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by Aditha Dissanayake

March 8 is International Women's Day. Shouldn't there be an International Day for men too?

"No, thank you. We don't need such a day" says a thirty-three-year-old Manager in Thalawakele. "Whether there is a day for men or not, nothing is going to change. Men will continue to be men and women will continue to be women. This has been so since the time of Kuweni".

Susil who works as a driver for a trading company in Orugodawatta agrees. He sees an international day for men as something crazy. (Purusha dinayak? Pissu vedak) When I point out to him that women have a day for themselves he says they should not have one either.

"Everyday of the year has become somebody's day. Mother's day, father's day, and now a lover's day... people make a fuss about something on one particular day and forget about it for the rest of the year. Take mother's day for instance. I love my mother and look after her as best as I can, recently she had to undergo an operation at Sri Jayawardenepura Hospital....(he gives a detailed description of her ailment) I don't need a mother's day to look after my mother, says Susil finally coming back to the point.

Uditha Wijesene, a young pensioner at forty-five, says he sees no need for a day for men because men are still the dominant sex. "Women need a day to highlight their grievances because they see themselves as the oppressed sex. All these "days" came into being after May 1st was declared as Labour Day.

Even mother's day and father's day have become popular today because society has changed. People are so busy living their own lives they need a day to remind themselves about their parents." Coming back to the issue of an international day for men, he laughs and says "Perhaps not yet. But someday in the future, when women will completely dominate us and we will go crying to them begging for a day for us".

What do women think? Should there be an international day for men? A teacher of English, Chandralatha Pathirana, is against such a day. "Men do not need an international day. They live as though everyday of the year belong to them, so they don't deserve to be given another special day. Her friend, who spends her days in meditation says "There is no such thing called a human being. No one called a man or a woman. There is only mana, mana, mana". For her, talking about "days" for men and women is taboo.

Only Naveen, a second year university student at Peradeniya says it is a good idea. At first he is surprised there is no international day for men. He had thought there was one in existence already. " If there is no such day, then we should have one. If everyone else has a day for themselves its only fair that we men too should have a day". Which day should this be? I ask him. "How about August 23rd?" He suggests. Any special reason? My birthday.

But no man jumped at the idea of an international day for Men, the way I hoped they would. No man insisted such a day was essential. No man grumbled about the privileges women enjoyed - special seats in buses, special pages in newspapers, and even a ministry for themselves. No man thought they needed a day to highlight issues that bothered them. I wonder why?

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Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
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