Celebrating Movember
We are halfway through November and the pandemic of upper-lip facial hair on men is growing.
You may have noticed the occasional “mo” here and there on campus, but they are just getting started.
During the last weeks of “Movember” the stashes become much more noticeable; even distracting I would say.
Try to have a serious conversation with someone who is participating in Movember on Nov. 30, I dare you.
With the slogan “changing the face of men’s health,” the creators of Movember have made it cool to support a cause. Working to raise awareness about prostate cancer and mental health in men, moustaches in November have become conversation prompters.
Similar to the breast cancer campaigns in October that had the NFL decked out in pink, by getting creative in how these campaigns raise awareness, it can bring positive attention and more involvement to the causes.
Would we honestly care so much about breast cancer if it didn’t involve so much pink in unexpected places?
Recounting a history of the Movember movement, it became a huge global campaign only a few years ago.
Movember came to Canada in 2007, and gained official charity status last year. Worldwide, it raised $125.7 million CDN with almost 900,000 registered participants.
The “Movember & Sons” website created a mo-space for men to track their mo-journeys from day one to day 30. A picture blog, where men have in previous years used Facebook albums, creates a community of moustache-sporting men to share their successes and woes in the world of the stash through pictures and videos.
Mo sistas can get involved by pledging mo bros in their moustache growing weeks in November.
Mo bros who can’t grow facial hair can support their friends by pledging them and raising awareness of their campaigns. Everyone works together to make this initiative as successful as possible.
However, there are those men who just want to grow a “dirty moustache” because they think it’s funny and use Movember as an excuse to do it.
There is supporting a cause and then there is exploiting a cause. If you’re going to participate in growing a moustache, why bother wasting your time if you won’t be supporting it?
Isn’t this sort of behaviour frowned upon in real life? Or do we just dismiss it because of the demographic we are (we’re still learning right?), and the non-severity of our actions (growing a moustache doesn’t matter all that much). But should we focus more on the principle of the matter at hand?
Needless to say, moustaches are some of the dirtiest forms of facial hair and having one entire month that celebrates them gives me the chills.
Though I must applaud the creators of this campaign for being innovative, it is difficult to take any man seriously throughout the month of November.
Sitting in class a couple of years ago, I first noticed Movember when a group presentation was going on and one of the guys in the group had the most ridiculous facial hair I have ever seen.
Since the class was on politics in developing countries and this was a tutorial group with 30 people, keeping a straight face as he talked about the developmental measures, was almost impossible (the moustache was so distracting I don’t even remember what he was talking about).
It took all of my energy to not burst out into fits of laughter in the silent tutorial.
We all have some funny anecdote that reminds us of Movember. As immature as they may be, it still reminds us of the cause that the moustaches symbolize.
Raising awareness of men’s health issues; something that in previous years was swept to the sidelines as a charitable and time-worthy campaign.
By breaking down the visual boundaries of intimidation with a cause like this, guys don’t really look all that intimidating when they are trying to look ridiculous, talking about the beneficial components of Movember campaign are easier for everyone.