Sometimes some organizations or charities go unnoticed. It is not our intention to ignore them; sometimes they just get lost in the growing wave of social movements all around social media. This is the case with Movember, which started with couple of men over at a bar in Australia coming up with a crazy idea: they thought it would be fun if men started growing moustaches all throughout the month of November for charity. Movember officially started in 2004, with a group of 30 men growing moustaches with the goal of raising awareness regarding men’s health issues (mental illness’ and prostate cancer).
Why was this movement started? Its creators believed that men’s health issues and other diseases, such as prostate cancer, were never really spoken about. Therefore, they wanted to create a month-long movement for the world to become conscious and aware of all the other things that affect men directly. According to them, October is breast cancer, and then November is men’s health.
As women, we sometimes wonder what we can do to help movements that are explicitly calling out for male participation. The amazing thing about Movember is that anyone can participate, no matter if you’re male or female. As a woman, we can motivate men to participate in these activities and raise awareness on our own. Also, one of the amazing things is that Movember calls out to universities and companies to host events that support their cause.
When it comes to months like November, already known by other names in pop culture, it is important to distinguish between Movember and other social movements such as “No Shave November”. These other social movements are not necessarily linked to a charity such as Movember.
Now that October, a month totally dedicated to breast cancer awareness, has come to a close, let’s motivate people to donate and participate with Movember. Let’s raise awareness for men’s prostate cancer and health issues that we don’t necessarily know about! Stand for a change and let’s speak to the world. A few students from our university are going to launch an event where YOU can participate. Keep in touch to our page for more info on how you can get involved.
* all information was gathered from Wikipedia and the oficiall US Movember page.