Why raising money for Movember isn't enough

Did you know that the products you use to groom your Movember moustache may put you at risk for prostate cancer?

Please read this recent article from Environmental Defence that explains the concerning evidence of a relationship between toxic chemical exposure and prostate cancer and other types. It also explains the need for awareness about these risks and the need to pressure for policy changes that would ban endocrine disrupting chemical exposure, require disclosure of these chemical ingredients and increase availability of safe products.

Gender Issues of Pinktober and Movember

With pinktober and Movember behind us, I've been reflecting on some interesting similarities, correlations and themes between them. Most of these revolve around gender.

While researching both of these, I noticed many argue that Movember was the time to focus on men's health, as October was all about women: "You have pinktober; we have Movember." When women complained that Movember was exclusionary because women can't grow moustaches, male defenders of Movember argued: "We didn't protest against pinktober."

There's this idea that if you are against either campaign, you are against the gender it purports to serve and all for the other campaign. Kind of ironic when you consider that many people against Movember are socially conscious and hate pinktober for similar reasons they hate Movember.

A Letter to Movember Participants

Movember is upon us and I couldn't help but notice an even more disturbing trend:

There is no discourse about prostate cancer in any of the participation I have found in my Facebook feed or in Twitter search.

So I searched Google, under a variety of keywords and phrases. Same result. Well, some of these at least used the word "awareness," so I guess that counts, right?

Why I Hate Movember

Does growing a moustache raise awareness about prostate cancer?

No. Movember, the term for the month-long November campaign to get men to grow moustaches to support prostate cancer, is a type of slactivism. It's just about the silliness and the fun. It's not about prostate cancer. It's an excuse to grow a freaking moustache and also feel like you're doing something important.

Anyway, what does awareness mean in this case, exactly? Does your moustache share information about the importance of screening, or where to get screened? Does it tell you how you can prevent prostate cancer (if you even can)? Does it tell you the symptoms? Does it tell you who's affected?