Media spreads congratulations on Son's Day or why you shouldn't celebrate this "holiday"

Now, your news feed will be inundated with extensive congratulations on Son’s Day. Following social media platforms, the media has quickly adopted this trend: “beautiful wishes and pictures for your son” (Unian), “Son’s Day: the best greetings in poetry and prose” (TSN), “Son’s Day in Ukraine - a selection of greetings in pictures” (Channel 24). 

But, don’t fall for this mass hysteria, as this “holiday” is unofficial and has a russian flavour.

Media reports portray it annually in copycat fashion, asserting that this “wonderful holiday is celebrated all over the world.” Some media label it a global holiday, while others call it international. However, almost unanimously, they all concede that “the history of the origin of this holiday is not known for certain, but the day was popularized by the media.” Yes, the russian media .

We won’t provide links to any particular media since nearly everyone covering this has stumbled into this quagmire. A quick Google search will help you see the extent of this “holiday.”

But no, we’ll make one exception. The year before last, UNIAN wrote that “on this day, the world celebrates Sons’ Day,” attributing it to the United Nations without providing links. Not surprising as, according to the UN, no such significant day exists. 

This error has made its way into Ukraine from russian media outlets, confirmed by the russian postcards that Ukrainian journalists used to illustrate their articles.

This year, UNIAN no longer cites the UN but instead emphasizes that “you don’t need a reason to greet your son.” We agree, but why did they wait until November 22?

At one point, Ukrainian journalists might have been influenced by the russian Wikipedia, which indicated that November 22 was “UN Sons’ Day.” However, no references were provided in this outlet at that time. 

This year, all mentions of this day have been completely removed. The link leading to the article is now simply titled “November 22”. But, in the revision history, a reference to “Sons’ Day” persists, accompanied by an editor’s note: “there’s no confirmation that the holiday is approved by the UN as ‘Son’s/Sons’ Day.’” Hallelujah!

The Ukrainian Wikipedia also acknowledges the existence of “International Son’s Day”. Two years ago, the encyclopedia’s editors raised questions about this information - [source?]. At present, they first refer to a russian trash site named “detsadmir.” 

The article provides the following information:

“An unofficial holiday celebrated on November 22 in Ukraine; also in Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. The holiday was allegedly inspired by a public initiative in the UK in 2014.”

This is true, as we have verified the sources mentioned… and it’s true 

On November 19, 2014, The Guardian newspaper, within the context of International Men’s Day, featured a journalist proposing that International Son’s Day should be observed on a Sunday each year https://bit.ly/3GbO3BW, https://bit.ly/3usRcL2. The purpose of the day was to facilitate family events where boys could acquire practical skills essential for their adult lives. 

Initially, the initiative garnered support from only a few English-speaking bloggers and went largely unnoticed by the general public.

The russian flavour:

On Sunday, November 22, 2015, russian-language online media outlets in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and russia picked up on the initiative. The following year, November 22 was solidified as a “fixed” date, akin to the day honouring sons. 

Since 2016, International Son’s/Sons’ Day has been actively promoted with the media’s active involvement in Ukraine, as exemplified by the 1+1 TV channel.

Concurrently, in russia, “World Sons’ Day” was utilized as a tool for “russian world” propaganda, urging boys to enlist in the russian army. Ukrainian journalist and volunteer Oleksiy Mochanov at that time labeled the holiday as a russian hoax. 

Prepared by Serhiy Odarenko