Three things usually come to mind when we think about moustaches. The Chuckle Brothers, Bruce Forsyth and 80s porn stars. But Prostate Cancer? Movember is trying to banish the slightly dodgy taboo of this facial hair, and in doing so, is raising money and awareness for a cancer that claims many lives each year. However, is this a brilliant and charitable idea or is it becoming just another craze and losing the message behind its origin?
The men partaking in this activity, known as ‘Mo Bros,’ are required not to shave their ‘tache all throughout the month of November, for which they will be sponsored in order to raise money for Prostate Cancer and other cancers affecting men. And of course, one of the great pros for this idea is that it will save lives, as well as being hilarious in doing so. It is also brilliant in its attention-grabbing style; it is hard to miss a man with a moustache, even if you do suspect he could be following you. Therefore, something so incredibly simply is in fact insanely clever.
However, have we not seen this all before somewhere? A few years ago, the wristband craze took place, which all began with a charity asking people to wear their wristband in support. This then took over to many other charities, until people went crazy in search for wristbands, with some even being bought over Ebay which of course gave no money to the charities. It seems as though a clever idea like this is dangerous in a world where trends and fashions are so important, and the reason behind it in the first place is so easily forgotten. But maybe this is part of the genius of Movember. Unlike wristbands, it is extremely hard for people to make money out of such facial
hair, unless of course you are selling combs and trimmers on Amazon. This means that the money from this trend will simply go to Movember and the causes
involved, and that it is hard to get carried away and forget what it is all really about.
The criticism of Movember being more of a fashion show rather than being about the cause in question then seems like a valid point when on the Movemeber website itself, it has a merchandise section selling tweed jackets. However, the profit from these goes to the charities involved, which surely asks the point, does it really matter then? If it is all about fashion, at least they are still making money, and if only a few people think about the cancers troubling men, then that is all that matters. The same could be said about necklaces being sold in the shape of the famous moustache for women, or should I say ‘Mo Sistas.’ Surely we should think that it is good to get girls involved instead of criticising the initiative for taking the emphasis away from the cause. After all, women can nag their male friends to take notice of such illnesses, and if this is done via fashion, then so be it.
So whether Movember is just a craze, or in fact a great idea, there is no doubt at all that it is still a brilliant plan for getting men aware of the health issues surrounding them. Due to the exclusivity of Movember, I think it is hard to suggest that it is just a fad, and it could even be a rather helpful sifting tool for women, by separating the men from the boys for us at first sight. So please, grow the hair on the upper lip and raise some awareness of Movember.
It will be nice to have some Tom Selleck look-a-likes walking around the university for a while.
