Harnaam, a British woman of Indian descent, hit puberty at the age of 10, and was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) at 12, which caused her to develop thick facial hair. PCOS is a fairly common condition, a hormonal imbalance that causes weight gain, excessive hair growth, and irregular periods.
Harnaam waxed and shaved and bleached her hair several times a week, to a point where her skin would turn painfully raw, but the hair continued to spread. The schoolyard bullies taunted her, calling her shemale and beast and sheman; they kicked me with footballs and stabbed me with pens. Harnaam began skipping school and refused to go out, for fear of being shamed and stared at. The trauma drove the young girl to depression, self-harm, and constant thoughts of killing herself. Until Harnaam decided she was done. She would not allow her haters to win...and she would accept her body—and beard—just the way it was.
As Harnaam shares her story with me, over a Skype call, I want to reach out and hug her. Not just because of the bullying and shaming and violence and death threats she has had to endure (the death threats continue, by the way)...but because she chose to rise above the ridicule and scorn, and has emerged as a passionate disrupter of mainstream beauty standards.
This story is from the June 2020 edition of Cosmopolitan India.
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This story is from the June 2020 edition of Cosmopolitan India.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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