No-Shave November has become increasingly popular in the last couple of years. However, many are still unaware of the reason that led to the creation of this campaign. Here’s the story behind this unique concept.

No-Shave November appears to be a trend to grow a beard and compete with friends to see who has a larger beard. Naturally, the ones who aren’t able to grow one suffer a lot of insults and become the subject of jokes among friends. However, No-Shave November stands for something much bigger and purposeful. Let’s know what it is actually about.

It is an awareness campaign for different types of cancers, including prostate cancer. The basic idea behind the campaign is that men who support the cause won’t shave or clip their hair or beard for the entire month. The money they save from not using it up in shaving their hair should be donated to cancer patients instead. Call it bizarre or call it unique, it is definitely a creative idea to support a noble cause.

No-Shave November started in 2009 after a father in Chicago passed away due to colon cancer. He had eight sons and daughters in total who started this campaign. Over the past eight years, the campaign has gained a lot of popularity, but the real significance is lost somewhere. This campaign has a couple of unique health benefits as well. As per various reports, a beard is a natural toxin filter which keeps dust from getting into our lungs. Beards can also help in preventing blemishes.

Many people confuse this campaign with another similar campaign called “Movember”. Movember is another awareness campaign which started in Australia in 2003. However, this campaign deals with not clipping off the moustache only. It has nothing to do with the sideburns.

It is a pity that such a great cause has lost its meaning and has ended up becoming a trend of hashtags and memes. People don’t even know why they do it. The apparently “trendy” population over the internet just sees this campaign as an opportunity to look cool and stay updated with the latest style. This highlights the dumbing down of people that the internet has caused. It is important that the internet users understand what they see so that great campaigns like No-Shave November don’t fall prey to the “cooler” side of the internet.

Karan Singhania

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Feature Image Credits: Dreams Time

Come November, gone are the days of shaving, trimming, and styling body hair. The No Shave November campaign is infamous amongst men for being an opportunity to let their beards flow. There is, however, a lot more to the campaign than just unruly facial here:

Spreading Awareness

Yes, the month is not merely about growing lumberjack – like beards. Its aim is to grow awareness by getting people to embrace their body hair, which many cancer patients lose. It’s a yearly regime to raise awareness about various cancers affecting men, including testicular and prostate cancer.

Donate

Another way this campaign aims to help is to get people to donate the money they’d usually spend on shaving or grooming.  These funds are used to educate others about cancer prevention, to save lives and to aid those fighting the battle against the disease.

Not just for men

The main idea is to spread awareness and donate money. However, our patriarchal society stigmatises women for having body hair and thus they are not usually seen as a part of the programme, but women, and non-binary people can also participate and contribute.

More than just growing manly stubble

The campaign isn’t just limited to facial hair. Since cancer patients often lose other body hair as well, the ‘no-shave’ rule extends to beyond your face as well.

It’s important for the success of these campaigns for general masses to be more aware of their motivations.  So, let the game of men and women begin to transform the humanity.

Image credits: Flipkart Stories

With inputs from no-shave.org