MOVEMBER
The MOVEMBER founding membersCHANGING THE FACE OF MEN’S HEALTH
Fashion statement, social statement. Porn star, sports star. Handlebar, pencil, toothbrush... Facial hair returns in style across the country as the mo’nth formerly known as November, Movember, rolls around again for a mo’mentous 2006! Changing the face of men’s health has never been such a statement.
Legends grew them, larrikins love them. From Ned Flanders to Groucho, Magnum to Anchorman, the moustache has been idolised, adored and worn with pride throughout history. Defining the men from boys and leaders from the pack, a mo’ grown in November is now a proud sign of Australia’s fastest growing male health charity event, Movember.
Held during November each year, Australian men and women register for Movember at www.movember.com.au. With a clean-shaven face from November 1st, participating Mo Bros spend the month growing and grooming their mo’. Along the way, Mo Bros and their mo’ supporters, including Mo Sistas, raise as much money and awareness for male health as possible.
The aim of Movember is to make male health fun by putting the mo’ back on the face of Australia and, in the process, raise some serious funds. In 2006, Movember will support two of the most significant male health issues facing Australian men:
• Prostate cancer – every year in Australia 2,700 men die of prostate cancer – more than the number of women who die from breast cancer
• Male depression – One in six men is affected by depression. Most don’t seek help. Depression can have serious effects on physical and mental health.
Movember culminates at the end of the month at celebratory, spectacular gala parties in each capital city. These glamorous and groomed events will see Tom Selleck and David Boon look-a-likes battle it out on the catwalk for their chance to take home the prestigious Man of Movember title, along with iconic favourites:
• Best Porn Star Mo – for the best Mo Bro dressed as a porn star
• Best Truckin’ Mo – for the best Mo Bro dressed as a trucker
• Best Sportin’ Mo – for the best Mo Bro dressed as a famous sports star
• Sexiest Mo – voted for by the ladies
About Male Health
Movember 2006 proudly supports the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and Beyond Blue. Whichever way you look at it, men are far less healthy than women:
• The average life expectancy for men is six years less than females.
• More men die of prostate cancer each year (2,700) than women die of breast cancer.
• Around one million Australian adults live with depression each year. On average, one in six men will experience depression in their adult lifetime and men are at greater risk of it going unnoticed and untreated. Untreated depression may become more severe, and in some cases, can lead to suicide.
MO’RE ABOUT THE MO...
Moustache: hair which a man grows above his upper lip. Also known as stache, tache, tash, mo, soup strainer, flavour saver, lip tickler, lost caterpillar, mocha stain and cookie duster.
Movember: hair which a man grows above his upper lip to change the face of men’s health, raising money for and awareness of prostate cancer and depression.
History of the Mo’
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word moustache is of French origin, dating from the
mid-16th century. Historically, moustaches have been worn by military men and the number of nations, regiments and ranks were equalled only by the number of styles and variations. Generally, younger men and lower ranks wore the smaller and less elaborate moustaches. As a man advanced in rank, his moustache became thicker and bushier.
An English moustache was formerly used in melodramas, movies and comic books as a shorthand indication of villainy. Snidely Whiplash, for example, was characterised by his moustache, his cape, and his habit of kidnapping women and then tying them to train tracks, in order to foreclose on their mortgages. It should be noted that stock character, 1920s male attire is generally a tophat, a handlebar moustache, and a monocle.
In some countries, it was obligatory for soldiers to grow moustaches. The British Army, for instance, forbade the shaving of the upper lip by all ranks from the 19th century until the regulation was abolished by an Army Order dated 6 October 1916.
Mo’ Styles
• Dalí -Narrow, long points bent or curved steeply upward; areas past the corner of the mouth
must be shaved.
• English -Narrow, beginning at the middle of the upper lip the whiskers are very long and
pulled to the side, slightly curled; the ends are pointed slightly upward; areas past the corner
of the mouth must be shaved.
• Fu Manchu -long, downward pointing ends, generally beyond the chin
• Handlebar -bushy, with small upward pointing ends
• Imperial -whiskers growing from both the upper lip and cheeks, curled upward (distinct from
the royale, or impériale)
• Moustachio or mustachio -large luxuriant moustache, with hair sometimes growing down the
sides of the mouth.
• Pencil moustache-narrow, thin, closely clipped, outlining the upper lip, with a wide shaven
gap between the nose and moustache. Also known as a Mouthbrow.
• Toothbrush -thick, but shaved except for about an inch (2.5 cm) in the centre; associated with
Charlie Chaplin.
• Walrus -bushy, hanging down over the lips, often entirely covering the mouth.
Famous or notable moustaches through the years:
• Will Ferrell’s iconic character Reg Burgundy in Anchorman
• Ali G -Sacha Baron Cohen
• Australian cricketing legends David Boon and Merv Hughes
• Gomez Addams of The Addams Family
• Asterix, Obelix and most of the other Gauls in the comic strip Asterix
• The Bad, actor Lee Van Cleef in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
• The Beatles as Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
• Blake from the comic strip Blake and Mortimer
• Captain Hook
• Cheech & Chong
• The Daltons, the bandits from the comic strip
• Lucky Luke
• Dick Dastardly
• Freddy Mercury, Queen
• Basil Fawlty in the TV-series Fawlty Towers
• Fu Manchu and the Fu Manchu moustache
• Ned Flanders in The Simpsons
• Hulk Hogan
• Gobelijn from the Belgian comic strip Jommeke
• Harcourt Fenton "Harry" Mudd in the Star Trek: TOS episodes "Mudd's Women" and "I, Mudd"
• Earl Hickey, the character from My Name is Earl, his moustache is often a source of comedy
on the show
• Manuel in the tv-series Fawlty Towers
• Mario, the famous video game fictional character owned by Nintendo
• Ming the Merciless from Flash Gordon
• Mirror Spock from Star Trek -Mirror, Mirror
• L.H.O.O.Q. copy of the Mona Lisa by Marcel Duchamp which shows her with a moustache
• Tom Selleck’s Magnum PI character
• Hercule Poirot, a character in books written by Agatha Christie
• Wimpey character in the Popeye cartoon series, famous for his sparse bristly moustache
• Yosemite Sam from Looney Tunes
Growing a Mo
The moustache forms its own stage in the development of facial hair in adolescent males. The order in
which facial hairs appear on the face during puberty:
• The first facial hair to appear grows at the corners of the upper lip
• It then spreads to form a moustache over the entire upper lip
• This is followed by the appearance of hair on the upper part of the cheeks, and the area under
the lower lip
• This early growth is often called a "Cookie-Dust Moustache" due to the lack of fullness.
