Harnaam Kaur has polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which makes her to
begin to grow beard from aged 11. Battling to remove her hair every day, and
bullied at school, she started to self harm and considered
suicide. Harnaam is now a body-confidence and anti-bullying activist and
she fully embraces her unique look and hopes to encourage others to do the
same. Hear what she said.
“I am a British born female living in Slough”, Harnaam told
me. “I am a little different from other women. “I was diagnosed with
polycystic ovaries from a really young age, around the time I hit puberty. PCOS
is a condition in which there is an imbalance in hormones within the female
body, this has led me to have more male hormones then female ones, and it
is also the reason to why I have a beard. I used to have my face waxed 2 to 3
times a week, and on the days I couldn’t bare the pain I would simply shave.”
“I had a great upbringing and a really happy family
life but I was severely bullied all the way through school, starting from
nursery right through to my late secondary school days. I even got beaten up a
few times. I became very aggressively suicidal and I even resorted to self
harm.”
“At the age of 16 I hit my biggest low. I had been
suicidal all year due to immense bullying from school and people in society. I
hid away and did not want to venture out into the public. My bedroom was my
only safe haven. I was hugely depressed. I remember sitting on my bed and
thinking about taking my own life. But instead, as I sat there, I started to
counsel myself. I told myself ‘The energy you are putting into ending your
life, put all that energy into turning your life around and doing something
better’.”
“At that point I decided I wanted to be me. I decided to keep my beard and step forward
against society’s expectations of what a woman should look like. Today I am not
suicidal and I do not self harm. Today I am happy living as a young beautiful
bearded woman. I have realised that this body is mine, I own it, I do not
have any other body to live in so I may as well love it unconditionally.”
“I
stopped self harming and I have now fallen in love with the elements on my
body that people may call ‘flaws’. I love my beard, my stretch marks and my
scars. These elements make me who I am, they make me whole, they make me
complete. My beard has 100% become a part of my body. It is the source of my
strength and confidence. People just see the beard as hair, but my beard for me
is much more than that. I keep my hair to show the world a different,
confident, diverse and strong image of a woman. I love my beard, it has become
a part of my body. I look at it and is it a sign to me that we are all
different and none of us are born the same. I love my lady beard and I will
forever cherish it.”
“We need to realise that every one of us is different”, she
advises. “We are all imperfectly perfect. I wanted to show society that beauty
isn’t just about looking a certain way, we are all so different and we should
all celebrate our individuality. I used to keep my beard for religious reasons,
but now I keep my hair to show the world a different, confident, diverse
and strong image of a woman. I love my beard, it has become a part of my body
and I do not want to remove it. Love
yourself, YOU are the only YOU that YOU have.”
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