Happy Männertag

Sometimes it strikes me as odd that so many religious holidays are state holidays in Europe, given that Europeans themselves are much less involved with organized religion than Americans are. But when it means a day off of work for me (when I am actually working), who am I to argue?

Today is Ascension Day, which seems pretty boring as far as holidays go, at least in Switzerland. No parades, no fireworks… not even some trick-or-treating. The only things that tell me it’s a holiday are the fact that the TV schedule is different and the shops are closed.

In Germany today has become known as Father’s Day. In eastern Germany (where I used to live, in case you haven’t been following along), they take it even further and just call it Männertag (Men’s Day). Starting in the morning, men take over the town, walk around with canes and horns, and get progressively more wasted as the day goes on. Bars, pubs and streets are packed full of embarrassingly drunk men who are shouting, leaning on each other for support, and peeing in alleyways. It’s as if the presence of women is the only thing keeping men from acting like this every day.

So where are the women, you ask? At home cooking and cleaning and doing other womanly things, whatever those may be. My first year living in the east, I didn’t heed warnings and went out for a bit. As I walked down the street, I was alternately cat-called and told to go home and clean. The next year, a friend of mine organized a Männertag women’s barbeque at her place, where we could have our own fun without having to deal with stinking-drunk men. By the time we had to venture out into the streets again to go home, most of the Männer were already passed out. And a good time was had by all. I wish I had pictures to share.