Jonah Lewis, a junior majoring in political science and sociology, is a Hatchet columnist.

It’s that time of year again: Moustaches and beards will be back in full force among men at GW and across the country.

No-Shave November is often just an excuse to avoid shaving for a month. But this seemingly trivial phenomenon has been co-opted by a much more influential social movement, called Movember, dedicated to growing moustaches as a fundraising effort for men’s health issues.

Men sign up with the organization, and then ask friends and family to donate money to their efforts as they grow out their mustaches during November. Plus, their facial hair becomes an advertisement for the movement. The Movember Foundation has raised $559 million for over 800 men’s health programs, ranging from prostate cancer research to mental health care since 2003.

This is an incredibly impressive sum for a charity based almost solely on getting men to grow out facial hair for a month, and I would encourage any interested men at GW to participate. But this movement leaves open an important question: Where do women fit in?

Sure, they can fundraise and advertise. But they aren’t officially encouraged to stop shaving or gather donations for women’s health issues.

If women at GW decided not to shave for the entirety of this month to raise money for women’s health issues and promote body positivity, the initiative could grow into a movement matching Movember. It would open up conversations about how our culture expects women to treat their bodies and their body hair.

While there is little stigma attached to moustaches, many people view women’s body hair as unseemly. It isn’t an enormous sacrifice for men to grow beards, since many men and women find them attractive, but for women, growing out hair is an unexpected and daring risk. That makes not shaving an exercise in body positivity and self love for most women.

Not only would a no-shave movement be good for body image, but it would also shed light on important female-specific health issues that don’t receive enough attention.

Breast cancer is arguably the most prominent women’s health issue in the country: 1 in 8 women will develop invasive breast cancer in their lifetimes. But there are many other conditions that affect women – like osteoarthritis, reproductive health, cervical cancer and menopause. Those causes deserve funding, too, and with a movement that addresses women’s health more broadly, they would fall under an umbrella and receive more support.

So far, there only seem to be unofficial movements that encourage women to stop shaving, like the Hairy Legs Club that has become popular on Tumblr – and pages like this don’t raise any money.

But with active feminist groups on campus – like the Alliance of Queer Women and Allies, or Students Against Sexual Assault – our school is the perfect place to start. If even just one of these student organizations took on the project, it could be our chance to start a campaign that one day could rival what men raise during Movember.

So women of GW, grow out your body hair, for yourselves and for health research.