http://cellar.org/2011/mocombo.jpg
Not a really weird IotD pic, but with a story for November, so I thought I'd give it a crack, in line with our current "personal stories" streak.
"Movember" began as a bit of fun between a bunch of blokes in Adelaide, Australia. Grow a moustache in November/Movember. Raise money for charity while doing it. It spread and in 2004 the concept was taken (or possibly bought?) by the
Movember Foundation, whose aim is "to raise vital funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and depression in men." In many cultures depression in men is considered a hidden scourge due to the "men don't get depressed, they soldier on" attitude. Losing a partner can also be harder for older men as they often don't have the social network that women have, and even when they do, they don't talk about their vulnerabilities.
Movember is hugely popular in Australia and has spread to New Zealand, the US, Canada, the UK, Finland, the Netherlands, Spain, South Africa and Ireland. Men who would otherwise NEVER grow a mo can do so with pride in Movember, living out a fantasy of being Zorro, or
Chopper Read or Magnum, or perhaps even Hitler
(oooh dear...)
As opposed to normal fundraisers, the mo-growth itself does a lot of the advertising by provoking questions. I was startled today to see that all the male doctors at my local clinic have a mo. And my other half, pictured here, is a MoBro this year for the second time. He struggled for 7 years against the suggestion (you know what they say: "Guns don't kill people, men with moustaches kill people") but gave in when I offered to do it instead, by cutting out my trips to the salon - although some women actually do wear a fake mo for Movember, and are known as MoSistas, as are the ladies shown here. (Strangely, it's considered quite acceptable - possibly even sexy - for a woman to wear a fake mo, but not lip furriness of their own. Sort of like natural bald vs shaved bald, I guess.) Cars,
trams,
trains,
buildings... lots of inanimate objects in the bigger cities also sport a mo for the month. For just one month a year, having a mo is actually cool.
The original Mo Bros still have their own
website, run by the Moalition of the Willing, and sponsored by Mobody.
P.S. If you're feeling unusually generous today (considering you only know me as a Dwellar, and him not at all) then you can always add to his rather measly (so far) donation jar in his MoSpace.
