No Shave November Grows Awareness for Cancer
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As November dawns and American minds turn towards Thanksgiving and football, the month also brings awareness to a serious threat. The best means of acknowledging a dire subject without making it seem so somber is through humor.
Men’s cancers, specifically prostate and testicular, are addressed by an initiative known as No Shave November, or Movember.
To draw attention to the cancer problem, men grow out their facial hair: beards, moustaches, and any deviation of the two such as goatees, mutton chops, or even Fu Manchus.
For the thirty-one days of November, men will allow their facial hair to grow without impediment. The overgrown facial coverings are designed to be a symbolic presentation of the hair that cancer patients do not possess.
The Movember Foundation was started in Melbourne, Australia, in 2003. Over the last decade, it has grown and now has campaigns in 21 countries.
Last year, nearly $23 million was raised from donations and profits from merchandise for cancer research. Celebrities such as Snoop Dogg, Nick Offerman from the television show Parks and Recreation, the alternative-indie band Foster the People, and Texan’s quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick have all joined the cause and pledged to it.
Several students on campus have pledged their faces to the month.
“I’ve done it a few years because it’s a good cause to bring light to, so I do it for that,” Andrew Stokes, a student, said. To some students, the month and its message holds a deeper meaning.
“My dad had cancer for a while, so I do it. I try to show people that he overcame, that it is serious but can be helped,” Wyatt Rounds said.
Prostate and testicular cancer screenings can be done at the Community Cancer Center in Roseburg at 2880 NW Stewart Parkway. For more information on the Movember Foundation, or to sign up or donate, visit their website at us.movember.com.