Another Movember wrapped up last week with the changing of the calendar to December.
Keeping with what has become annual tradition, the month of November saw many men sporting upper-lip warmers, or even avoiding the razor altogether, for 30 days to raise money and/or awareness for men’s health issues, such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer and mental illness.
Thirteen years after it began in Australia, with 30 men growing moustaches for as many days to support prostate cancer and depression in men, the Movember campaign now spans across 21 countries.
More than five-million men have donned ‘staches since Movember was founded, and $759 million has been raised. Another 1,200 men’s health projects have also been funded with money raised during the annual campaign.
My reason for trying to grow facial hair is my grandfather was diagnosed with prostate cancer five years ago.
The specialist said it was risky for someone who was 75 at the time to undergo surgery and treatment to remove the tumour and kill the other cancer cells. So, he decided to be monitored regularly in case the cancer grew or spread.
Along with my Papa’s cancer, the mental health aspect of Movember strikes a chord. I had a high school classmate commit suicide in 2014 after battling depression while few of us knew he was sick.
Prostate and testicular cancers involve body parts where the sun doesn’t shine, so they aren’t sexy diseases. Men don’t like talking about their privates as much as you might think. Not to mention, there’s still quite a stigma around mental illness.
Although Movember has seen plenty of growth over the last decade, there doesn’t appear to be as many people participating as there were in previous years.
Adam Horan, the residence co-ordinator for Chatham Hall at St. Thomas University, said he has noticed this trend.
“In first and second year, the [STU Students’ Union] did stuff,” he said. “I remember working at the help desk [in James Dunn Hall] and getting a bunch of Movember swag and stuff.
“But since then, I haven’t seen as much around Movember on campus, so there are less people in the St. Thomas community who are participating.”
A fourth-year international relations student, Horan said the Movember Foundation still promotes the campaign on social media, but it doesn’t seem to be getting as much attention as it has in the past.
Horan also said the annual leg-waxing tradition for Movember participants in Chatham Hall took place last Wednesday, Nov. 30, but only three men had their leg hair removed in painstaking fashion. The STU residence raised $100 for the cause, which is less money and fewer Mo Bros than before.
“The timing isn’t great donation-wise where people start to get conscious about how much money they have left, and Christmas is coming up,” said Horan.
Some people can also fashionably sport a moustache, goatee or chinstrap year-round. Maybe doing more than saying you support a cause and posting about it on social media is intimidating. Or allowing your face to look too greasy is embarrassing.
Everyone who does participate has their reasons for going without shaving for a month. Horan said he likes the cause and the mental health angle is important where he’s had his own struggles in that area.
Horan said he took part this year by reducing his goatee to a handlebar mustache and growing his chin hair back, but he has also supported the cause in some way or another since high school.
Myself, I don’t just think of my Papa, who has fared relatively well, in my refusal to shave. I also consider those who aren’t in as good of shape as he is.
As for my Papa, he celebrated his 80th birthday in May, and his health remains positive. But I’ll only stop being a Mo Bro if these cancers are cured and if the stigma surrounding mental illness becomes ancient history.
