June is pride month. A time for a historically marginalized group to share in their collective experiences and be proud of themselves (for many of them have been shamed for existing). It is an anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall protests that marked a turning point in the acceptance of LGBTQ+ people in society. for over 50 years, celebrations like it have been held with this same spirit all over the world. ...
Recently however, June is also Men's Mental Health Month. A growing movement of both genuine and spurious concern for Men's health on social media allowed the celebration to be informally set as June, potentially as an expansion of Men's Health Week. Common celebrations involve dismantling certain ideas around masculinity and what it means to be a man, as well as unisex ideas of emotional maturity and understanding your feelings and accepting them
But before I talk about the rhetoric of the MMH movement, I want to be very clear: I will never, ever, be against any improvements in the acknowledgement or normalization of the real and prominent mental health issues that impact anyone on this planet. Nor will I ignore or minimize the fact that men do, in fact, face unfair societal treatment around their emotions that need to be acknowledged for what they are. But, I believe it is important to understand that many of the original proponents of Men's Mental Health Month did not support it because of a genuine concern for men's mental health.
Rhetoric is a powerful tool. it makes us care about something, and it persuades us. The best rhetoric is almost unnoticeable; fitting seamlessly into an argument. Rhetoric isn't always bad. In fact, it is a mostly harmless and necessary part of any argument or idea. Most people use rhetoric constantly in their daily lives without noticing it. Analyzing the rhetoric of an idea or text can allow us you better understand why it has come into existence, and what it is trying to do.
The fact that MMH Month and Pride Month overlap is no coincidence. Many proponents of MMH month understood this, and made its overlap a prominent feature of the celebration. For example, MMH Month is sometimes cited as a replacement of Pride month, which it is not. But, many attempts to acknowledge this issue end with the proponent of MMHM to use this valid concern to "demonstrate" how Men's Mental Health is "shut down". This a strong emotional pull to the audience, and creates a situation where there are few good faith arguments to make without sounding insensitive.