Mustaches are taking over, and it’s happening right under our noses!
As we approach Movember, the month when men temporarily forget their razors exist and unleash their inner facial hair proclivities, let’s chat about said facial hair and how just about anything can be deemed a “sport”.
First, a little history about Movember and the trend that encourages men to grow a ‘stache to be healthy. In 2004, in Melbourne, Australia, the men down under decided to grow nose neighbors to raise awareness and funds for men’s health. Men don’t talk about male-specific cancers, mental health, and suicide prevention enough and maybe hiding behind a lip rug will get guys gabbing. Now, Movember is an international phenomenon and any dude can be a Mo Bro!
The Urban Dictionary has this entry in the definition of Bearding submitted by Mr. Mighty on 11.14.13 as follows:
Adjective :\
This practice requires dedication, and automagically increases manlyness by 200%
And now on to the bearding competitions! During Movember especially, and year-round, there are plenty of opportunities to sport your mo and see if yours is better than your bro’s; whether natural, untamed, colored, waxed, or funky with some added beard balm, let the judging begin. There is a website that hosts an impressive list of where (domestic and foreign) you can flaunt your soup strainer: https://thebeardcalendar.com/
The end-all-be-all competition is the World’s Beard and Moustache Championships. The WBMC takes place biennially with its various, and ever-changing, categories of competition across three groups, mustaches, partial beards, and full beards. All that growth and the facial foliage winner gets a shiny plaque, international news coverage, and bragging rights.
Ladies – do not feel left out! The Whiskerina category let’s you show your ‘stache with the same panache.
If you have spent your budget on beard wax and couldn’t afford the trip to Burghasen, Germany this past summer, the US premier dual of the mug rug is the National Moustache and Beard Championship. This year’s is being held in Daytona, FL and I wish I could go for the festivities!
If Only Fun Facts:
Studies show that a man’s beard will grow 5.5 inches a year on average.
The average men who shave spend roughly 3,350 hours of their life in the bathroom.
Mustache and moustache are both correct spellings of the same word; much like among / amoung; American English uses brevity, while non-US English speakers like to add extra vowels.
The term for a beard lover is pogonophile.
Curious if the % of women who would(n’t) date men with beards has changed since the rise of hipsters and technocowboys. Got stats?
https://www.fashionbeans.com/article/do-women-like-beards/