When my dad was diagnosed, he called me. It was an awkward conversation: ‘Hello Mark, I’m fine… apart from the terminal cancer.’ For a man of his generation, that was a huge leap of openness. But after that, even when he was bedbound, the elephant just sat in the corner, staring at us. We ignored it, choosing instead to debate the relative fates of Liverpool and Tottenham. We marvelled begrudgingly at United’s form while the most important things remained unsaid.
This morning, curious to see if my peers were any better at enticing the elephant out of the room, I ‘insightfully’ googled “men conversation topics pub survey”. I wanted to know if we were finally talking about the big stuff, or if we were still just ‘standing shoulder-to-shoulder’ at the bar, staring at the football scores.
I assumed my generation would be more open about personal, mental, and physical health. This openness would be especially true when lubricated with beer. An interesting article by the British Guild of Beer Writers was top of the list. It summarised research commissioned by Greene King. This research was conducted in conjunction with MacMillan Cancer Support.
While becoming more aware, apparently only a third of men regularly talk to family or friends about personal issues. Most relevant to our aim of raising awareness of testicular cancer, it found men aged 18-24 find it especially hard. They struggle to open up to family and friends about difficult topics in person.
So, when it comes to talking about how we men need to check our… erm, our… err… oh gosh, this is difficult isn’t it? You know: our ‘dangly bits,’ ‘nads,’ ‘nuts,’ or ‘gonads.’ What I am trying to say, once a month, we need to check our balls. Since I clearly still find plain-speaking a bit of a hurdle, let’s leave the heavy lifting to the professionals. Over to you, Mr. Reynolds: Deadpool & Hugh Jackman talk balls.
By ‘talking balls’ now, we’ll check our own health and make sure our kids don’t grow up with the same ‘elephants’ we did. Let’s trade the silence of the past for a future where a once-a-month check is just part of our routine. It might be awkward, it might be a bit ‘feely touchy,’ but it’s a conversation we can’t afford to leave in the corner.
Balls to Parkinson’s 