To the delight of wives and girlfriends around the world, Movember is over. The campaign to raise awareness for men's health issues like prostate cancer in November has been the source of many shiny new mustaches around the city, and now they can be shaved until next year. Luckily for the provincial legislature, it ends right before swearing in.
The interesting thing about Movember is that Canada has been the biggest supporter of the month out of the countries that have gotten on board. $32 million was raised over the 30 days, comparing to $22.5 million in the campaign's birthplace in Australia, and a paltry $12 million in the US. What is it about Canada that we're wholeheartedly embracing the mustache, and the health campaign behind it?
It's certainly easy to see that people have gotten on board with the event. Politicians have been sporting fancy face hair, a trip to the local high school will reveal all manner of mustached men, and in general the upper lips of the nation have been covered significantly more than usual. Some look better than others, of course, and some people have discovered that the clean shaven look really is the best for them, but it's easy to see that this is something that people have leaped on board with, throughout the country.
It's not quite as easy to figure out why this country is on board more than others. The issues that the campaign is designed to highlight are universal, after all, and a man in Canada is no more likely to be affected by men's health issues than a man in Australia or south of the border. While it's certainly possible that Canadian men want more of an excuse to see what they look like with a mustache, that doesn't explain how the country has far and away the largest number of monetary donations. We beat the United States by a good $20 million, with less population. Even taking into account economic problems south of the border, it's surprising to see us take the lead overall.
Surprising, but still something that inspires pride. Personally, I'd argue that this campaign has been a long time coming, just because men's health seems to take a back seat in many cases. Take the breast cancer campaigns that have come up in the past few years, which have seen anything you can imagine being sold in a pink version to promote curing a disease that primarily affects women. I'm not complaining that breast cancer has too much support - it's a very worthy cause, and I fully support it. No, what I'm saying is that for many years the male half of the population hasn't had the same level of awareness.
Now we do, and like the aforementioned breast cancer campaign it's something highly visible and something that people can enthusiastically support. Maybe it's not the most fashionable looking idea, but that's part of what makes it brilliant, since asking why someone normally without facial hair is growing it out is a good way to get people talking.
Now, personally, my own mustache is permanent, and part of all the other hair on my face. But I like the idea, and I like to see people taking a unique approach to raising awareness. I'm not sure why Canada is the country that got on board the most, but as a man from Canada, I'm quite proud that we're leading the way with our upper lips.
