Saturday 24 December 2011

The Yorker Archives... (Movember.)

November brings a lot for us to celebrate; Bonfire night, the Halloween hangover, and premature Christmas adverts. We’re all cosying up in hats and scarves, and for the men amongst us, beards. No Shave November is puzzling. For one month a year, men globally embark on a bemusing mission to grow facial hair. Gilette must be terrified.
No female seems to fully comprehend this new and bizarrely cool trend. One friend of mine sincerely thought “Movember” stood for “not ‘Mowing the lawn on your face’-ovember”. Why November? Why can’t you just buy a scarf? What’s the point?
I’m told that this peculiar tradition, does in fact, have a good cause behind it. According to the official website, uk.movember.com, the millions of people who take part are all participating in one giant mission to raise money and awareness of mens health, and more specifically, prostate cancer.
So what are the repercussions of this hairy cause? Well, for a start, I’d block every male participant on any social network sites if you don’t want to receive millimetre by millimetre updates. But more importantly, I’d get behind the spirit of it all. While I’m not suggesting females all attempt to grow their own beard (by all means, go ahead if you can physically do it…), I am suggesting that you support the cause. Donate! Find your friend who you think will look the most ridiculous, and sponsor his facial fuzz.
The genius of this quirky fundraiser is that it gives lads everywhere an excuse to see what they look like with a fully grown beard, but it also requires no effort whatsoever, so all men can get involved. It raises awareness for a wonderful and often overlooked cause- so girls, I think we’re all morally obliged to deal with it. Stubble-rash from kissing your boyfriend, lengthy discussions about the almost imperceptible growth of your slightly less beardy friends, and the smugness of the friend that discovers that a tash really does genuinely suit him. It’s all for a good cause, ladies.


(Originally published November 10th 2011 http://www.theyorker.co.uk/news/alphamale/7840

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