The mention of “men” today is usually followed by unpalatable censure and epithets, and evokes emotions that no man would want to be associated with.

If it is not rebukes of drunk and disorderly conduct, then it is denunciations of rape and general licentiousness. Apparently, there is nothing good coming from Mars anymore; talk about giving a dog a bad name then killing it.

Messages on media indicate how low men’s rating and dignity has dipped in recent years. Apparently men are to blame for everything going wrong in the world, including the weather!

Being a man is no longer a badge of honour. It is a burden that one has to carry amid jeers from the rest of society. Indeed, there is a “genocide” that has been gradually taking place in our homes, albeit silently.

Many men are losing their lives with abandon at the hands of spouses. If it is not murder through overt means like violence or poisoning, then it is covertly through what has been called centralised stress. At last, the media has started publishing these exposés that were hitherto inconvenient truths.

Kenyan men can take heart – if this is any consolation at all – that the crucifixion of menfolk has become an institutionalised global phenomenon. For instance, America is awash with accusations of sexual abuse facing the high and mighty. It is now normal fare for the American media to publish cases involving top entertainers and politicians accused of having engaged in sexual impropriety with an array of women. Sex in America sells, literally.

Talk about vengeance, extortion and blackmail. Careers build painstakingly have been destroyed instantly like houses of dominoes, simply because someone has given a version of events that happened during a secret rendezvous. Men’s names have been dragged through the mud, with no right of reply. Never mind that some incidents go way back tens of years.

In Europe, the UK is leading the way, for lack of a better expression. Sometime in July 2021, the Church of England released a new gender relations document titled, Valuing all God’s Children, which offers guidance on transgender issues.

The clergy directs teachers and parents to let boys wear tutus (ballet dresses) and high heels if they want to, saying that children should be at liberty to explore the possibilities of who they might be, without judgement or derision. Ahem!

No wonder the world has deemed it fit to set aside November 19 every year to celebrate boys and men, through the International Men’s Day (IMD). The theme for this year’s IMD was, Zero Male Suicide.

According to the IMD website, the occasion offers an opportunity to focus on both men’s and boy’s health, improving gender relations, promoting gender equality, and highlighting positive male role models.

It is a day for men to celebrate their achievements and contributions particularly to the community, family, marriage and child care, while highlighting discrimination against them.

Data from the World Health Organisation reveals that male life expectancy at birth in 2015 was 69 years, and 74 years for females globally. Further, over 95 per cent of work place fatalities are men, and 99 per cent of combat deaths are, you guessed it, those of men. The rate of suicide for men is up to three times that of women; in Russia, it is six men for every one woman.

Suffice it to say that men make sacrifices every day in the myriad roles they play. IMD is an opportunity for people of goodwill everywhere to appreciate and celebrate the men in their lives, and the selfless contribution they make to society for the greater good of all. Unfortunately, men are being systematically abused and emasculated. But to what end, only time will tell.

— The writer is a PhD candidate in International Relations