Today marks the start of November, but also the beginning of Movember, the month in which no matter what your opinion, it is completely acceptable for men to have mustaches; it’s for a good cause, after all.

Movember is a month long event, taking place in November, in which men grow mustaches to show support and shed awareness on prostate cancer and depression among men. A couple years ago, when I had no clue what people were talking about with “Movember”, I spent some time looking up the meaning. The idea originally came from a group of guys in a pub who wanted to grow mustaches for charity. The Movember Foundation was formed in 2004 and has since risen nearly $150-200M.

So for guys, happy growing! And for all the girls out there, don’t judge a guy on the mustache until you know why he’s growing it…at least until December 1. Events during the month are scattered around the world. For more information you can visit a variety of sites including the several articles that are bound to be published in the coming days. You can also follow @Movember on Twitter.

Over the next month we’ll be posting pictures of the mustaches we see, including, we hope, one from my father who I just learned was growing one for the month. Send us the best ones you see or the ones your friends are growing.

-Scott