Kevin Barrett 
There are dozens of products designed to remove the unwanted facial hair that women do get; it is in no way uncommon for women to grow hair on their face, and they tend to do so more and more as they get older. It used to be a source of shame. Women would literally feel anxious. These days, though, fewer and fewer women are feeling shame due to what is a natural occurrence.
In a way, the idea that women’s facial hair should be shameful is sort of silly. Men are allowed to grow beards whenever they want. No one looks at a guy twice if he’s sporting a beard, unless it is one of those insanely long and bushy ones that reach down past the chest; even in those sorts of cases, though, the beard is usually acknowledged as being pretty cool. If a woman managed to grow a beard down to her chest, she would be labeled by society a freak.
Those days might be coming to an end, however. More and more women are proud of their facial hair.
Harnaam Kaur, who is 27 and from Berkshire, England, is one of those proud women. The woman suffers from a condition known as hirsutism, which is really just a term for male-patterned hair growth in the female population. The hirsutism is the result of polycystic ovary syndrome, which is referred to as PCOS. A relatively common condition, it can impact up to 20 percent of women between 18 and 44; PCOS is also a major cause of infertility in women because of the affect it has on the reproductive organs. The symptoms of PCOS occur because the woman has an increased level of the male hormones in her body.
Kaur, who used to be a teaching assistant, is a model as well as an activist; she was bullied while in school, and even by people she met in the street, but she refuses to be bullied any longer for her full beard—which she wears with pride.
She is called a ‘bearded lady’, but she doesn’t care; in fact, she considers her beard a source of pride. She also has hair on her chest and arms, and she embraces that hair too.
As she puts it, bearded ladies are courageous, empowered, and strong; she’s right, as it does take a very strong person to resist and reject societal norms. She is indeed a true force of nature.
One of the reasons that Kaur lets her hair grow out is that she is Sikh, which means that she is a follower of the monotheistic religion Sikhism; as a result of her conversion while she was 16 years of age, she is required by her faith to let her hair grow out.
Sikhism began on the Indian subcontinent, in the Punjab region, during the 15th century. There are over 20 million followers in India, more than 500,000 in the United States, and over 400,000 in the United Kingdom.
Kaur first started noticing her facial hair growing out at the age of just 11.
As a body activist, Kaur does not want other women who suffer from PCOS and are also experiencing a similar symptom of the condition to feel any shame, acknowledging that society’s beauty standards are ridiculous and make the lives of women far more difficult than they need be. She is correct when she states that many women can connect to her experience.
Kaur is correct in that there really is a stigma against female facial hair. When most of modern-day society pictures a woman, they tend to picture a person who has hair on her head and around the eyes, but nowhere else on her body. It may be the societal norm at this time, but it isn’t right that people like Kaur are bullied for not conforming—especially when she’s not conforming to those standards because of her religion.
Perhaps, thanks to Kaur, women won’t be bullied any longer for making the choice to avoid spending countless hours and huge amounts of money on making sure they look how other people think they should look.
We’re not exaggerating when we say the amount of money spent is huge. All in all, the ‘beauty’ industry generates billions of dollars in sales for the companies involved in it. In 2016, over $80 billion was generated in the United States of America alone. Europe is the leading market for the industry.
It should be reiterated that hirsutism, at least in Kaur’s case, was caused by a legitimate medical condition. In fact, most cases are caused by medical problems, as there are numerous conditions that can cause excessive hair growth in the female population. Polycystic ovary syndrome, the condition from which Kaur suffers, can also cause symptoms such as obesity, heavy periods, pelvic pain, endometrial cancer, and diabetes.
That fact should be considered by all who would even consider bullying a woman for her appearance.
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