TODAY, November 19, 2014, the international community will once again commemorate International Men’s Day (IMD).

According to Jerome Teelucksingh — who conceptualised the day in 1999 — the objectives of International Men’s Day include highlighting discrimination against men and boys, and celebrating their achievements and contributions, in particular their contributions to community, family, marriage, and childcare.

One could reasonably argue that, given the comparatively worse situation of women in every context — social, economic and political — the commemoration of International Men’s Day may seem a moot point. But this year’s theme, ‘Working Together for Men and Boys’, is intended to bring greater awareness to issues that affect men and boys worldwide, including men’s shorter life expectancy, the higher rates of suicide, society’s apparent collective tolerance of violence against men, the struggles boys currently face in education systems, and the unique challenges of father-child relationships.

Closer to home, in the Caribbean, concerns continue to be expressed over the quality of men’s and boys’ engagement with the education system, involvement in antisocial activities including crime and violence, inadequate attention to issues of health, particularly sexual reproductive health, and labour market participation.

As Murray (2009) asserts: “There is much talk about Caribbean men ‘falling behind’, whether in school, the workplace, or at home. Some even label this a ‘crisis’, arguing for drastic interventions to help young boys learn appropriate models of masculinity and develop into healthy, productive men who respect themselves and others…” www.stabroeknews.com/2009/features/05/19/masculinity…

Given the social and economic challenges experienced by men and boys that are highlighted through the commemoration of IMD, some may be tempted to position IMD in direct opposition to IWD (International Women’s Day), which has traditionally been used to highlight the ways in which women have been systematically and systemically discriminated against. Others may wish to use these challenges as grounds to undermine the gains that the Feminist Movement has wrought for women. Others still may even — as is already done in some quarters — use the day to blame the advancement of women for the perceived decline of men, as if men have a prior right to access material and non-material goods, including education, in a way that women do not.

The opportunity, however, should be grasped on IMD 2014 to promote critical dialogue around issues of gender equality, as well as to reflect on the consequences of how gender systems, which are steeped in patriarchal convictions of the superiority of some and inferiority of others, imprison both men and women. Gender stereotyping, particularly hegemonic understandings of

masculinity, has deleterious consequences, not just for men and boys, but for women and girls as well.

Such an approach to commemorating the day only makes sense as, while many men are not innocent in the manipulation of patriarchal privilege, not all men benefit from patriarchy in the same way. Conversely, some women embody the attributes of patriarchy better than any man could.

By using the opportunity of IMD to shed light on the harmful effects of gender stereotypes, men and boys, as well as women and girls, are helped. The ongoing United Nations-endorsed He for She campaign is an excellent example of how gender equity and equality needs to be renegotiated and how the business of gender is ultimately about human rights.

As changes in the global political economy continue and long-established roles of men and women, once assumed inherent, are being contested, stereotypical constructions of masculinity and femininity must not only become obsolete, but be perceived as downright burdensome.

The commemoration of IMD may best be seen for the opportunity it presents for how men and women must work together to reimagine and reinvent gender systems.

The above was contributed by the Institute for Gender and Development Studies, Regional Headquarters, University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica.