Today, the 19th of November is International Men's Day. It's an important day to reflect on manhood, masculinity and men's issues- in 2024 the focus is on health.
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 for 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 centre's.
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 bloke's 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 welcomed: 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.
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