As we approach the middle of November, it is time to reflect upon the meaning of this month’s unusually hairy upper lips. The moustaches that have been steadily growing are a part of ‘Movember’, a month-long initiative intended to raise funds and awareness of men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and depression.

Countless men in many countries are involved in the initiative, which was born in Australia a few years ago. And the support doesn’t just come from the public. Even political figures are getting on the Movember bandwagon.

Canada’s NDP Leader, Jack Layton, is among the political moustache growers. Mr. Layton, who himself was diagnosed with prostate cancer in February, spoke to the team at CBC Radio’s Ottawa Morning. The notoriously mustachioed minister joked that “spotting these people with these emergent shadows above the lip—it’s hysterical”.

“A huge thanks to everyone who’s participating”, he said on a more serious note. “It’s so moving to me, and I’m sure to the other guys going through this to see so many people putting their lip on the line”.

Movember (a portmanteau of the words ‘moustache‘ and ‘November’) is an annual month-long event involving the growing of moustaches during the month of November. The event has been claimed to have been invented in 1999 by group of Australian men from Adelaide.

Since 2004, the Movember Foundation charity has run Movember events to raise awareness and funds for men’s health issues, such as prostate cancer and depression, in Australia and New Zealand. In 2007, events were launched in Ireland, Canada, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

In 2010 it merged with the testicular cancer event Tacheback.

Rules

  1. On Shadowe’en (October 31st), the complete moustache region, including the entire upper lip and the handlebar zones, must be completely shaved.
  2. For the entire duration of Movember (Movember 1st – 31st inclusive), no hair shall be allowed to grow in the goatee zone – being any facial area below the bottom lip.
  3. There is to be no joining of the moustache to sideburns.[1]

Origins

Seven Nightly News aired a story in 1999 featuring a group of young men in Adelaide who claimed to have had come up with idea of growing moustaches for charity in what “snowballed into a Mo-phenomenon, with people across Australia joining up”.[2]

In the news report, members of the Adelaide-based “Movember Committee” explained how they came up with the idea for Movember one night in the pub. The group was said to have 80 men from Adelaide and interstate involved in the event, and aimed to raise money for the RSPCA through selling T-shirts in what they termed “Growing whiskers for whiskers”.[2]

Seven News also reported that the Committee had received legal threats from a San Francisco-based group called the “Moustache Celebration Federation” that had claimed they had patented the term “Movember” in 1977.[2] A 2007 statement on the Committee’s website states that upon following up on these threats it was discovered that neither The Federation, nor its alleged president, “Charles Kies III”, actually existed. The Committee still holds their claims of having coined the term Movember in 1999 are “100% true”.[3]

Charity events

Since 2004, the Movember Foundation charity has used Movember to raise awareness and funds for men’s health issues in both Australia and New Zealand. Monetary proceeds go towards Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia, Cancer Society and Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand and Beyond Blue.[4]

In 2007, the Foundation launched events in Canada (funds raised to the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation of Canada), Spain (FEFOC), the United Kingdom (The Prostate Cancer Charity), and the United States (Prostate Cancer Foundation).[4]

In 2008, the Movember Foundation started the event in the Republic of Ireland. The beneficiary in ROI would be Action Prostate Cancer, an initiative of the Irish Cancer Society.[5]

A non-Foundation Movember event has been held in the Cayman Islands by a “MOvember Committee” since 2006. The event has been sponsored by CML Offshore Recruitment and raises funds for the Cayman Islands Cancer Society.[6]

The original Movember Committee does not hold any official fundraising events, but still encourages people to participate in Movember activities and to donate their raised funds to any charity participants feel worthwhile.[3]

In 2009, many of the Australian rugby union team players were seen sporting moustaches during the Autumn Test Series.

Ambassadors

Many high profile Australian sports people, celebrities and dignitaries have supported the Movember Foundation including World Champion surfer Mick Fanning,[7] author, columnist and presenter Samantha Brett[8], Today sports presenter Cameron Williams, ex-Big Brother housemate Ryan Fitzgerald, Queensland cricket all-rounder Andrew Symonds and several AFL players.[9]

Controversies

Scots College

In November 2007 at Scots College in Wellington, New Zealand, several graduating students were banned from end of year prize giving for growing moustaches and the college threatened to ban a senior student from their NCEA examinations (official secondary school qualification) for growing a moustache during Movember.[10]

Movember Foundation spending and accounting

In 2007, the Movember Foundation events were featured on Australian tabloid current affairs program Today Tonight which accused the Foundation of spending a disproportionate amount on running costs and high salaries for its directors.[11] The financial summary of the Australian 2008 Movember campaign listed campaign costs (administration and fund-raising) as being 8% of the total amount raised.[12][13] In 2007, campaign costs are listed as 9% of total amount raised.[14] Givewell reports that in 2008, the “Average Fundraising Cost Ratio” (fundraising costs as percentage of total fundraising revenue) for Australian charities was 18%.[15]

See also

Kurt Galitski

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