Here’s a simple question – what do moustaches and prostate cancer have in common? The most obvious answer is that only men get prostate cancer and (usually) only men grow moustaches. And, there are interesting statistics behind that statement – the number of moustaches is reducing and today there is a one in three chance that the average American man will have a moustache; the number of cases of prostate cancer is increasing and today there is a one in six chance that the average American man will get prostate cancer meaning that there are around 2 million American men living with prostate cancer today. In fact, prostate cancer is the second most common cancer for men.
However, there are those that want to buck both those trends. And that’s where every man able to grow facial hair comes in, as well as every one who knows a man able to grow facial hair. And the name of this cause is Movember, which kicks off on November 1, 2010.
What is Movember?
Movember is the month formerly know as November or, more precisely, it’s a yearly challenge during November (obviously) for men around the world to: raise awareness of prostate cancer; raise funds for research into prostate cancer; and – to grow a mo.
It actually set off as an idea in 2003 after a few beers (and where else do brilliant ideas come from?) in Melbourne and so in 2004 November ended with 432 No Bros (those gentlemen sporting ‘staches for November) having raised $55,000. By 2009 there were 255,755 participants who raised a grand total of £26 million!
Getting Involved in Movember
Both men (Mo Bros) and women (Mo Sistas) can support Movember in a number of ways. They may become Movember team leaders and create a team in their work place or amongst their friends; fund raise in support of Movember; encourage others to join Movember; and, of course, grow a moustache (although, understandably, that may be more difficult for some of the Mo Sistas), view source.
Finally, if none of that is possible, simply support the charity by making a donation to a Mo Bro, a Mo Sista or directly to the charity itself.
What are the Rules?
The rules are quite simple: start November clean-shaven; register with Movember; start growing that Mo (which, fortunately, comes quite naturally to around half of the worlds population). A Mo Bro does not even have to worry about collecting donations – all of that is done one line via the Movember web site. All the Mo Bro needs to do is to concentrate on growing that moustache with the knowledge that he’s doing it both for himself and all men around the world