ISHMAEL N. DARO
Opinions Writer

In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the tragic genius Victor Frankenstein unleashes an abomination of nature upon the world, ultimately destroying everything he holds dear.

In time, Frankenstein’s Monster comes to hold great power over him, tormenting him endlessly. “You believe yourself miserable, but I can make you so wretched that the light of day will be hateful to you,” the Monster warns. “You are my creator, but I am your master; obey!”

    I, too, have created a monster whose whims I must obey. I have grown an unsightly moustache that, despite my best efforts, I cannot destroy.

    It started as a lazy Halloween costume when I decided to shave my facial hair but leave the whiskers. Although there was more to the outfit, I was essentially dressed as a dirtbag — a slimeball, an ogre, a fiend or any other type of villain whose persona depends on a disgusting moustache. But moustaches don’t have to be repulsive.

    Since 2003, the month of November has unofficially become “Movember” for some men as they grow moustaches to raise awareness for prostate cancer. According to Prostate Cancer Canada, one in six men is diagnosed with the disease and 4,400 men die from it each year.

The idea of Movember was hatched in Australia as an easy way for men to sport moustaches while also confronting an important health concern. Today, the month-long initiative gets participants from about a dozen different countries. In some cities, Movember culminates with grand moustache parties where men revel in their creations.

    Moustaches offer men a rare opportunity to literally craft new personalities for themselves. For some people, the moustache takes on a life of its own; it would be difficult to imagine Burt Reynolds, Tom Selleck or Hulk Hogan having made the same impacts on pop culture without their trademark lip-warmers.

“The unbridled power of the moustache can be harnessed for both good and evil.”

Salvador Dali, Ron Jeremy and Frank Zappa are other prominent examples of men unafraid to go “au naturel.” Others oscillate between the worlds of the hairy and the shaven. Jeopardy host Alex Trebek is a famous apostate, and film critic Roger Ebert has identified the Kevin Kline Moustache Principle, which states that the actor has a moustache in comedies but is clean shaven for serious roles.

    Despite the illustrious history of the moustache, however, it has become increasingly rare for people to grow them, especially for people in their 20s and 30s. Perhaps there have been too many distasteful characters with moustaches over the years. For every Albert Einstein, there has been a Saddam Hussein and for every Ghandi, a Stalin. Adolf Hitler single-handedly ruined the toothbrush moustache for all mankind.

    But the unbridled power of the moustache can be harnessed for both good and evil, as the Movember campaign shows. Perhaps it is time for men everywhere to stand up for the ‘stache. For too long facial hair in movies has been shorthand for denoting villains while their clean-shaven counterparts save the day. The shaving industry preys on this insecurity by introducing more and more blades to razors while promising ever-closer shaves.

    Many firefighters and police officers — the males at least — have long done their part in reclaiming the moustache. If other men follow their lead, a moustache Renaissance may soon be coming.

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image: Danni Siemens