Men Forgetting Basic Details Isn’t Funny

Men forgetting your birthday or anniversary isn’t funny or cute. It points to something deeper.

Photo by CDC on Unsplash

So, I recently completed a trip around the sun where I aged another year. It’s a privilege I cherish greatly as it’s not granted to everyone. I also make it a point to always celebrate my birthday as I descend from a people that in generations past, were denied their ability to celebrate theirs.

During slavery, the enslaved usually were not advised of their dates of birth to strip them of their individuality in every way possible. They often were only able to mark their birthday by the season in which they were born or the time of year they harvested the crop their enslavers made them grow. In celebrating my birthday, I honor those ancestors who couldn’t properly celebrate theirs.

Men Are Clueless About Basic Details Of Their Loved Ones Lives

However, there is one detail about my birthday that usually has me peeved. My father rarely acknowledges mine. I can’t remember the last time he called to wish me a happy birthday. He’s technologically challenged, so his emailing or texting me the sentiment will never happen. I’m not even sure he remembers when my birthday is. If high school classmates who I never see or speak to can take 30 seconds out of their day to wish me a happy birthday on Facebook, why can’t he?

Unfortunately, my father not remembering basic details about me is more the rule than the exception. Four years ago, this video from the Jimmy Kimmel show went viral where someone asked random fathers on the street about their children’s birthdays, their children’s hobbies, the names of their children’s schools, and if their children were allergic to anything. None of the men were able to answer those questions.

There’s another video from two years ago from Jimmy Kimmel about the same subject. None of those men could name any basic details about their kids then either.