Harnaam Kaur, a woman who went viral online for her full beard, has expressed pride in her looks.
The 31-year-old, a hit on social media, encouraged women to challenge traditional beauty norms during International Women’s Day.
Kaur, who has faced taunts and criticism for her look, said she has learned to be comfortable in her skin and accepted herself.
“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, and so I may as well love it unconditionally,” she told my london.
However, Kaur said that she would not encourage other women with facial hair to keep it because of the challenges she had to overcome.
“I will never tell someone to go out and keep your facial hair. I’ve been strong enough to go out and handle it. Other people might not be,” she said.
The lady also admitted that she never thought she would reach 16, as she harboured thoughts of self-harm.
When Kaur was 12, she was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which changed her life. PCOS has a wide variety of symptoms, including weight changes, hair growth and mental issues.
To avoid being noticed by her peers in school, her mother would take her to have her beard waxed by the more she waxed, the thicker and faster the facial hair grew.
Kaur said she looked starkly different from the other girls in her class and was on the receiving end of mockery by schoolmates.
However, her turning point came when she turned 16 and decided that she would embrace her bread and let it grow to challenge societal expectations of what women should look like.
Kaur is now an internationally recognised motivational speaker and activist who has appeared on the cover of Vogue Japan and numerous other magazines.