International Men’s Day, November 19th, celebrates worldwide the positive value men bring to the world, their families and communities. We highlight positive role models and raise awareness of men’s well-being. The theme for 2025 is “Celebrating Men and Boys”.
In a recent podcast called ' People I (Mostly) Admire' Steven Levitt speaks with Richard V. Reeves about Why are Boys and Men in Trouble? Reeves says:
"I think for men, there is this strong sense of the old script having been torn up and not replaced by a new one. Whereas for women, the old script, wife and mother, has not been torn up exactly, but just massively expanded - you can also do this and also do that. This message of female empowerment, which is wonderful, quite moving, I think, in many ways. It's not like young women today lack a script.
They have a strong script, you're sure you can be a Mum, sure you can do this, but you can also be CEO, etc. All wonderful stuff...
We just didn't come up with a new script for men, and I don't think it's easy to do, but that has created a really dangerous vacuum in the lives of many men, and it's created a dangerous vacuum in our culture and our politics." Reeves concludes.
I was shocked by US statistics on suicide in the podcast, which mirrors Australian numbers - in Australia suicide has increased, with 2023 seeing an estimated 2,200 male suicides - an increase of 27%* since 2010.
Even more alarming was that in many of the suicide notes left by men to their families and partners is that they feel 'useless' or 'worthless'.
Disturbingly, for young men (15–24 years), suicide is the leading cause of death. The suicide rate is consistently higher in rural and regional areas compared to urban centres.
Perhaps it is time we had a ' Rural Men's Day' where we can recognise and celebrate all the rural blokes (men and boys) on the same day as International Men's Day.
Most blokes wouldn't care for the attention of such a day, but if it's a start to 'rewriting the script for men', then maybe it's a day worthwhile.
The rural sector also provides work opportunities that see men thrive, see the LATEST JOBS
Worth noting, International Men's Day is not recognised by the UN, as apparently men need to start recognising it first!
LISTEN TO THE PODCAST: Why are Boys and Men in Trouble?
Other resources:
YouTube: Empowering Young Men & Championing Equality with Richard Reeves | The Man Enough Podcast
RFTTE has long been a supporter of Movember and they have some excellent resources on Men's Health and suicide prevention.
Lifeline : 13 11 14
Suicide Call Back Service : 1300 659 467
Beyond Blue : 1300 224 636
MensLine Australia : 1300 789 978
13YARN : 13 92 76
Kids Helpline (for young people aged 5 to 25 years): 1800 551 80
Your comments and other resources are welcome: simon@rfttejobs.com
*The suicide data is derived from historical records on suicide rates and numbers reported by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and corroborated by organisations such as the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) and Suicide Prevention Australia.
Carlton Hill Crew | Images by Jon Lewis
Click to listen to podcast