MENS celebrates men

Some of the leading men’s organisations in Barbados have issued a unanimous appeal for men to assert themselves and play a much greater role in the enhancement of the family, society and community.

The call came during the observance of International Men’s Day today from founder and president of Men’s Empowerment Network Support (MENS) Fabian Sergeant who also suggests that men start celebrating their role in all aspects of life.

“International Men’s Day is really a day when we should be celebrating our men, celebrating the value that men bring to the entire society, celebrating the role of men as it relates to family, workplace and generally in terms of men at the community level,”  Sergeant, a professional social worker told Barbados TODAY.

He contended that all the negatives which are traditionally associated with men should be buried at least during International Men’s Day and be replaced with a celebration of their manhood.

“I find that even having discussions with journalists, the discussion always goes back to the fact that crime is dominated by men and prison dominated by men. While that is true, there are equally good men out there. It is just that the negative dominates the media,” he added.

“These good men, these good fathers, these men that are looked up to as role models, whether it be in sports, music, school teachers, or whatever, they deserve a day to be celebrated. That is what I would really like to see. I would like to see the institutionalizing of International Men’s Day where a lot more focus is placed on activities to celebrate men in the same way as Mothers’ Day and other such events,” insisted the social worker.

Sergeant is arguing that more ought to be done to uplift men rather than pull them down.

For the future, he wants to see the emergence of more men’s organisations across Barbados.

“I think that the church has a big cohort of men…we have the polyclinics with the men’s health programmes…but I find that these two organisations attract a lot of older men. I would like to see some more innovative and unorthodox approaches to attract younger men, middle age men and even mentorship programmes,” said the founder of MENS.

However, the social worker is adamant that these mentorship programmes be conducted by trained persons.

“I don’t mean you pick just any man because all men can’t be mentors for boys…but men that are screened, men that go through some level of training and men that can identify with all that is happening with a young boy that is going through adolescence and who feels a bit confused,” Sergeant stated.

Acknowledging that many homes are without men and father figures, the president pleaded for more men to step up to the plate and take on their responsibilities as fathers.

“We want to encourage men to do better by their families, do better by themselves and do better by society. In that way, you would have the reduced crime rate, you would have better communications by their families. In this way you would have better parents…and it all starts with self,” Sergeant declared.

Chairman of Men’s Education and Support Association (MESA) Grantley Osbourne also insists that men must assert themselves and unite.

“I would like men to become more conscious of the role they can play and band themselves together because if they don’t band themselves together, they could become more disenfranchised and they would be reduced to nothing,” Osbourne told Barbados TODAY.

He argued that men are in jeopardy in terms of how they are treated by society and the powers that be.

The umbrella body for the Wesleyan men’s groups across Barbados said it is significant that a special day is set aside to celebrate the valuable work which men make in society.

“I think it is significant that we honour men and their contribution in a special way. It is not something that we do often enough and hopefully the day can highlight the role that men play,” said President of the District Men’s Fellowship of the Wesleyan Holiness Church in Barbados Martin Taylor.

He hopes the day increases in significance and that men be encouraged to look after each other.

The men’s fellowship leader also suggested that men should reclaim their space which has been taken over by women.

“We have allowed the public space to be taken over from us. Men are often afraid to speak in public space and regain public trust and confidence. We want men to start to retake the public space. We are ceding too much of our influence in the public away. We have ceded too much space to women,” Taylor contended.

International Men’s Day is commemorated across the world to celebrate significant contributions by the male population to society and to spread awareness about the issues that men face.

The main objectives of celebrating an International Men’s Day include, focusing on men’s and boys’ health, improving gender relations, promoting gender equality, and highlighting male role models.

(emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb)