Woman With Beard Shrugs Off Bullies And Finds Beauty Within Herself

Harnaam Kaur is a 23 year old woman who suffers polycystic ovary syndrome, an endocrine disorder that causes hirsutism (excess hair growth). In Harnaam’s case, the disease caused her to grow a beard when she was only 11 years old.

She was just 11 years old when it started appearing and she spent her teenage years desperately trying to remove it by waxing TWICE a week and covering her body in baggy clothes. The primary school teaching assistant endured vile abuse at school and strangers would stare at her on the street. Harnaam became so self conscious she refused to leave her house, except to go to lessons, and at her lowest point she began self harming and even considered taking her own life.

Then at 16 years old, Harnaam embraced Sikhism, which dictates that followers maintain the natural state of their body, including hair growth. And it was from this belief system that Harnaam gained the confidence to shrug off the bullies and find the beauty within herself.

This is me, this is who I am. It’s my inner beauty, it’s my outer beauty. This is my wholeness. I’m different and I’ve learned to accept it fully.

Bravo Harnaam.

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.