November's Wellness Movements

"Movember" and "No Shave November" are two annually-observed awareness campaigns that're anchored on not shaving, but there's more to them than what many widely presume.Here are quick takes on the movements - what they're about, how they've grown and why they matter as health-related, wellness movements.

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Like the “Movember” movement, “No Shave November” entails not shaving for one month.

It is different from the “Movember” movement, though, since it doesn’t just involve moustaches but includes all forms of body hair — which invariably allows women to take part.

Initiated by the California-established Mathew Hill Foundation in 2009, the movement basically enjoins men and women to forego shaving facial and body hair for the month of November to serve as conversation pieces to raise discussions on cancer care and awareness.

Popularized as a month-themed trend in a number of social media networks, many who’ve come across memes and posts about it aren’t aware that it is actually an advocacy-oriented campaign that has been ongoing for more than ten years.

It can be argued that the raison d’etre of both the “Movember” and “No Shave November” movements is to support the goals of one of November’s popular health advocacy days, International Men’s Day, which is observed every November 19.