WEBVTT

00:00:01.589 --> 00:00:04.259
HARNAAM: This is who I am, I'm different and

00:00:04.259 --> 00:00:05.870
I've learnt to accept it fully.

00:00:05.870 --> 00:00:09.110
COMM: Meet the incredible 23-year-old woman,

00:00:09.110 --> 00:00:14.970
Harnaam Kaur who's been growing a beard since
the age of 16. And she says she's never felt

00:00:14.970 --> 00:00:15.370
more feminine.

00:00:15.370 --> 00:00:16.859
HARNAAM: It's the way that God made me and

00:00:16.859 --> 00:00:17.800
I'm happy with it.

00:00:17.800 --> 00:00:21.199
COMM: Harnaam from Slough has polycystic ovary

00:00:21.199 --> 00:00:27.789
syndrome which can cause excessive hair growth.
She was just eleven when it sorted appearing

00:00:27.789 --> 00:00:28.529
on her face.

00:00:28.529 --> 00:00:32.259
HARNAAM: I would hide it by talking to people

00:00:32.259 --> 00:00:37.280
with my hands over my face. I used to wax
it and that became really painful so I would

00:00:37.280 --> 00:00:42.030
just shave it or use different sorts of creams.
Um I used to bleach it too.

00:00:42.030 --> 00:00:45.010
COMM: Harnaam endured bullying at school and

00:00:45.010 --> 00:00:46.559
stares from people on the street.

00:00:46.559 --> 00:00:47.719
00:46
HARNAAM: The names that people would call

00:00:47.719 --> 00:00:53.579
me were things like beardo instead of weirdo,
um she-man, she-male.

00:00:53.579 --> 00:00:56.989
00:54
COMM: She's even received death threats after

00:00:56.989 --> 00:01:00.370
posting videos about female facial hair on
YouTube.

00:01:00.370 --> 00:01:04.559
HARNAAM: I have had people telling me that

00:01:04.559 --> 00:01:06.999
they're gonna burn me and that they're gonna
throw brick at me.

00:01:06.999 --> 00:01:10.490
01:06
COMM: At her lowest point she began self harming,

00:01:10.490 --> 00:01:12.350
and even considered taking her own life.

00:01:12.350 --> 00:01:14.770
HARNAAM: I would lock myself in my room, I

00:01:14.770 --> 00:01:18.209
didn't want people to see me because I knew
that would lead to more stares.

00:01:18.209 --> 00:01:21.090
COMM: At the age of sixteen, everything changed

00:01:21.090 --> 00:01:24.829
for Harnaam, when she took the decision to
be baptised as a Sikh.

00:01:24.829 --> 00:01:27.869
HARNAAM: We need to keep our bodies intact

00:01:27.869 --> 00:01:33.979
the way it was given by God. It was literally
at the point where I had enough of people

00:01:33.979 --> 00:01:40.270
bullying me, me feeling down, me having suicidal
thoughts, me self harming, I just had enough.

00:01:40.270 --> 00:01:43.689
COMM: The decision proves controversial, even

00:01:43.689 --> 00:01:46.389
Harnaam's own family were against it at first.

00:01:46.389 --> 00:01:49.679
HARNAAM: The concerns that my mum and dad

00:01:49.679 --> 00:01:56.259
had were I won't have a normal life "normal
life"I say, as a young girl should have. I

00:01:56.259 --> 00:02:02.409
won't get married, there were concerns about
me getting job, how there was no employers

00:02:02.409 --> 00:02:05.209
out there that will employ a bearded lady
and such.

00:02:05.209 --> 00:02:07.789
02:04
COMM: But she's found support in her 18-year-old

00:02:07.789 --> 00:02:10.209
brother Gurdeep, and friend Surrinder.

00:02:10.209 --> 00:02:12.659
02:09
GURDEEP: She's happy living her life, does

00:02:12.659 --> 00:02:16.849
what she wants to do, so it's really good
for her, as long as she's happy that's all

00:02:16.849 --> 00:02:17.870
I really care about.

00:02:17.870 --> 00:02:19.489
SURRINDER: For me to see her without the beard

00:02:19.489 --> 00:02:23.010
no I think it would be a shock, it would;t
be the same person, I so I think having the

00:02:23.010 --> 00:02:28.670
beard has probably given her a lot of strength
etc. to be who she wants to be, to say what

00:02:28.670 --> 00:02:32.219
she wants to say, and y'know just be happy.

00:02:32.219 --> 00:02:34.819
COMM: Harnaam still has to endure stares in

00:02:34.819 --> 00:02:39.530
the street, and is often mistaken for a man.
But she's learnt to accept it.

00:02:39.530 --> 00:02:41.239
HARNAAM: I do play around with it a little

00:02:41.239 --> 00:02:47.409
bit because sometimes when I go to the public
toilets and someone goes to me um "Oh this

00:02:47.409 --> 00:02:52.829
is the women's" and I actually put on a deep
voice and I say no this is for men's. SO I

00:02:52.829 --> 00:02:55.540
kind of play around with it and it's funny
because we all end up laughing.

00:02:55.540 --> 00:02:58.670
COMM: Today things are looking hop for Harnaam,

00:02:58.670 --> 00:03:04.049
she works as a primary school teaching assistant,
and she's received dozens of messages from

00:03:04.049 --> 00:03:07.209
women and men around the world, who say they
love her beard.

00:03:07.209 --> 00:03:08.879
HARNAAM: One guy saw my picture and he goes

00:03:08.879 --> 00:03:10.129
to me, will you marry me?

00:03:10.129 --> 00:03:12.689
COMM: And she hopes her story will encourage

00:03:12.689 --> 00:03:14.920
other women to be more body confident.

00:03:14.920 --> 00:03:17.010
COMM: This is me, this is who I am, it's my

00:03:17.010 --> 00:03:22.760
inner beauty, it's my outer beauty, it's my
oneness, it's my wholeness. I'm different

00:03:22.760 --> 00:03:29.760
and I've leant to accept it fully.