than women

In Ireland in 2018, 327 males and 110 females died by suicide (excludes late registration)

65% of males who live alone are single, compared with 43.6% of females

12.5% of males living alone are widowed, compared with 36.6% of females

As at Sept 2021, 4,018 males and 2,113 females are homeless or in sheltered accommodation

Females are better educated than men: 43.2% of females aged 15 years or over had a third level qualification, compared with 40.7% of males

The lifetime prevalence rate for alcohol dependence is more than twice as high in men than women

Men are more than three times more likely to be diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder than women

Statistics from: Central Statistics Office, Men’s Health Forum – Ireland,

Focus Ireland and World Health Organisation.