Movember is a fine modern experience for a fella to attempt to grow a moustache on their face whilst bringing more awareness of various male illnesses. It's not something that people of a certain generation do anymore. This is very interesting to me. I think I've talked about fashion and trends before (perhaps even the moustache phenomenon), but it's worth mentioning again briefly.
About one hundred years ago it would be very common for a man to wear facial hair of some description; probably a moustache. About one hundred and fifty years ago a full beard or sideburns would be very common. Up until the 1980s moustaches were fairly common, but there was certainly a trend against them during the last century. Why did these fashions disappear in the later part of the 20th century? There's certainly an inverse correlation between the extent of facial hair in society and scientific progress, but I don't think it's a valid one.
It's confusing to me why this happened, but not a huge problem. Similar things have happened for millennia - in ancient Rome facial hair was less common than in ancient Greece, but occasionally it would see a resurgence (e.g. Marcus Aurelius). Do I expect to see more moustaches and beards in the future? Well there's certainly a bit of a trend in that direction it seems. The fads of Hipsters to wear full beards with short head hair is a good one in my view, but ultimately is facial hair uncivilised? They are generally unclean things - being wiry and difficult to clean etc - and perhaps that's a factor too - men trying to reclaim their masculinity in face of overwhelming feminisation in society? As men learn to come to terms with their feelings do they feel imasculated and hence the need to grow a smelly, ginger beard and pretend like they're Grisly Adams?!
Anyway the psycho-social implications are interesting, but this post is mostly about why I chose to keep my moustache longer than the month prescribed by the Movember movement.
1. I'm a Britain. I mean that in the sense of someone from the British Isles - which includes Ireland and Great Britain. All my genetics (apart from some distant Scandinavian and Iberian connections) seem to be derived from these islands. That makes me a Northern European and whilst this might seem constrictive and I feel that I'm a human being and an inhabitant of Earth first and foremost, it does give me a sense of belonging. This sense is sometimes transient (I would very much like to emigrate to a hot country one day for some time), however I suspect that the ties run deep!
Prone to consider the history of things I wonder about the fashions of my ancestors and when trying to be objective do I wish to maintain their traditions? The British Isles were populated by a loose band of Celts for a long time and the most recent bunch of pre-Romans. The Celts are known for their particular fashions including facial hair in the form of the moustache! Part of why I wore a moustache is because of the connection to the Celtic peoples and history of that fashion. It would be a shame if no-one ever had a moustache again and so I feel that by wearing one it keeps that minor part of history alive (I draw the line at blue body paint though ..).
2. My father had a moustache for significant lengths of time during my childhood. For many periods during the 1970s and 1980s my dad wore one. Not only that, but growing up in a mining village in Yorkshire it must have been very common to see men with 'taches. I think this must have had an influence, although it's not a conscious one. It's still a stereotype of northern men (and a funny one), but there is something about it that appeals...
3. Confounding expectation is something I like to do. I don't want to upset anyone, but if, by sporting some unusual facial hair, I can change perceptions then it would be worthwhile. So many humans spend their lives in a daze - a sort of day-dreaming state where they question nothing and seek only pleasure and entertainment. It is a bad way to behave and by shaking things up a little it may be some remedy for this social malaise.
So there are three reasons. I'm not growing a moustache this year, even though I would like to. The social stigma is actually too great for me to take with the things I'm working on at the moment. In future I think I will, however, and these reasons will definitely form a part of the decision to do so.
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