No, that's not a typo in my title. If you haven't already heard about the Movember movement, I encourage you to check out the official website (http://us.movember.com/about). Every November, the movement encourages men everywhere to grow a moustache in order to raise awareness of prostate cancer and other men's health issues. While I love the idea behind the cause, I have to wonder whether the movement reinforces gender stereotypes that may alienate or harm.
My first concern is for men who cannot grow facial hair despite their best efforts. The ability to grow facial hair can be genetic, and is often affected by biological race. Does the movement suggest that the inability to grow facial hair make one less of a man? This perception can influence racial and ethnic stereotypes by associating a certain racial background with effeminacy.
A second concern that I have is for transgendered persons, both M-to-F and F-to-M, who may be affected by prostate cancer. Unlike breast cancer, which can be experienced by all biological sexes and is therefore not limited to biological sex, prostate cancer only affects those persons who actually have a prostate. What this means in terms of transgendered patients is that some females can develop prostate cancer, whereas some males cannot. It is also a disease which can affect intersexed persons. By encouraging all men to grow moustaches in order to promote the awareness of prostate cancer, the Movember movement may run the risk of ignoring certain sectors of the population that may be affected.
A final concern is how the movement may affect those who actually have prostate cancer. Various treatment measures for prostate cancer, including hormone therapy and chemotherapy, actually affect the patient's facial hair growth. A person who is unable to grow facial hair because of his (or her) treatment may find themselves in a place of woundedness when seeing seeing persons growing facial hair to raise awareness of the disease. The same would be true for patients who experience excessive unwanted hair growth because of their treatment.
I find fault with the Movember movement for the same reason I find fault with many "awareness" campaigns. The focus is on raising awareness of the disease, but in many cases that is all that happens. People are made aware of the fact that the disease exists, but remain uneducated in how to monitor their own health in order to prevent or reduce the likelihood of developing the disease. In that vein, I recommend anyone who is reading this blog post to check out this article on prostate cancer for an overview of what it is and how it affects your body (WARNING: link includes graphic images of a medical nature that may be considered NSFW). Early detection and prevention are what we should strive for, not "awareness!"
On a final note, blueberries, besides being a superfood, are very important for prostate health. I encourage anyone and everyone to incorporate more fresh or frozen blueberries into your diet!
EDIT: I have had comments suggesting that I am too critical with the Movember campaign without offering viable alternatives. This is a wonderful critique, partly because I have not given enough thought to alternative approaches. My main frustration with the movement is that it does little to provide knowledge about detection and prevention of prostate cancer. I merely wonder about the other implications of growing moustaches as a way to promote men's health issues... there is an inevitable subliminal message that says that growing moustaches is something a man does, and I worry about that message. I myself am totally in support of raising awareness in terms of men's health issues, especially with regards to detection and prevention, but I can't grow a moustache! So I am looking into alternatives. My two main thoughts are to invest in a moustache-shaped lapel pin that I can wear, or perhaps using indelible ink to draw my own moustache on! If you have other thoughts with how to help the movement, please share in the comments section!
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