Julyna, the female answer to Movember, is just what you're thinking
Movember, when the campaign was first dreamt up around a campfire back in 1999, wasn’t much.
Yet since a group of Adelaide, Australia boys launched the ‘stache-for-cash charity movement more than a decade ago, it has developed into a global phenomenon, growing one Tom Selleck at a time. Last year alone, Canadian Mo Bros. raised $22 million for prostate cancer research.
Women? They understandably feel left out. For the most part, they can’t grow moustaches, and to the best of my knowledge, they don’t suffer from prostate cancer, Movember’s biggest nemesis. So, hmm, how could they take part in a similarly ladylike crusade?
What … uh … hair … could … they … also … grow … for … a … month … ?
Yes, it’s true, and the female answer to Movember is exactly what your dirty, little mind would think. Starting this year, a group of women is trying to jumpstart Julyna, where women will sculpt their, in the words of the Star, “down-there hair” for the month of July to raise money for cervical cancer research.
“We hope the humour will help women feel comfortable talking about cervical cancer and talking about that area,” says Vanessa Wilson, a nurse and founder of Julyna.
Now the event isn’t totally (boy, it’s tough to tiptoe around jokes here) tongue-in-cheek. Julyna has the support of the Canadian Cancer Society, already has a handful of sponsors in place and boasts a Facebook page sure to grow in participation as word gets out. It appears, in every sense of its spirit, a fantastic idea.
And humour, as per Wilson’s mandate, may be the key to getting this thing off the ground. On Julyna’s website, there are even ten suggested manicuring designs for women during July (enter women everywhere saying: “Really, July? The FIRST MONTH OF SUMMER?!"), including The Heart, The Charlie Chaplin and, of course, The Barbara Bush (“No one knows how she styles her pubic hair but I’m assuming that she is too busy to trim.”)
There are even tips for how to colour, shave and stencil your own Julyna. Even looking at the page, which is replete with photos, makes me feel like I need to buy my girlfriend “I’m sorry” flowers.
In any case, though, Julyna has the full support of this modest blog. I’ve attended Movember parties in the past where fellas showed off their best ‘staches at the end of November. I am equal parts excited, intrigued and terrified to attend my first Julyna party someday soon.
Here’s to it.
By Jason Buckland, MSN Money
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