Today, November 19, is not just a regular Thursday but the date for the annual celebration known as “International Men’s Day.” While calls for the holiday originated in the 1960’s as men felt left out by the invention of International Women’s Day, the actual Holiday began in 1999 by the Afro-Caribbean doctor, Jerome Teelucksingh.
Dr. Teelucksingh picked November 19 as the date to honor his father’s birthday and the anniversary of the Trinidad of Tobago’s football team uniting the country with their attempts to qualify for the World Cup. He has since promoted the holiday as an opportunity for all men’s issues to be addressed and with this year’s theme for the celebration being “Better Health for Men and Boys,” it seems like the perfect opportunity to celebrate and focus on the health of all too often forgotten portion of men in society: transgender men.
The #InternationalMensDay hashtag has become a trending topic on twitter due to its mass response from Men’s Rights Activists mocking feminists, others calling out the celebration for promoting toxic masculinity and masculine figures, and others calling for the inclusion of trans men not only in today’s celebration but in what we tend to think of when we think of men.
Transgender men often have to face unacknowledged forms of sexism and transphobia which tend to go towards the back-end of the focus within movements for gender equality. Apart from having to come to terms with their gender identity on their own terms and dealing with a transphobic society’s reaction, transgender men are faced with the task of having to deal with the general public’s ignorance. Through their journey, trans men without a doubt have to embody more adversity, independence, strength and any other trait traditionally upheld as masculine than cisgender men would ever have to. And for that, they deserve to be celebrated.
The celebration coincides with Transgender Awareness Week, so a great way to celebrate both and keep with the theme of Mens Health is to donate whatever you are able to a trans man’s surgery on GoFundMe. These costly procedures could save someone’s life. And while poking fun at the holiday can be entertaining, it is much more productive to support and honor the most vulnerable community of men there is.
