Movember: What’s the Hype About Mustaches?
Every November is “Movember,” a name dubbed by the Movember Foundation. The foundation's primary goal is to draw public attention to men's health issues. Its mission is to prevent early death from testicular and prostate cancers, lower male suicide rates, and raise awareness about mental illness. Created in 2003, the foundation has funded over 1,200 projects to save the men's lives across the world. This year is its 15th anniversary; the charity ranks 45 on a world list of the top 500 non-governmental organizations.
Their website states that in the USA, their Making Connections project “connects men and boys within their communities to promote resilience across generations – working in particular with boys and men of color, military members, veterans, and their families" using their $6 million budget from donors and sponsors.
In 2017, the group partnered with Australian ABC to run three episodes of “Man Up,” a show which discusses gender stereotypes. The show focusses particularly on how the concept of masculinity and the societal understandings of what it means to be a man can negatively impact men’s lives. The show garnered international attention for bringing awareness to high male suicide rates, the primary cause of death for Australian men ages 15 to 44.
This November you can participate in the international effort to raise awareness for men's health issues by growing your own "mo." In doing so, you help promote the cause when you explain to friends, coworkers, and family why you've all of the sudden chosen to grow a mustache. The steps to join the movement are simple: sign up on movember.com. Start the month with a clean shave. Grow your mustache over the course of the month. Start conversations about the movement.
In November mustaches aren't only for hipsters. Image Credit: Jj Mendez
For those who can't grow mustaches, the foundation also offers other options: donating to the charity, starting a conversation about men's health, participating in "move for Movember," or sporting some mustache apparel sold by the Movember Foundation! The foundation also states that women "tend to be the gateway to health in a man’s life– whether it’s a mother or daughter, wife, girlfriend or pal." Guide the men in your life to make health-conscious decisions and encourage them to speak up if they struggle with mental health problems.
