"Movember" promotes men's health

Some of you may have seen people walking around campus this month wearing creepy (or comical in my case) mustaches. No, we are not becoming pedophiles or peeping Toms, as popular belief would suggest. We are participating in an event called Movember.

Movember is a portmanteau of the words "mustache" and "November", and the reason behind the event is to help promote awareness of men's health issues.

I feel this event is very important, because these issues are not readily discussed among men due to the sensitive nature of what they represent. These diseases kill tens of thousands of men every year and leave a great number more with effects lasting them the rest of their lives.

The two main diseases that are focused on are prostate and testicular cancer, but there are a variety of other issues that afflict men specifically. The mustaches are a symbol that attracts attention and makes people want to ask questions, much like the pink ribbons that people wear for breast cancer awareness.

Movember was started in 2004 in Australia and has gained worldwide attention since then. There are now many countries in the world that participate in the event. Movember lasts for the entire month of November and requires the participants to shave on the first and let it grow until the end of the month.

At the end of the month, awards are given out to the participants who catalogue and submit pictures of their mustaches to the national website. Other awards are given to the participants who raise the most money for the event or get the most people to sign up for it. There are also private parties for the people participating all around the country.

Even though this issue seems like a worthy cause to support, there are situations that arise not allowing men to grow a moustache to support this cause.

In 2007, there were several students in New Zealand who were banned from their graduation ceremony, because they grew moustaches to support Movember. I have also read several accounts of people being made to go home from work to shave, because office policy does not allow for facial hair.

Seriously?

I know I rant and rave about the lunacy I see in day-to-day life, but when a company or organization does not allow this for one lousy month of the year, I have to beat my head against my desk out of frustration.

This cause is a worthy, worthwhile, honorable one that is doing no harm to anyone. I cannot understand how anyone would try and stymie it, regardless of policy or rules.

Still Movember is a wonderful event, which will bring awareness to an issue that needs to be addressed. There will always be people who try to stand in the way of progress, but it's good to see men supporting this cause despite what their superiors say.