Men's Day in Brazil: July 15th or November 19th?
This article is also available in Brazilian Portuguese here.
Every now and then, I’d hear either myself or people close to me asking, “If March 8th is International Women's Day, when is Men’s Day?” The joking answer was always, “On Saint Never’s Day.” That’s a curious reaction when you consider that Brazil has officially had a Men’s Day since 1992, according to the National Supplementary Health Agency (ANS). Men’s Day is on July 15th.
Finding information about this day, however, is surprisingly difficult. When we look it up, it's not uncommon to come across articles that, aiming to catch the reader's attention, make a lame joke like “Men’s Day actually exists,” which is on the websites of Colégio Sapiens and the UOL portal.
What we know about the origin of Men’s Day in Brazil boils down to the fact that it was created by the National Order of Writers in 1992, as a kind of joke. A few more details can be found in a 1999 article from the newspaper A Folha de São Paulo. The group of founders kept meeting annually at Pensão Jundiaí with the goal of “spreading human warmth,” honoring, at each edition, three Brazilian men and one foreigner, among them were Nelson Mandela, Paulo Vanzolini, and Pasquale Cipro Neto. Although Men’s Day is on July 15th, the “gala night” would take place on July 20th, as it marks the day a man first set foot on the Moon.
“If you ask an average Brazilian when Men’s Day is, the answer will still be “on Saint Never’s Day.””
This story, whose accuracy no one seems able to confirm, is all that we know about Men’s Day in Brazil. There are no commercials encouraging people to buy gifts for men, no TV programs or political speeches paying tribute to them. If you ask an average Brazilian when Men’s Day is, the answer will still be “on Saint Never’s Day.”
However, to be fair, I should say that something has changed over the past decade. The Blue November campaign, which aims to raise awareness about the importance of the digital rectal exam in preventing prostate cancer, has gained a lot of visibility. As a result, some people are now aware that there is an International Men’s Day, celebrated on November 19th.
International Men’s Day was first celebrated by Prof Thomas Oaster in the US in February 1992, and popularized as 19th November by Jerome Teelucksingh in 1999. But the coincidence of International Men’s Day falling in the same month as prostate cancer awareness means that the date ends up being reduced to just a day to talk about men’s health and prostate cancer (as is the case on the ANS website). Typically, men are portrayed merely as stubborn and prejudiced individuals who neglect their health out of fear of being seen as weak, often accompanied by juvenile, middle-school-style jokes linking the digital rectal exam to homosexuality.
However even this modest spotlight on men’s issues is short-lived, because the following day, November 20th, is Black Awareness Day (Dia da Consciência Negra) in Brazil. It’s a day dedicated to remembering the suffering and resistance of enslaved Black people, and inevitably overshadows a day for men
Although it seems to me that the trend is for July 15th to fade into obscurity and for us to celebrate Men’s Day only on November 19th, along with other countries, unfortunately, November 19th strikes me as an unfortunate date to promote, in Brazil at least, the ideals of encouraging positive male role models, improving gender relations, and celebrating men’s contributions to the world. Despite this, as long as July 15th is still around, I sincerely wish you all a happy Men’s Day.
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Disclaimer: This article is for information purposes only and is not a substitute for therapy, legal advice, or other professional opinion. Never disregard such advice because of this article or anything else you have read from the Centre for Male Psychology. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of, or are endorsed by, The Centre for Male Psychology, and we cannot be held responsible for these views. Read our full disclaimer here.
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Yago Luksevicius de Moraes
Yago is a Brazilian PhD student in experimental psychology in University of São Paulo. He focusses on basic research concerning male psychology, gaming, and methodology and his current research is about sex differences in how games are used to form and maintain friendships. He collaborates in a gaming disorder research project coordinated by Integrated Outpatient Program for Impulse Disorders. His most valuables friendships were made by playing trading card games and digital games.