Greater Milwaukee Men

The month of November is (one of the) Men's Health Month(s), popularized by the Movember movement. (June is another recognized annual event but since it is November now, November it is.) It's a great foundation, it has been successful and is highly rated for its impact. But, one thing I see with the movement is that while they speak about men's health to the participants, I feel the participants themselves promote it outwardly rather than inward, at them. I personally fell victim to that selfsame issue, but no longer. As of this November, I am taking care of myself.

There is another similar saying, one I believe, but when those three words are uttered, they shut down conversation. So instead, I am going with this new phrase: Guns Destroy Lives. These words are probably more provocative, but also probably more definitive and demonstrative, because they do more than just being used to kill people. photo cr. ABC News Before I start, as I always do when I broach the subject, I must state the usual disclaimer. I am not anti-gun. I am for gun control. Now that you know I am not out to take away your 'rights', let's get into this, once again, in the aftermath of the Uvalde, TX school shooting that as of this writing took 18 children's and one teacher's lives.

This has been stewing in my head for a while. School shootings, mass shootings, racist killings, and more always get me wanting to start and finish this. It took the ridiculous image of the St. Louis couple inappropriately brandishing firearms and peaceful protesters (and social media discussion about it) to get to it. The discussion around the St. Louis incident seems to boil down to basically 1st Amendment versus 2nd Amendment rights. The first seems to be clear, the protesters had the right. The local Circuit Attorney, Kim Gardner has already supported that: "I am alarmed at the events that occurred over the weekend, where peaceful protesters were met by guns and a violent assault. We must protect the right to peacefully protest, and any attempt to chill it through intimidation or threat of deadly force will not be tolerated,"  Gardner   tweeted . So then it comes down to, was this an appropriate use of gun ownership by this couple? Is this type of event, the "Self-D...

Why do we seem to flaunt many of our physical health problems and conquests, by hide our mental ones? That is a question that the Mental Health League , an apparel company that supports a mental health organization, seeks to not only answer, but turn on its head and conquer. Why do survivors of cancer wear shirts proudly declaring so, but we don't share surviving depression? Why do we have people sign our cast for a broken limb, but we can't share conquering anxiety? Why do we celebrate the steps made in physical therapy, but hide going to mental therapy? In our society, battling and recovering from a physical ailment: disease, injury, accidents, is seen as a badge of honor but dealing with a mental ailment is met with shame. We need to change that stigma.

Markus Howard photo courtesy Marquette University Especially among men, even more so among high level athletes, being open about mental health struggles can be seen as a weakness. In a new ESPN video , Markus Howard of the Marquette Golden Eagles men's basketball team talks about going to a weekly therapy session. Moving on to college can be a hard thing for anyone, then add on the stress of competing at a high college level basketball program and it's not difficult to see how many athletes can struggle with all the demands. Some of the issues that these students, and we have to remember they are still young and students, struggle with and become headlines, may be avoided if more would take the approach that Howard is taking. He and his coach, Steve Wojciechowski, talk about how they see therapy as an important part of maintaining the level, to have an outlet without the stigma of weakness. No one should be afraid to ask for help, you aren't stronger if you go it ...

An example of what the rides and riders of the DGR look like, classic personal style matched with their bikes. It's uncommon for men to think too much about personal hygiene products. We go to the store, grab one of the major brands for things like anitperspirant, shaving, etc., but, just like with our general health, rarely do we think about what is in them that may impact our own health & well-being let alone others' or the environment. This is changing with more diversity of product types nearing a percentage of what is available to women - facial cleansers, skin care, and so on - and indeed there are some brands even at big box stores that embrace more natural care like Burt's Bees, Everyman Jack, and Schmidt's among others. With beards and styled facial hair being more popular, men are also embracing care of . One local shop, Scentsory Bath & Body Boutique in Cedarburg, is addressing the growing demand for personal hygiene products for men with handmad...

I'll keep it short and sweet. It's the end of October. That means November is almost upon us. And November is the month of Movember  the only charity tackling men’s health on a global scale, year round. They address some of the biggest health issues faced by men: prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and mental health and suicide prevention. Movember is continuing their promotion of general health with their MOVE initiative along with the moustache awareness & fundraising efforts. Get involved here . For years Milwaukee has had and continues to have some of the coolest man-friendly socially responsible events around as organized by the guys at Movember MKE ,  our very own ambassadors for men's health issues. As always, we are happy to help promote Movember and all the events associated, check out our calendar of compiled events here . If you are looking for inspiration for your moustache, check out the new style guide.