Content Warning– Mention of Suicide.
November on campus always feels different. The clocks have gone back, the skies are darker, the weather is colder, and deadlines start to loom. But there’s something else: the moustaches. The moustaches themselves are a fixture, but the month means something much more. Movember is the title we give it, and it symbolises a month where our community signals a conversation about a very important topic – men’s health.
Movember is a global movement that tackles three huge issues men face: prostate cancer, testicular cancers, and men’s mental health and suicide prevention. In the UK, suicide is the biggest killer of men under 50. With a campus full of men that fall within that category, the relevance to spread awareness is painfully obvious.
Year by year, our engagement with Movember as a student community gets bigger. It’s become a part of student culture here, especially for societies and sports clubs. Around campus you will see groups publicly tracking their fundraising targets, coming up with wild and wacky forfeits when a certain amount has been raised, moustache’s being grown and heads being shaven. You name it, the presence of Movember looms around campus with its positivity.
The point of this month isn’t the theatrics of bigger and bolder challenges – it’s the conversation. There is a growing stigma amongst men that our feelings should be suppressed, and we don’t talk about our issues. Movember deliberately intervenes with this. It creates a month where silly moustaches can make very serious conversations feel socially acceptable. A month where talking about your physical health doesn’t feel awkward. A month where a joke about a patchy attempt at facial hair can pivot into asking how someone actually feels. A month that gives people a voice by using your own voice.
Whilst braving the shave and growing the taches are important, the movement that this initiative has created it powerful. Watching a student community coming together in the pursuit of bettering a group of individuals inside and outside of our University is very impactful.
This month, get involved – whether you can grow a moustache or not. Donate a few pounds. Go and support the array of challenges and events that you will see across campus. Inform yourself on the amazing work of Movember. Follow the work of our amazing Exeter Movember ambassadors. Most importantly – talk.
Find out more from your Movember Ambassadors on their Instagram