What is International Men’s Day?

International Men’s Day occurs on the 19th of November. It has been created to “celebrate [the] worldwide the positive value men bring to the world, their families and communities” (International Men’s Day, n.d.). This year’s theme is “better relations between men and women”.

In this blog, a group of our Student Ambassadors will be highlighting different men they find inspirational and why as a way to celebrate the achievements of men.

Highlighting inspirational men

Sacha Baron Cohen

Although he is most known for his comedic roles as ‘Borat’ and ‘Ali G’, Sacha Baron Cohen does a lot of work outside acting by donating to charities, spreading awareness, and protesting hate speech, just a few examples which make him an inspirational male.

His campaign ‘Stop Hate for Profit’ works with the Anti-Defamation League, which demands social media companies to take responsibility and action towards discrimination and hate speech on their platforms. This contributes to the majority of why I find him an inspirational male as it is a relevant issue in our society today. Issues like discrimination and hate speech create a toxic, violent, and dangerous culture that is amplified on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. Sacha’s work in calling out the creators of these sites is admirable and is a great way to use his fame and following to create positive change. Moreover, together with his wife, Sacha has recently donated £335,000 to Save the Children in Syria to help vaccinate children and donated money for PPE, 50,000 coveralls, and 100,000 masks, for the NHS during the pandemic. Both of which are very admirable and rare for most celebrities, these generous acts only add to the reasons why he is an incredibly inspirational male!

By Elisha James

Ehiz

International Men’s Day shouldn’t go unrecognised as it is an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of men. It’s also a time where people can raise awareness on topics including men’s mental health and wellbeing. Today, we are going to demonstrate this using the famous social media influencer, Ehiz.

Ehiz is a 22-year-old Nigerian- British social media influencer. He is most recognised on Tik-Tok and Instagram where he produces content of himself reacting to other videos as well as producing his own original comedic videos. He went viral after posting a video of his family dynamic which gained awe and laughter from a large audience. Since then, he continues to post reactionary videos and original content which is loved by many.

What makes Ehiz an inspirational male is the fact that his rise to stardom was not an easy journey. His family were experiencing financial difficulties and were kicked out of their council house into an emergency accommodation to eventually living in Travelodge. A viral video was the turning point for Ehiz as he is now making £3000 a month and is Britain’s most-followed Black Tik Toker. He uses his platform to raise awareness on issues including the prevalence of racism in the UK. This shows he is an inspiration as delivers the message in a comedic way to help important issues gain the attention they need and doesn’t just use his fame to make profit. He also inspires young people by portraying the importance of family values. Ehiz aims to buy a house for his single mother and siblings when he is financially equipped.

Like Ehiz, there are many inspirational men that have experienced turbulence in their life but turned it around to benefit others hence proving the importance of International Men’s Day.

By Kitan Sodipo

Josh Nash

Josh Nash was a major Mathematician born in 1928 in Bluefield West Virginia. He began his education in Pittsburgh before transferring to Princeton, fun fact his reference letter included this exact sentence ‘This man is a genius’.

In 1950, he published a two-page study that was a significant contribution to the subject of game theory and to our understanding of the strategy of decision making. The concept Nash introduced is known as ‘Nash equilibrium’.

In his life Nash had Schizophrenia, his symptoms began when he was about 30 years old. He was first offered a voluntary stay in hospital, but he rejected, convinced that he had a crucial job to complete as the leader of a global peace organisation that only he knew existed.

As a to-be mathematician myself, Josh Nash is truly an inspiration to me for so many reasons. Firstly, he created an impact on the mathematics and scientific world when he was just 22 years old! Moreover, due to his paranoid schizophrenia, Nash believed that the entire globe was plotting a conspiracy against the U.S. Nash tried to convince the government that they had to use a completely different method of encryption. The amazing fact is that this is the method that is still used today.

By Michaella Ktori