The truth about Movember is that for one month I get to be a rockstar. As a fair-haired Caucasian male, I am one of the few blessed with a decent-to-full coverage of facial hair, the thickness of my upper lip bristle being the epitome of my masculinity. However, it wasn’t always like this….
My Mo and I didn’t know we existed together until I was thirteen. I was in my Tae Kwon Doe class when I caught my crush giggling at my then boyish Mo. I was unaware of my Mo and was horrified that my crush was laughing at me because of it. Driven by the knowledge that I was being laughed at by my crush, the razor entered my life and has been my constant companion over the years. When I first started shaving, I had no chest hair, no underarm hair, and certainly only minimal facial hair. This episode spurred me to never grow a Mo, however manly I got.
That is until I discovered Movember. I realised I had found my calling in life. I could grow a Mo, for a good cause, and no one would dare laugh at my manly Mo during this time. Before hipster Mo’s somehow become cool (although this is definitely up for debate), I have sprouted a Mo in November, all in the name of men’s health. Whilst studying at uni this was not a challenge as Movember fortunately coincided with exams, however for the past few years I have been working professionally in a firm that takes appearance very seriously. As in, ‘one does not have to wear a tie with their suit on casual Friday’s, but only if one is not going to be seen by a client’ kind of serious. As for facial hair this means being clean shaven or sporting an immaculately manicured beard – nothing in between.
Enter Movember objective #1: Grow the dirtiest of dirty biker/handlebar moustaches possible and wear it to work proudly for the entire month, and get away with it. I’m talking handlebars down to the chin and beyond. My tactic here is to attempt to offset the dirty Mo with flawless grooming in every other regard. Note to self: will require complete overhaul of my ageing shaving gear collection with an arsenal of state-of-the-art products.
Movember Objective #2: Obtain rockstar status. I am under no illusions here, the amount of man love, high fives, whatever you want to call it, that one receives in honour of their Mo is inversely proportional to the disdain they are viewed in by the fairer sex. This is irrefutable science. So is this worth it?
Believe it or not there is actually a serious side to Movember. My belief is that for every high five, point and laugh, or manly nod of approval in relation to a mo, there is correlating improvement to the awareness of men’s health. Why is just awareness important? Because we men are either too proud to seek help when we need it or we stick our heads in the sand. Of course campaigning to raise funds for such issues does not hurt either.
Movember Objective #3: Make an impact. I’m not trying to singlehandedly solve the world’s issues in men’s health, but through the tiny sacrifice of participating in Movember I hope that I can make a positive impact to someone else’s life, whoever they may be. Well worth the disdain of the fairer sex for one month, wouldn’t you say?
So over the month of November, I’ll be updating you on the progress of my Mo! Here is my Mo at Day 5. Definitely more to come!
To view or donate to my Movember fundraising efforts please visit http://mobro.co/AllanClinch
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