Washington Post: Movember is over. Are moustaches too?
Pro: The ‘Stache Bash reaches Capitol Hill. Staffers for Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) joined a team called “The Rollies Fingers” to grow their moustaches for Movember, reports Roll Call. Their team was named after baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Rollie Fingers, a former Milwaukee Brewer famous for his handlebar mustache. Other teams included the Senate Staches and the House Handlebars. More than two dozen house members and one senator — John Hoeven (R-N.D.) — sport facial hair.
Con: Justin Bieber attempts a moustache. The Biebs is nearly 18, but his recent moustache-growing attempt — which he has not specified as a Movember effort — has made his face even peachier than before. As in fuzz, that is. The faint shadow of a moustache on his upper lip eluded Bieber for a performance last week, but never say never.
Pro: Movember raises some serious cash. As of the publication of this blog post, Movember has raised $99,463,363 from all participating countries combined, and the total is still growing. That’s a lot of handlebars, fu manchus and zorros.
Con: Beard art supersedes moustache art. There may be a moustache show at the National Portrait Gallery of Australia, but moustache artists face competition from its close relative, the beard. On Dec. 1, “Beard Show” opens at the Aviary Gallery in Boston, featuring lush chin-manes. Earlier this year in Portland’s Land Gallery, photographer Dave Mead exhibited his images of beards.
Pro: Airplane grows moustache for Movember. A Qantas Boeing 737 sported a classic handlebar style, and so did a terminal in the Sydney airport.
Con: Moustaches have sold out. They’re on gazillions of products now, exuding their hipster-irony cool. Behold the 27 moustache-themed products available at Urban Outfitters, ranging from a necklace, a wall clock, a set of pillowcases, and a (shudder) trucker hat. Countless Etsy sellers have found inspiration in the moustache, from shirts to pictures of dandy-looking cats with moustache, top hat and monocle.
It’s a tie. But we’re getting the sense that the moustache’s days may be numbered. The idea of the beard as the new emblem of virile irony is starting to grow on us. Will we need to redub the month Beardember next year?
