By: Natasha Archary

Thanks to the Springboks winning the Rugby World Cup 2023, South Africans will enjoy a public holiday on 15 December.
This after President Cyril Ramaphosa promised a public holiday should the Boks bring home the trophy.
Declaring a public holiday is a process which needs to take into consideration employees and employers, providing sufficient notice to allow for necessary arrangements, such as addressing potential pay-related concerns.
But, if you had the power to declare a personal public holiday, what would you need a day off for?
This is what Thomas and Skhumba pondered on Thursday, 30 November, and based on the listener responses, it’s clear that South Africans have gone through the most this year and need a day off.
Or a week if you’re a man and are going through a heartbreak says Skhumba.
The Kaya Drive stand-in presenter feels that men hide a lot of their emotional pain when dealing with a breakup, divorce or heartbreak and should be given a whole week to work through those emotions.
He’s not wrong. According to research by the University of British Columbia, men and women handle breakups differently.
While women have a support structure after breakups, in their moms, sisters, best friends, and work colleagues, most men become reclusive and isolate themselves from people which can take a toll on their mental health.
This is particularly true if a man’s partner initiated the breakup, separation or divorce.
Men are just better at masking their emotional pain, so it may appear that their breakup is not affecting them but this is far from the truth.
Considering that women initiate divorces twice as often as men do, the study found that more men are struggling with emotional pain that they do not talk about.
Cultural stereotypes are a big factor, and the expectation is that men should “man up” and deal with it by not showing any sign of weakness.
The gender stereotype that it’s okay for women to take a duvet day, or bury their heartache in a tub of ice-cream doesn’t apply to men, and a lot of listeners agreed that men deserve a public holiday or two.
Listen to the conversation on Kaya Drive:
Also read: “My wife is angry I attended a funeral back home, even though I had no money” – The Blindspot



