(Hat tip to Atomic Nerds.)
Kilted to Kick Cancer is a very cool fundraiser to raise money for prostate and testicular cancer. Various gun-bloggers are spending a month in a kilt; in exchange, their readers are donating money. The top three fundraisers get an array of exciting gun- and kilt-related prizes.
I think this is awesome for a couple of different reasons:
1) Prostate cancer. 1 man in 6 is diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point in his life; prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death. Prostate cancer has killed celebrities such as Joey Ramone and Timothy Leary, along with millions of ordinary men. Raising money to fight prostate cancer is extremely important.
2) Raising awareness of prostate cancer is vitally important, because if detected early there’s a reasonable chance of survival. If you have a prostate and are 55, or 45 and African-American or with a family history of prostate cancer, talk to your doctor about prostate cancer screenings.
3) Kilts. Kilts are just awesome. They are skirts, except unimpeachably masculine! Whenever I see a man in a kilt I feel like following him around with a lute like Elan from Order of the Stick, singing Expand, expand, expand the range of acceptable behaviors for men!
4) Guns. Personally, I like guns, in a very “pretty sure if I actually used one I’d end up shooting off my own foot and anyway it is a bad idea for a suicidal person to own a weapon” way. It’s really heartwarming for me to see people with a very conventionally masculine hobby showing how much they care about men.
5) This fundraiser has taught me about the existence of steampunk kilts. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaant.
On a semi-related note, here is my favorite prostate cancer PSA of all time:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK2fFjDlDE4&feature=related]
Waaay late to this party, but a few observations to make, as a Gentleman of a Certain Age who has taken the initiative to consult his Family Doctor. A questionnaire should be used to determine likelihood and establish a risk profile Digital rectal examinations (DRE) are not mandatory (and seem to be men’s largest fear due to “teh gay”) Not all growths are cancerous Not all prostate cancer is malignant (in fact most forms are benign) Treatment can take many forms and are not guaranteed to work (and in a number cases, a patient may choose NOT to risk the… Read more »
@Ozzy, you BETTER be good at not killing yourself -.-
My masculinity expresses itself by having a huge amount of empathy and care for people I barely even know (sometimes people I don’t even like!) XD “Men are apathetic” PAH! REAL men can’t see someone hurting near them without wanting to drop everything and heal them 😉
I stand corrected!
Nah, that’s just the short kilt. The great kilt was in common use by then, but was unweildy in an industrial setting, which is why Rawlinson came up with his design for the short kilt in the first place.
(N.B. The short kilt may, in any case, have been invented multiple times.)
I find all the pink ribbons and pink teddy bears and such to be very inappropriately gimmicky. Similarly I wouldn’t be interested in (or impressed with) ‘man-versions’ of such gimmicks. In additional I am skeptical that these “awareness” campaigns actually help people..I mean other than to help people line their pockets with money. Other people, better writers than myself, have talked about this…so I’ll end this here.
Sorry folks, but turns out kilts were not developed in Scotland (as a Glaswegian, this news struck to the very heart of my national pride)…
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1982040/Kilts-invented-by-English-in-Lord-Dacres-book.html
Yes! Dastardly gusts of wind!
I agree that kilt-lifting is not acceptable behaviour. It might make a refreshing change for men to be seen in a sexual light, but anybody tempted to lift a man’s kilt might want to question first whether they’ve internalised the myth that men are Always Up For It.
(If you really must know what they might be wearing underneath, go ahead and ask! Nothing wrong with a bit of brazen flirting.)
The only hazard to wearing a skirted garment should be gusts of wind.
That is not a hazard of wearing a kilt. That is a hazard of people who don’t know how to keep their hands to themselves regardless of another’s attire.
Awwww, Spud, you look very nice in your kilt. 🙂
I would totally eat ramen for two months to buy the steampunk kilt, but unfortunately my steampunk outfit is already made… *tear*
Great awareness campaign; speaking as someone who’s lost friends (way too young) to prostate cancer, and whose dad was diagnosed a while back (fortunately surgery got it all), this is a really important issue that can use the air time and donations.
