如果你计划在本月去某个西方国家旅行，走在街头你可能会注意到一些不同寻常的事儿。这是因为在11月，许多西方男性选择把剃须刀扔一边，让他们小胡子在这一个月里肆意生长。
“Movember”, as the annual event is known, sees men in countries including the UK, US and Australia grow out their facial hair while collecting *sponsorship money from friends, family and colleagues, with the money going to cancer charities and other worthy causes.
“胡子月”是一年一度的大活动，英国，美国和澳大利亚的男性们纷纷开始蓄胡子，向身边的朋友，家人和同事收集赞助费，并把这笔钱捐赠给癌症慈善机构和其他有价值的事业。
But what motivates people to take part?
但是，究竟是什么促使人们参加这项活动呢？
“Movember is my middle finger to cancer,” says Andrew Hahn, a resident of Santa Monica, California, US, who’s raised over $100,000 (677,390 yuan) for the cause since he started taking part six years ago.
“胡子月是我的抗癌态度，”美国加利福尼亚州圣莫尼卡的居民安德鲁•哈恩说道，自从六年前开始参加这项活动以来，他已筹集了超过10万美元（约合人民币677,390元）的善款。
“As a father, I’m terrified of cancer and of not being here for my son as he grows up. The most logical part of my mind participates in Movember in the hope that there’ll be a cure in place if I get cancer.”
“作为一个父亲，我害怕癌症，担心儿子长大了，我不能陪在他身边。我参加胡子月，最合理的解释是希望如果有一天我得了癌症，能得到治疗。”
The month of no shaving began unofficially in 2003, when a pair of men from Australia persuaded their pals to join them in growing a “mo” in order to encourage men to get themselves screened for cancer, which is seen as taboo by some males.
2003年，还未得到公认的“胡子月”开始了，当时来自澳大利亚的两位男性说服他们的朋友加入，通过蓄胡子来鼓励男同胞们进行癌症预防检查，但在一些男性眼里这是种禁忌。
A year later, the group decided to set up the Movember Foundation, asking acquaintances to offer donations of money to support their efforts, and raised a massive A$54,000 (280,000 yuan) which was shared between a number of health projects.
一年后，这个团队决定成立胡子月基金会，通过向熟人筹集善款来支持他们的工作，并筹集了的5.4万澳元（约合人民币28万元）的巨资，投入一系列的健康项目。
With thanks most likely to social media, Movember soon went global and the foundation now operates worldwide, having raised over ￡440 million (3.7 billion yuan) since 2004.
由于社交媒体的大力宣传，胡子月迅速走向世界，现在基金会在全球运营，自2004年以来已累积超过4.4亿英镑（约合人民币37亿元）。
So where exactly do the millions go?
那么，这笔巨款到底会用在哪里呢？
“With [the] money raised, the foundation has funded over 1,200 game-changing programmes in *prostate cancer, *testicular cancer and suicide prevention around the world,” a spokesperson for the organization says.
该组织的一位发言人表示，“随着资金的增加，基金会已经在世界范围内向前列腺癌，睾丸癌和自杀预防领域的1200多项有颠覆意义的项目提供了资金支持。”
The effects of the fundraising are wide-reaching, with scientists at Ulster University in Northern Ireland telling the BBC just last month that they had made a “significant” discovery in the treatment of prostate cancer, thanks to money donated by the foundation.
此次融资的影响是广泛的，北爱尔兰阿尔斯特大学的科学家们上个月接受BBC采访时表示，多亏了基金会的捐款，他们已经在前列腺癌的治疗中取得了“重大”发现。
And Movember isn’t just for men. Thousands of “mo sisters” take an active role in fundraising, as well as encouraging male acquaintances to get screened for potentially deadly illnesses.
然而胡子月不只属于男性。成千上万的“胡子小姐”也在筹款方面发挥着积极作用，并鼓励男性朋友接受潜在致命疾病的筛查。
The issue of some men being too *stubborn to visit their doctor for a checkup, or perhaps being raised in a culture of “tough it out,” has led some males to neglect their health, which may mean it could be too late if something potentially deadly did develop.
有些男性太过固执，不愿去看医生做检查，或者仍然活在“挺过去”的文化里，导致他们忽略了健康问题，这可能意味着如果潜在的致命疾病进一步发展，那一切就太晚了。
However, Natasha Hill, director of marketing at Cancer Research UK, told the BBC she thinks that Movember is helping to break down the *stigma of male health by making it more accessible, meaning that men are more likely to visit their doctors thanks to the campaign.
然而，英国癌症研究中心营销总监娜塔莎希尔告诉BBC，她认为胡子月正在帮助消减男性健康的耻辱，使其更易于理解，这意味着男性会更多倾向于看医生，这些要归功于此项活动。
“They found a way to appeal to men in a way that other campaigns just don’t – with banter, and a sort of *blokey jokiness.”
“他们发现了一种其他活动没有的方式来吸引男性—— 一种毫无恶意的玩笑，和一种纯爷们儿式的幽默。”
