Husna Khan Hashi :
International Men’s Day offers a moment to pause and look closely at the quiet battles men often fight.
These struggles do not always appear in public conversation, yet they shape lives in ways that deserve recognition.
When reflected on with honesty, they reveal how deeply men need space for vulnerability, support, and humane expectations.
One of the most pressing issues is emotional isolation. Many boys grow up hearing that strength means silence.
Their tears are hurried away and their fears are tucked into hidden corners. As adults they often carry this early training like a heavy coat that cannot be removed.
They hesitate to ask for help, even when their hearts feel frayed. It is not a lack of feeling but an excess of learned restraint that keeps them lonely.
The world praises stoicism while forgetting that unspoken pain tends to deepen in the dark.
Another challenge lies in identity pressure. Men are often told to be protectors, providers, and pillars of stability.
These roles can be noble, but they can also bend a person under expectations that do not match his inner truth. A man who wants to be gentle may feel inadequate.
A man who chooses a different career path or lifestyle may battle judgment. The constant push to appear successful and unshakable creates a quiet fatigue that many learn to mask.
Mental health remains another area where men face intense strain. The fear of appearing weak can stop them from reaching out at the very moment support is most needed.
Some carry unprocessed trauma, some wrestle with career uncertainty, and some feel displaced by rapid changes in social roles. Their struggles are real, even if their voices tremble when they try to speak of them.
Men also experience social loneliness. Friendships often thin out as responsibilities increase.
Work absorbs time. Family commitments grow. In the process, many men lose the spaces where they once laughed freely or shared their worries.
They miss community but are unsure how to rebuild it. Finally, there is the challenge of redefining masculinity in a changing world.
Many men want to be compassionate, expressive, and emotionally present, yet they are unsure how to step into these roles without feeling judged.
They are navigating new forms of partnership and parenthood while shedding old expectations that never quite fit.
International Men’s Day should not be a celebration of dominance or old stereotypes.
It should be a gentle invitation to see men as full human beings who think, feel, doubt, and dream. It should encourage conversations that soften the rigid borders around masculinity.
It should remind society that empathy is not a gift reserved for a few, but a necessity for everyone.
When men are allowed to express their fears without shame, to show tenderness without ridicule, and to ask for help without hesitation, the world becomes kinder for all.
International Men’s Day is a reminder of the quiet truths we often overlook. Men are not asking for praise. Many simply want to be seen, understood, and treated with the same grace they are expected to offer others.
In the end, International Men’s Day invites everyone to look beyond old assumptions and notice the human stories carried quietly by men each day. Their struggles with emotion, identity, and connection do not make them less strong.
They make them real. When society offers understanding instead of judgment, men gain the freedom to grow into more open and compassionate versions of themselves.
Honoring them begins with listening, supporting, and allowing space for honesty. A kinder world for men becomes a kinder world for all.
(The writer is a Bangladeshi born British citizen and civil servant)