Also, kilts are teh awesomez, and that steampunk kilt is particularly excellent. 🙂
Yay kilts! To answer various questions/points raised above: – Kilts were developed in Scotland — they’re designed to be warm! (So long as they’re made properly out of heavy weight wool.) But they also breathe nicely in summer. All in all a very practical garment. – Kilts aren’t the same thing as skirts, although you could argue that they are a subtype of the latter. Specifically, a kilt is a wrap-around garment, pleated, with a flat “apron” at the front, and may be worn by women as well as men. – Yes, women do seem to appreciate kilts a lot!… Read more »
I hate this particular ad because I’m already taking a prophylactic treatment for prostate cancer in my anti-androgenics and estrogens. Anti-androgenics are a typical course of treatment.
It’s true, I could have already developed a little polyp there at 26 but it’s not really nearly the concern that navigating my way to a mammogram in a couple years’ time in the wonderfully cissexist Alberta Health Care system will be.
Did I read right? That this all has to do with GUNS? As in FIREARMS?
Forgive my Ahabbery, but I must use another X-men line here: “You Homosapiens, and your guns…”
Yes, I know, off-topic. Suffice it to say, I’m British, I don’t like guns.
But yeah, wear a kilt, fight Prostate cancer, grow facial hair. And look like a Pirate! YARR! 😉
I know, right? Dying of an illness is not a failure. I think this kind of language hurts all people, but it might be especially relevant to men, for whom the idea of “losing a fight” is really construed as some kind of moral failing.
Nothing better than a good skirted garment on guys. 🙂
My area has a high population of Pacific Islanders (Samoans in particular), and seeing lava-lavas isn’t too terribly uncommon. There’s even lava-lavas made out of suit cloth that men wear to church. And this is Utah – and it’s a well-accepted thing (at least if you’re a Pacific Islander, but to a lesser degree other ethnicities of men as well).
Related to my last comment, and relevant to this issue, I thought this was a great article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/new-health/conditions/cancer/jack-layton-didnt-lose-a-fight-he-died-of-cancer/article2137736/
I saw that article too Brett and I also thought it was great :] That phrasing always bugged me too :
Thanks all 🙂 My next doctor’s appointment is in a couple of weeks, and hopefully my tests will actually come up conclusive this time. I’m staying optimistic though, because I know that regardless of the results, my chances are really really good (and, being back in school, I have insurance again). Back on topic, though: Being a Canadian, I am still dealing with the death of Jack Layton (NDP leader) from prostate cancer, and that has made me extra passionate about this issue. Even though Jack’s death was tragic and way too soon, it has inspired a lot of us… Read more »
(hugs of support to Brett)
@ Brett
🙁
🙁
I, on the other hand, am going to subject the world to my presence for as long as is biologically possible. Which, seeing as I actually may already have cancer (EXTRA SUPER SADFACE) might not be that long, but I’m working on it.
And fuck all sorts of cancer. Fuck breast cancer, fuck prostate cancer, fuck cervical cancer (and fuck you, my cervix, for maybe having cancer). I’m going out kicking and screaming.
D:
*big huge hugs to Brett* 🙁
Might be part of the guy script, but I don’t *want* to last 50 years longer. I’m 29, and living to 79 or 80 isn’t my goal. I seriously hope to have died before that. Out of anything at all. Living the longest ever isn’t my life’s goal, or even ambition. And people won’t miss me by then.
@Druk This really depends on how the funds are being raised. If it’s a small, non-affiliated organization, chances are a majority of funds are actually being donated. It’s only if fundraising has been outsourced to a third party that you need to be worried – and even then, not so much, because after a couple of scandals, fundraisers have really got their act together and started streamlining the process so more of the funds go directly to the charity. AND, if you’re worried, you can always donate directly, so you know exactly where your money is going. I’m pretty sure… Read more »
I’m hesitant to support fundraisers for things like this, because I keep hearing stats about how less than 1% of the money raised goes to anything even close to actual research.
On the other hand; unlike breast cancer, the prostate cancer problem could actually benefit from an awareness campaign.
Also I had previously heard that prostate screenings should take place as early as age 30. 55 for a white guy though? To be honest, I wouldn’t be against waiting for an extra 25 years longer for such a screening. (Maybe new technology will make the process less invasive by then.)
“That may just be the girls in Portland, though.”
I’m gonna add my name to the list of girls who think there is something excessively sexy about a guy in a skirt/kilt.