International Men’s Day is taking place on Saturday 19th November and Ben Bradley MP is urging constituents to get involved and celebrate the positive value men bring to the world, their families and communities. The theme for 2022 is “Helping Men and Boys”. International Men’s Day encourages men to teach the boys in their lives the values, character and responsibilities of being a man. It is also a platform to raise awareness to the challenges that men face in life – especially in relation to the international male suicide rate.
Mr Bradley has long campaigned for equal treatment of men and boys, who are often overlooked by society. Specifically, he has consistently raised issues that urgently need addressing surrounding white-working class boys who are statistically most likely to drop out of school with no qualifications and most likely to commit suicide. Mr Bradley has previously raised his concerns directly with Government by holding a debate on the ‘Education and Attainment of White Working-Class Boys’.
In 2020, Mr Bradley held a debate on International Men’s Day and argued that it is “hugely important” to raise men’s issues. He expressed his concern that the topic is challenging to raise without being criticised “because of the general discourse that so often seems to pervade our society that talks of male privilege, of toxic masculinity, and of men as oppressors rather than positive contributors or role models. Men are talked about, all too often, as a problem that must be rectified.”
This year, ahead of International Men’s Day, the Mansfield MP held a Westminster Hall debate on ‘increasing the number of male primary school teachers’ to highlight the importance of male teachers in a primary school setting. Mr Bradley wanted to “touch on the impact of the issue on our young people and young boys, and on their mental health and stability”. He argued that “At a time when masculinity and being a man can be portrayed very negatively, and young men increasingly find it hard to figure out what their role in life and in our society might be, leading to all sorts of mental health problems, which I am sure we will discuss over the course of this week in the build-up to International Men’s Day, it has never been more important for them to have a consistent, respectable male role model they trust in their life.”
The Mansfield MP, a vocal critic of equalities legislation, touched on the misuse of the Equality Act 2010 when it came to the issue of male primary school teachers. He argued that the “intention behind the law is that the exact same legislation that is cited in order to support young women into science, technology, engineering and maths subjects, where they are historically under-represented, and into university—even though today’s figures show they are over-represented”. He raised his concerns that he had previously been informed by Education Ministers that there are no schemes aimed at supporting young men to get into primary teaching and expressed his frustration that the Equality Act 2020 is “almost never interpreted” in a way to support men into professions where they are under-represented, despite the law existing to tackle biological sex – both male and female.
Commenting on this Ben Bradley MP said:
“International Men’s Day is a great opportunity to acknowledge the positive value men and boys bring to the world, but also to focus on some really important issues. I’ve received criticism in the past for standing up for men and boys but the statistics speak for themselves. Men have a suicide rate three times higher than women. This is shocking and more needs to be done to support men that find themselves in such a dark place.
“I’d also like to pay tribute to men out there doing their best - particularly good dads and those trying their best to be good dads in challenging times. Strong male role models are so important and that's one of the reasons I held a debate earlier this week on the importance of getting more male teachers in primary schools. Sometimes it feels like an uphill battle, but I'm confident things will start to change for the better.
“I hope that my constituents across Mansfield and Warsop will join me in taking the time to thank some men in their lives who are positive male role models.”
