I read the article Why
I think Movember is offensive by Sarah Sahagian expecting to be amused by a
whimsical account of how a woman felt excluded by her lack of facial hair while
being subjected to repeated viewings of cheesy mustachioed men conjuring images
of 70's porn films. Instead I was
treated to a ridiculous, poorly thought out mental spasm by a woman who
apparently has a problem with anyone who is white, male and Christian.
Apparently being white male and Christian
excludes you from trying to do anything progressive. White male Christians got it too easy from
the beginning, now they should stand aside and let the less privileged focus on
anything that might benefit anyone in the world.
The thrust of her argument is that Movember
excludes other cultures who might not be able to easily grow facial hair,
people with religious beliefs that prohibit hair cutting such as Sikhs, and of
course women.
She links Movember, a fundraising and
educational campaign about men's cancers - in particular prostate and
testicular cancer - to prejudice, racisim and racial profiling. This is a leap beyond the range of an atomic
powered kangaroo and in doing so she does little more than reveal her own prejudice
against white men and Christians while demonstrating a staggering lack of
concern for the problems Movember seeks to illuminate through humor.
"What of men who have a hard time growing
any facial hair at all?" She asks, and then goes on to talk about how
"...women with facial hair are routinely subjected to harrassment,
violence and cyber bullying."
While it is true that women with facial hair are
subject to all kinds of nasty abusive behavior, that has nothing at all to do
with the Movember campaign. This is
simply a fallacious argument.
Men who can't grow facial hair are not
prohibited from seeing others around them grow mustaches, and if they're offended
by people who are able to grow mustaches it really says more about them than
anyone else. Regardless they can still
benefit from the education provided by the campaign.
"Next," She says, "Movember is actually really racist." and goes on to point out how Sikhs and certain Muslims would be restricted from shaving their mustache at the start of the month by their religion. Again, a fallacy.
That argument makes as much sense as saying that
holding a community pig roast is racist because Muslims and Jews wouldn't eat
it. Ridiculous! Granted not everyone can eat the pork, but
that doesn’t mean it’s the only thing served.
There can certainly be other things on the menu to include everyone.
What Sarah fails to recognize is the other things on the menu with the Movember campaign such as the programs stated goals.
Living with and Beyond Cancer
Staying Mentally Healthy, Living with and Beyond
Mental Illness
Men's Health Research.
Movember is about starting a conversation about men's
health. Men all too often believe
themselves to be indestructible and don't go to doctors as often as they
should. One of the great results of the
Movember campaign is that of the men who participate, 85% of them will have a
conversation about their health when normally they wouldn't have that
conversation at all. It is a simple, fun
campaign.
To say that a campaign is offensive because not everyone can participate in one aspect of it - in this case growing a cheesy mustache - is ridiculous in the extreme. Men of all races, colors and creeds benefit from the simple conversations it starts and the awareness it brings whether they are a smooth faced Asian or a scruffy Norwegian Viking.
Sarah should spend less time trying to be offended and
spend more time spreading the word. The
Movember campaign helps all men, not just white Christian ones.
