As it is officially November, Breast Cancer Awareness has ended and in comes No Shave November. But honestly, do you even know why this trend exists?
Some people think it's just to embrace winter coming or to celebrate boots season. That's not even close.
Because No Shave November is such a widespread and popular event that it makes so sense for the meaning to get lost in translation.
The purpose of No Shave November is to raise awareness for those with cancer, through embracing your own hair. While the beginning is quite a mystery, it has become a legitimate practice with charitable organizations. Participants are asked to forgo shaving their facial hair for a month and donate the money that they would have spent on razors, shaving cream, and other shaving produces to cancer research and education. The hair growth is carried out in the name of cancer patients who have lost their hair. Official participation involves signing up on the official website and setting up a fundraising page.
Unofficially, there is an option for women. While many of us cannot grow facial hair except for a few random whiskers, women all know how much of a bear it is for women to shave their legs or how little we do it during winter. In that light, women's option is to go the full month of November without shaving their legs and donate the money they have saved to cancer charities.
There's an issue with this, though. People rarely officially sign up. This month, everyone will see clean-shaven men with bushy beards and mustaches. Men who get a bit lazy with the razor are able to fight off some nagging from others about their unkempt-ness with a line like, "Hey, it's for a charity." Women will get to shoot daggers at anyone who thinks their leg hair is unseemly. But many of these people do it for the movement and not for the donation. They don't officially sign up, which is the whole point.
The saying goes that any press is good press, so it doesn't really matter if people are educated on the cause they're supporting. That can be true in some cases, but the goal is to spread awareness. For this month, I hope people remember that. If one doesn't agree with the official charities or one can't stand the itchiness of hair, there are always ways to give back through the donation of money or time.
Cancer patients aren't just faceless, far away people who we should feel sorry for. They are our mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, friends, and neighbors. They deserve more than laziness with a razor.
Cancer awareness is and should be much more than just a trend.
