Today is Man’s Day, or is it
Men’s Day? Grammatically I’m not sure,
my impulse is it call it Men’s Day based on the fact that on March 8th
it’s called Women’s Day. Overall, I
guess it doesn’t really matter, it’s a day to celebrate men just because they
are men. The sarcastic and cynical part
of me wants to question why we should celebrate someone because they a special
body part. “I have two arms! Let’s party!”
The gentler side of me has to explain to my inner bitch that this was a
day to honor the Soviet Army. So now
that the Soviet Army is gone and everyone is thoroughly disgusted with their
country and government people decided to change this day to Men’s Day. And let’s face it, when have people really
ever argued against having a holiday?
Having a holiday called Men’s Day
may seem sexist and old-fashioned but the more I’ve thought about it, the more
I think it may actually be a good idea.
After all, women always complain that men don’t appreciate them enough,
but when was the last time women really took the time to appreciate the men in
their lives? This could be their
fathers, grandfathers, brothers, cousins or even best friends. As a man, you are expected to know a variety
of things even if you don’t. For
example, how to repair a computer. Most
IT techs are men. Heaven forbid you have
a problem with your computer, but if you do, the first solution to come to mind
is a guy to come and fix it. If you have
car trouble, who do you call? A man of
course. What if there’s a big scary
insect crawling around in your bathtub?
Or if you need help opening a jar of pickles?
The burden of this holiday is that
shopping for men is not easy. Most women
are easy because as a man you are allowed or even expected to buy and present
thoughtless flowers purchased from a street vendor with less than appealing
oral hygiene. Or some overpriced
chocolate along with a tacky stuffed animal from China. So ladies, are we expected to find and give
such gifts? No. Of course not. Men like toys of the electronic variety such
as MP5 players that allow you to surf the net, take pictures and give you a
massage. What else? Razors are an easy reliable present. But then again, how many electric razors does
a guy need? Ties? The American part of me shouts ‘golf balls!’
and then I tell myself to stop watching American movies because in this country
golf doesn’t exist.
There’s always the not-so-easy
task of making a homemade dinner.
Something special. I brought up
this idea to my class of female students the other day when we were discussing
this holiday and they were also thinking of ‘making something special’ because
they weren’t quite sure what else to do.
A few were going to take their mates out for beer or buy tickets to the
movies. Aside from the fact that I cook
almost every day, this requires me to really, really think outside the box. I wholeheartedly accept this challenge
because I love cooking. Now I have to
question my motive for preparing something so time consuming, is it for the guy
in my life or really for me?
Was the creation of this holiday
really just a ploy to get women to cook more for their men?
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