The Moustache Lives On

[Image Credit: Wikipedia Commons]

Movember has now officially ended, but some men want to wear their ‘staches year round.

According to CNN, many men seek moustache implants from plastic surgeons paying approximately USD$7,000 for the procedure. Doctors identify middle eastern men as the dominant demographic seeking this procedure, and according to Andrew Hammond, a journalist based in Saudi Arabia, “culturally [the moustache] suggests masculinity, wisdom and experience.”

My question is: Which style is preferred? The Handlebar? The Dali? The Walrus? Click here for a definitive on moustache styles according to the American Mustache Institute (yes, there is such a thing).

In Defence of Moustaches and Pink Ribbons

We are already half way through November, or for the boys, Movember. I imagine many moustaches are on their way to prime condition.

November means another month and another cancer awareness campaign after October’s Pink Ribbon Campaign. However, since the major controversies surrounding the Susan G. Komen Foundation in the past year, these cancer charity marketing initiatives have been under the microscope and subject to much backlash.

Last month, Margaret Wente’s commentary in The Globe and Mail regarding Breast Cancer Awareness Month carried the exasperated title, “Can We Just Relax About our Breasts?” Ms. Wente posits that the problem with breast cancer awareness is due to the “fear, hysteria and paranoia that people have whipped up around breasts.” She cites “chemophobia” as fuelling “imaginary risks” surrounding breast cancer, and points to Florence Williams’ book Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History as an example of this hysteria.

A few days after Ms. Wente’s article came another submission in The Globe and Mail, this time regarding Movember. Author Amberly McAteer wrote, “[Does] asking people to do something as silly as grow hair trivialize the real, scary issues the Movember movement is trying to elevate?” She also mentioned knowing a few men in the past year who grew Movember moustaches but did not participate in raising any funds for the charity.