What is Movember?

It’s November and that means No Shave November, or Movember, depending on who you ask. Either way, we are encouraged to ditch the razor this month. Both campaigns are designed to focus on men's health issues, but it can get a little confusing. Here’s a quick rundown.

No Shave November is geared toward cancer in men. The goal of the campaign is to increase awareness by men and women growing their hair — something that many cancer patients lose. It had been a tradition, but in November of 2007, the children of Matthew Hill, who passed away from colon cancer, expanded the no-shave initiative by asking people to donate the money saved on grooming to help fight cancer. We can even set up our own personal No Shave November fundraising page.

The Movember Foundation was started in Australia back in 2003 by two guys who were having a beer and couldn’t understand why the mustache ever went out of style. Around 30 people or so signed up and that was it. But by the next year, they realized that the almighty mustache had the powerful ability to start a conversation. The founders decided to start a fundraiser and send the proceeds to the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia. They raised just over $40,000 that year, not bad, right? Well since 2004 they have gone on to raise over $700 million!

Unlike No Shave November, Movember is a global initiative that has spread to 21 countries. It is a month-long campaign for men to grow mustaches in an effort to bring awareness to a variety of men's health issues. These include suicide, which is about three times more prevalent in men, prostate cancer which affects 1 in 9 men, and testicular cancer- the most common cancer in men aged 15-39, among other issues. Both of these campaigns are focused on helping men to live healthier lives.

So is it mustache, full beard, or just body hair gone wild? To make it easier on all of us, they should combine the two campaigns and make it NO SHAVE MOVEMBER. But for now, we have them both and whichever one you choose, you will be helping men to live a better and healthier life.