What started as a dare for a burly Newfoundland man to pose in mermaid flippers has turned into a globally known effort to combat gender stereotypes 鈥� and raised more than a half million dollars for charity.

This past weekend, the Newfoundland and Labrador Beard and Moustache Club gave a cheque for more than $202,000 to Violence Prevention NL.

That鈥檚 the proceeds from the 2019 Merb鈥檡s calendar, which draws its name from 鈥榤ermaid鈥� and the Newfoundland moniker for 鈥榖uddy.鈥�

The calendar features photos of husky, bearded Newfoundland men posed on the province鈥檚 rugged shoreline 鈥� wearing just their merman fins and their smiles.

Hasan Hai, the leader of the club, said it all started with a dare in 2017.

鈥淎 friend of mine on Facebook had shared a picture of a big bearded fellow dressed as a mermaid. I was kind of known in my friends鈥� circle as a guy who didn鈥檛 shy away from dares or doing fun things that would further community projects and goals,鈥� he said.

鈥淚nitially the idea was to maybe get a bunch of people together and maybe take a bunch of pictures poking holes at traditional gender stereotypes and what a 鈥榬eal man鈥� was supposed to look like.鈥�

A month later, they had the 2018 version of the calendar and a demand from around the world that raised more than $300,000 for a local mental health organization.

Hai said they decided to do it again for 2019 and put the call out to charitable organizations, and about 40 applied.

He said they decided to go with Violence Prevention Newfoundland and Labrador because its mandate is much the same as the club in fighting gender stereotypes and 鈥渢oxic masculinity,鈥� and showing men there鈥檚 a healthier way to live their life moving forward.

鈥淭heir project was deconstructing masculinity and engaging men in violence prevention, and it kind of checked all the boxes for us. It鈥檚 not criticizing men for being men, but breaking down those harmful bits of it and building up the positive ones,鈥� he said.

Hai said Violence Prevention NL will develop programming in communities and also get it translated into the various Indigenous languages found across the province.

But he said with the calendar being sold in 37 countries around the world, the message is reaching many more people.

鈥淭he main theme, even without reading the back and understanding the charity we鈥檙e supporting, is that people see men being displayed in these positive ways 鈥� body positivity, men showing affection and emotion, and just having fun. Emotionally I think people connect with it, and even without telling them what the message is, they get it,鈥� he said.

Hai isn鈥檛 sure there will be a 2020 version of the calendar. He said the first two calendars have taken 15 months of work and everyone needs a rest.

However, he said that doesn鈥檛 mean they are hanging up their fins for good.

鈥淪tay tuned,鈥� he said.

鈥� By Kevin Bissett in Fredericton.

The Canadian Press

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