November can mean many things for different people: it's a day after Halloween, it's a month for Thanksgiving, and, of course, it's the beginning of shopping for the holiday season, starting with Black Friday.
For certain organizations like Movember and No-Shave November, it means raising awareness to male-related cancers in a peculiar and, for others, amusing way.
November means "no shaving" but growing a significant amount of beard and mustaches, depending on which organization you're planning to join.
How did this come about? The idea began in Australia. In 2003, a nonprofit organization known as Movember came about, and their goal is to make male-related cancers like prostate and testicular more relevant and discussed.
To do this, they invited men to grow their mustaches for a period of 30 days in the hope this can encourage conversation among peers and bring more awareness to these types of diseases.
Males who wish to participate simply need to grow their mustaches and submit their photos with your commitment to awareness promotion. Of course, you can always donate to the cause. In fact, the organization had raised over $20 million in 2013 and set up charity events the entire month.
Other countries such as Singapore, Netherlands, United States, Canada, Hong Kong, South Africa, United Kingdom, and Ireland have also adopted the Movember movement.
There's also another organization known as No-Shave November. This is very similar to Movember since you're not allowed to shave your mustache, but it gets a bit far by prohibiting almost all types of shaving, including beards and goatees. Women who wish to participate need to skip the shaving cream and bikini wax for the entire month.
In return, participants donate any money that may have been set aside for shaving and maintaining body hairs to the organization, created in partnership with American Cancer Society.