Oscar Rickett: 'Every day is men's day, despite Angela Merkel'

On the International Men's Day website, true believers from around the world look into the camera, normally with the surf breaking on a beach behind them (men like being outdoors), and tell us about men and boys, health and role models. They don't come across as secret woman-oppressors or evil patriarchy peddlers. They're just guys who like to say "men" and variations on the word "men" a lot. There is a cult-like feeling that is more reminiscent of the Scouts – whose founder Robert Baden-Powell they quote admiringly – than it is of the Masons. There is a moderately creepy photo of a boy in a suit that's too big for him but the main thrust seems to be that this is a group that wants to deal with men's health problems and promote gender equality – both admirable aims.

The problem, though, is that a bunch of men gathered round the barbecue – one of the website's suggestions for guaranteed IMD fun – might have quite different ideas about gender equality to a bunch of women gathered around the sewing machine (is that what women like to do these days?) It calls to mind a delegation of men trooping back to their women folk, proudly announcing that they have agreed upon a set of actions that the women will surely accept, despite having no input into. The website even talks about "honour", as if we should all aspire to be Achilles or Hector, while our womenfolk worry and wait for the inevitable bereavement.

This day, then, is a frightened reaction to the perceived upturn in women's fortunes as well as being simply another way of establishing the gender power structure that has existed in almost all cultures since the dawn of time. That power structure is this: men have most of the power. This remains the same, despite Angela Merkel. Every single day is international men's day because day after day, in country after country, far more men wield far more power than their female counterparts. The conversation about equality is one that needs to involve as many people as possible. It can't be carried out by a group of men alone, however well-meaning and good at surfing they are.

• Oscar Rickett is a freelance writer, researcher and sometime actor

Glen Poole: 'We can't ignore the problems faced by men and boys'

International Men's Day is an important date for anyone who is concerned with equality.

We all care about equality for different reasons. We know that the world's most equal countries tend to be happier, healthier, safer places for everyone to live in. So whether you're rich, poor, straight, gay, female, male or any other gender identity you can imagine, if the country you live in is unequal, you will feel the impact of that inequality in some way.

When it comes to gender equality in particular, we still tend to think of it is a one-sided, binary puzzle in which women have problems and men are the problem – and so our solutions generally focus on helping women and girls and fixing men and boys.

In reality, gender equality is a much more complex and multi-faceted beast in which people of all genders can experience a broad range of different inequalities.

When it comes to men and boys in particular, we know that in 99% of countries men die sooner than women; that men are at greater risk of suicide than women; that in nearly 100 countries girls are outperforming boys in school; that men and boys account for more than 80% of violent deaths worldwide every year and that fathers all over the globe are less involved in raising their children than mothers for all sorts of personal, cultural and political reasons.

There are many inequalities that disproportionately affect men and boys. We cannot and should not expect feminism and the women's movement to address these aspects of gender equality. Initiatives like International Men's Day are vitally important as they provide us with a global platform where people from a diverse range of perspectives who are committed to improving the lives of men and boys can get involved in the fight for equality.

Of course we could try creating a more gender-equal world by only focusing on the problems that women and girls face. But it seems self evident that things would be in much better shape if we were taking effective action to tackle the problems that men and boys face too.

• Glen Poole is director of the consultancy Helping Men, UK co-ordinator for International Men's Day and author of the book Equality For Men