Movember: When Men Stop Shaving for a Cause

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Gentlemen: Need an excuse to indulge your inner Tom Selleck? Just say you’re doing it for a cause.

That’s because it’s Movember, the month when dudes around the world decide to grow a little facial hair to assert their levels of testosterone. (In some bro circles, it’s called No-Shave November. And Beardvember also exists for those who eschew shaving altogether.) When their lady friends complain at their decreased levels of attractiveness, said dudes can claim it’s for charity.

(See the top 10 celebrity mustaches.)

Yes, Movember is a real thing. It has a flashy website, an iPhone app and a massive Stache Bash co-hosted by the American Mustache Institute, a group that is also a real thing. Potential mustachioed members register online as individuals or teams, and funds raised go to the Prostate Cancer Foundation and Livestrong, the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Last year the organization raised $42 million. So this is actually legitimate.

(Though we wish these bad celebrity goatees weren’t.)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTuKOgHI7GA]

Let’s make this clear: NewsFeed is not dissing any effort to fundraise for the fight against cancer. But in college, NewsFeed knew plenty of mustache-growers who just sported the facial hair for fun, without actually donating money. Growing the ‘stache without putting up the dough is the equivalent of posting where you like to put your purse on Facebook and claiming it’s for breast cancer awareness. It’s a silly stunt that ultimately accomplishes very little. And it’s really no reason to uglify yourself and pull a Jimmy McMillan — you can just donate the money without grossing out the female population. (via Washington Post)