Moustache（胡子） for Cash
“Movember”, as the annual event is known, sees men in countries including the UK, US and Australia grow out their facial hair while collecting sponsorship money from friends, family and colleagues, with the money going to cancer charities.
The month of no shaving began unofficially in 2003, when a pair of men from Australia persuaded their family to join them in growing a moustache in order to encourage men to get themselves checked for cancer, which is seen as distasteful by some males. A year later, the group decided to set up the Movember Foundation, asking friends and colleagues to offer donations of money to support their efforts, and raised a massive A$54,000 which was shared between a number of health projects. With thanks most likely to social media, Movember soon went global and the foundation now operates worldwide, having raised over ￡440 million since 2004. The effects of the fundraising are wide-reaching, which had made a significant discovery in the treatment of cancer.
The issue of some men being too self-willed to visit their doctor for a checkup, or perhaps being raised in a culture of “tough it out”, has led some males to neglect their health, which may mean it could be too late if something potentially deadly did develop. However, Movember is helping to break down the shame of male health by making it more accessible, meaning that men are more likely to visit their doctors. They found a way to appeal to men in a way that other campaigns just don’t – with a sort of blokey① jokiness.
① blokey: behaving in a way that is supposed to be typical of men , especially men enjoying themselves in a group.
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