When is International Men’s Day?
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Happy International Women’s day (at the time of writing) to all the women of the site! This day is remarkable in many ways, not least of which is that it’s one of the few where I’m willing to use an exclamation point. This is a day of marking the incalculable female contribution to the world. Paradoxically, though, I’m going to be writing about the actions of a man.
Comedian Richard Herring is a legendary force on the British stand-up comedy circuit and a pioneer of comedy podcasting. Richard Herring’s Leicester Square Theatre Podcast is a great listen for anyone who’s interested in comedy or comedians. As well as this, every year, on March 8th, Herring devotes himself to one task. He performs a Twitter search for key phrases and replies to every instance of their use he sees. The keywords in question: ‘international men’s day’, with variations for spelling (mens/mans/man’s etc).
Usually, these tweets are from men who, for some reason can’t use google, asking when International Mens Day is. This is usually done to imply International Women’s Day is somehow sexist against men. It’s also usually intended entirely rhetorically. Something Herring delightfully flaunts. He replies to each one of these insincere inquiries with the revelation that International Men’s Day is:
November 19th.
November 19th https://t.co/VPaQBjY84y
— Richard K Herring (@Herring1967) March 8, 2018
This is going to be so embarrassing for you. There IS one. On November 19. I admire your confidence, but combined with ignorance that’s a dangerous weapon https://t.co/nZQi2ElUPk
— Richard K Herring (@Herring1967) March 8, 2018
How embarrassing. You thought wrong, didn’t check it and then announced it to the world and now you look like a big willie. It’s November 19th https://t.co/piNqO9TSVt
— Richard K Herring (@Herring1967) March 8, 2018
Now for the past few years this has mostly been an in-joke that makes fun of the whiny ill-informed nature of these tweets. This year, however, Herring is actually getting people to sponsor him in his informative effort. He’s raising money for Refuge, a charity that aims to protect women and children from domestic violence. He’s on target to reach a goal of £100,000. So, for a good laugh, you can follow Herring on Twitter @Herring1967 and to make sure the idiocy of certain men doesn’t go to waste, you can donate to the cause here.