I miss that boys are more encouraged to take control of their own lives.
Thursday 25 April at 15:58
MILAN ARAN, social debater
The men’s committee has put forward 35 different proposals related to men’s challenges within equality.
Two out of three suicides in Norway are committed by men. Three out of four convicts are men.
It is clear that men are struggling. Have we managed to get to the root of the problem?
I think a lot of the reason we struggle is because we don’t let men be men.
And by that I don’t mean that we should cheer for baris wrestling in spring, have a high body count, and not talk about feelings.
On the contrary.
What I miss is that boys are more encouraged to take control of their own lives.
It’s about taking responsibility for finding our role in a team.
And we are all different. Some want to be captain, others thrive better as a forward and some as a goalkeeper.
Nevertheless, we are all looking for the same team feeling.
That is why we know that availability of leisure activities from a young age can have a preventive effect against ending up in the wrong environment.
Maybe society is failing us men when we can’t find our team.
The consequence of someone not finding belonging is that they end up finding it in criminal gangs – or that they never find it and become lonely.
Now is the time to prevent such men and boys from falling outside.
The solution is not to talk down men and men’s abilities. Men are not the losers in society.
Taking on the role of victim, which youth politicians in particular portray today, is like accepting defeat before the battle has begun.
Everyone has the opportunity to find their team, but it doesn’t start by defining us as victims; it starts with encouraging people to take more responsibility.
I have been told all my life that the system is against me because I am not ethnically Norwegian, and now that society has failed me because I am a man.
I believe that politicians forget that much of the responsibility also lies with us to improve our own living situation.
Politicians can facilitate as much as they want.
But sooner or later we have to realize that even though the table may be set, we will still be hungry if we don’t eat.
