That time of year is rolling round again. November. The month of darkness falling at 4pm, of hating yourself for watching X Factor and of course, the prolonged sprouting of all sorts of unruly/neatly manicured facial hair. The act of growing a ‘tache over 30 days to raise money and awareness for prostate cancer is a commendable one. However we cannot ignore that there are some people who look on and murmur darkly, ‘Urgh, just shave.’ Here to not really solve the debate in any way at all are some pros and cons of Movember:
The Pros :
– Publicity! Boys become a walking, talking representation of a serious issue for 30 days; striking up conversations wherever they go about key things like the early signs of prostate cancer and going for regular check ups.
– More than that- pro-activeness. That little Charlie Chaplin number is being sponsored by 100 people. That guy in your seminar who looks like a ravishing, young Abraham Lincoln is going on a 5k run later that week.
- Sheer comedy. When you’re bored in the library, they’re a great procrastination tool. And there’s nothing more satisfying that laughing openly in the face of all your guy mates when they turn up in the Forum looking like a boy band from the Stone Age, bushy beards galore.
And The Cons:
– The curse of the Movember girlfriend rash (As it’s formally known). Hoards of disgruntled girls roam the streets with irritated skin from days of kissing or rather “having a fight with a wire scrubber” as described by one friend. You’ll see it lurking slyly under a scarf. Peeping out from under layer after layer of foundation. It is the rash of the Movember girlfriend. And, until the razors come out, it will be here to stay, along with record high sales of Sudocrem and Savlon.
- The Lazy Mo Bro. This guy doesn’t care about charity. He hit puberty last week and now just wants any reason to show off his amazing hair growing tekkers. He will twiddle his elaborate moustache. Subject you to loving Facebook updates of its growth along with captions like ‘My, isn’t my baby getting big?!’ Encourage you to remark on its buoyant texture. But if you ask what he’s actually doing for the charity, his eyes will glaze over and he’ll have to leave hastily to ‘do this thing at this place.’ Cop-out.
But for every guy growing a gratuitous bit of bum fluff for lad points, there’ll be many more that are genuinely embracing the charity and doing whatever they can for it. So I say we leave them to it, and as suicidal as you may feel when day 13 of ‘Movember girlfriend rash’ rolls around, remember that whatever their reasons are for doing it, its getting a huge amount of publicity for a worthwhile cause. And just imagine the tears of relief on the 1st of December
Photo Credits: www.groomingguru.com, www.weheartit.com