No Shave November
Razors down!
‘Twas the season for the semi-competitive event of the untamed growing of facial and body hair, or as some may call it: No Shave November! Officially, the month-long activity is meant to fundraise for cancer-prevention and men’s health charities, but here at Magnet, students and staff participated more in hopes of generating more awareness for men’s health and also for the sake of some friendly, school-wide competition.
Official No Shave November Rules:
According to the No Shave November website, the only verified rule is to “put down your razor for 30 days and donate your monthly hair-maintenance expenses to the cause.” Oftentimes, a lot of people are deterred from participating because they feel that they are not allowed to maintain their facial hair for work, or for weddings, or just everyday life. However, it is actually stated on the website that all types of participation is encouraged, so participants are permitted to groom and trim throughout the month.
This year, we had roughly 20 students and faculty members sign up to participate with the majority of the participants coming from the senior class. MacKay Collins (12) commented, “I started No Shave November because some of my friends were participating as well,” but “I did withdraw around mid-way through November … because the beard started to make my acne worse and then I tried to shave for a goatee, but it looked bad so I shaved everything. However, I would like everyone to know my beard was the best at its peak.” (Refer below for the “peak”)
MacKay was not the only one who ended up shaving early, for Boris Pekar (11) informed me on November 9th that he had already shaved, claiming, “I let the newspaper and my school down.” And to that, yes, you did, Boris.
In light of the message No Shave November is meant to communicate, a few of the participants disclosed that their whole reason for opting to join this year was in order to spread the awareness, like Kabir Zaman (11); he disclosed that he “enjoyed participating in No Shave November as it helps to raise awareness for men’s health issues, especially a higher rate of male suicide.” On a more introspective-type of reflection, Christian Anderson (12) revealed that he “[wishes he] had facial hair that could grow darker. [He] wanted to dye [his] moustache a hair jet black, but everyone [he] told that idea [to] strongly discouraged it.” Others, however, discovered some benefits to growing out their facial hair, such as Kabir who noted that “it was easy to not shave, and the extra hair did provide some warmth in the cold this year.”
I think my favorite aspect of this year’s No Shave November was that there was a fairly diverse range of participants, meaning gender-wise; the event was not restricted to only guys. While most opted to grow out their facial hair, others put down the razor to grow out their leg hair. And honestly, I really appreciated the fact that many students felt that they could join in, despite their gender identity and despite being aware of how male-dominated the event is.
Overall, I would say that this past No Shave November was a success; I did not expect so many people to volunteer to join, especially when they initially did not think about participating this year. While I do hope that more will look into the event and its meaning, I think that continuing this month-long event at the school will help raise awareness for men’s health, whether it be cancer, mental health, or just general health issues regarding to men. Until next November!
This Year’s Participants:
1. Oliver Abar 9. Marshall Fleming
2. Christian Anderson 10. Bradford Martin
3. Erin Baylock 11. Mr. Perlmutter
4. Caleb Cayouette 12. Daniel Roberts
5. Warren Cohn 13. Ava Trolley
6. MacKay Collins 14. Abigail Youmans
7. Mr. Cosgrove 15. Kabir Zaman
8. Coleman Davis
