The persistent warbling of social media warriors ringing in my ears. The limp and poorly formulated clap backs that routinely slide into my dms. The constant yells and explosions of the gender war high above us. The snarls, shrieks and crocodile tears of the brave souls who try to undermine, or debunk the issues I present. The endless school-yard-bully-style name calling and personal attacks. Yes. Unsurprisingly there are many ways in which talking about men and boys issues can become difficult, or even dangerous, but one way in which it is easy – is how memorable some of the statistics are. For the issues impacting men and boys are so absurdly large, severe and ubiquitous; that when you read them, they burn the numbers right into your brain. Sadly you can’t unlearn what you know, and there is no going back. Male pain in a radio frequency that you are now tuned into, will always hear, and will never truly be able to block out. So in which counties can a man expect to live longer than a woman? None. In which ares of western education can a boy expect to score higher than girl? None. In which age groups do American men die at higher rates than women? All of them. As a percentage, how much domestic violence funding is provisioned to women? All of it. (well ~99%, but I rounded up) We’re not quibbling over trivial things here – men dying more in every age category, in every social economic and racial group, and in every country in the world, is the elephant in the room of social advocacy. Yet whilst such magnitude makes many of the issues boys and men face impossible to forget, it seems like it is not enough to break the veneer of public ignorance, and get people actually talking about them. So what issues are most memorable to you? What statistics shock or astound you? And when will people start discussing them? ~ Harvard Medical School  The Guardian CDC Death Rates NNEDV 2018 Richard Reeves Mens Health in the US a National Paradox  Images by Kiwi Hug and Mathias Reding

2023-08-24