Thursday, November 12, 2009

Manly Mo's


Does facial hair make a man more manly? In this apparent age of sleek and clean albeit hair-less - are men who grow facial hair growing more masculine? Celebrities and fashion role models want us to believe that the new normal for men includes beards and moustaches. Is facial hair an overt visual clue to the world that a man is no longer a boy?

I don't know. But as a guy whose face is a comedian; growing hair in staccato punchlines rather than a smooth, consistent delivery, these are questions I have asked myself. I remember as a teenager seeing a picture of The Stones with beards and thinking that they were manly men; the bushier the beard the more manly the man. Now as I reflect back, the 70's were all about facial hair for men. Thirty years later it's 2009 and a group of men around the globe are now in the throes of cultivating moustache farms on their faces all for the noble cause of raising funds for prostate cancer. Movember is the month, the cause and, if I can
go out on a limb here perhaps the beginnings of a new Mens' movement. To date, the Movember men have raised more than $51 Million for Prostate Cancer - and this year is lining up to be their best year yet.

Check Movember out. And ladies, there's a place for you in all of this stubble action - you can become a Mo'Sistah and support the growth of this campaign.

That's me on the right - three days in to my Mo'