Meet Harnaam Kur, of Slough, England.
Thick black hair has been growing on Harnaam's face and body since she was 11-years old due to polycystic ovary syndrome, which causes hair to grow at a faster rate than normal.
Not surprisingly, her unusual appearance has brought much unwanted attention—but, after years of horrific bullying and despair, the 23-year-old girl has turned a corner – and now loves her beard—Popdust has photos and video of her amazing and inspirational story.
“This is who I am. I’m different, and I’ve learned to accept it fully. It’s the way that God made me and I’m happy with it,” beautiful Harnaam insists.
However, it wasn’t always so easy - being a young girl is tough enough but a young girl with a thick black beard and hairy chest? Forget about it.
When she was younger, the young Londoner did everything she could to get rid of her facial hair in a desperate attempt to look more like other girls.
“I would hide it by talking to people with my hand over my face, I used to wax it and that became really painful. So I would just shave it or use different kinds of creams. I would bleach it too,” says Harnaam.
For much of her life, poor Harnaam had been the focus of cruel bullying and unbelievably, she has even received death threats, leading her to become depressed and suicidal at one point.
“The names that people would call me were things like ‘beardo’ instead of ‘weirdo’, ‘she man’, ‘shemale’. I have had people telling me that they’re going to burn me and that they’re going to throw a brick at me. I would lock myself in my room. I didn’t want people to see me, because that would lead to more stares.”
It was when she was at her lowest point that she realized there was nothing to be ashamed of—and at 16-years old, Harnaam decided to become baptized as a Sikh, and fully adopted the Sikh turban and way of life.
“We need to keep our bodies intact the way it was given by God,” Harnaam explains. “It was literally at the point where I had enough of people bullying me, me feeling down, me having suicidal thoughts, me self-harming. I’d just had enough.”
Since deciding to accept her beard, Harnaam’s life has improved dramatically. Now working as a primary school teaching assistant, she not only has the full support of her family but even a marriage proposal!
“The concerns that my mum and dad had were that I wouldn’t have a normal life as a young girl should have, that I won’t get married,” says Harnaam. “They were concerned about me getting a job, how there were no employers out there that would employ a bearded lady.
“This is me, this is who I am. It’s my inner beauty, it’s my outer beauty… I am different and I’ve learned to accept it fully.”
Amen to that sister!
Harnaam's facial hair started growing around puberty—she used to try to remove it by waxing and shaving
