Why would anyone object to a campaign to prevent male suicide?
One question I get asked often is how did I keep my cool when I faced Chanty Binx (better known as Big Red) at the University of Toronto, as shown on the Red Pill movie.
Most folks assume I had huge amounts of anger towards her.
They are wrong.
I have pity for her; it must be tough going through life with that much hate in your soul.
Where my anger does come into play is when those who are made aware of the current male suicide issue go out of their way to hide help for those contemplating suicide.
It brings my blood to a boil.
If, dear reader, you are not aware my work to reduce the male suicide numbers it's is something called #ProjectJeb.
A simple concept I put together with the help of a few gifted artists and a puppers of mine called Jeb.
Part of what Project Jeb does is post stickers up, highlighting the fact that men are over 75% of suicides. Underneath this is the national suicide hotline, the name Project Jeb, and the hashtag #MenMatter.
The stickers remind men they matter, not more or less than women. Just that they matter.
The stickers can be effective only if seen. I put the national hotline number there to be seen.
Now to the source of my anger.
Last year my walk was through my local street festival.
It was welcomed by the crowds despite some trying to make it difficult.
I made a point of being respectful. And interacted with any who were curious.
I sold nothing and asked for no donations.
I just got conversations started. Desperately needed conversations.
Before the end of last year's festival I made a point of introducing myself to the man who appears to be heavily involved in organizing the festival. Let’s call him Mr Humbug.
He expressed concerns about my cart and suggested I rent an area to promote Project Jeb.
Fair enough. My old cart was quite the beast and tough to manage in large crowds.
This year I decided I would just put some Project Jeb stickers up for the festival. My new cart is not finished being built and most of my money is tied up making that happen.
So with a bit of recent history being dealt with let's get to my anger.
And let it not be misguided.
I love my town. I love the vendors and hope they made good profits this year.
I love my local businesses and go out of my way to spend money there rather than at a big box store.
Now for the reason for my anger.
On Friday I took a walk through the street festival.
Lots of things to enjoy.
I ran into Mr Humbug.
I introduced myself and asked if he remembered me.
He did.
There was a quick chat about my intentions for this year's festival. I informed him I was just going to put Project Jeb stickers up and that was it.
Mr Humbug then informed me that they would have to remove them.
Our conversation ended there.
I was mildly irritated by this but thought maybe it was a graffiti thing trying to clean up the main street.
I made a couple of tweets concerning this but little else.
Then today, Sunday I took a walk through the festival.
I looked around.
I found other stickers advertising various things were left up.
It is my position that it wasn't an attempt to clean up the town.
It was a targeting of a simple program designed to reduce male suicides by putting the national suicide hotline number right there in front of them.
It is this that makes my blood boil.
…………
I can't fault Chanty Binx for being ignorant.
I can and will put a spotlight on reprehensible actions by folks like Mr Humbug.
I find Mr Humbug 's acts to be inexcusable, but am willing to listen to his reasons, if he has any.
f you are having thoughts of suicide, or have been impacted by the suicide of someone close to you, phone Samaritans on 116 123 (UK & Ireland), who are open 24 hours per day, every day of the year. In Canada phone 1-833-456-4566. In the US phone 988 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. In Australia call Lifeline on 13 11 14
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Disclaimer: This article is for information purposes only and is not a substitute for therapy, legal advice, or other professional opinion. Never disregard such advice because of this article or anything else you have read from the Centre for Male Psychology. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of, or are endorsed by, The Centre for Male Psychology, and we cannot be held responsible for these views. Read our full disclaimer here.
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Dan Perrins
Ordinary man driven to delivering one-man voluntary community health promotion by extraordinary circumstances. I run #ProjectJeb throughout Southern Ontario, Canada, hoping to improve men’s mental health by spreading the Four Pillars of Jeb. #MenMatter no more or less than #WomenMatter. Be a Jeb-i warrior - be a force for good.