Mariam the Bearded Lady Embraces Her Face

As a junior in college, I wanted to be a nomadic hippie when I grew up. I didn’t really deal with make-up well, so one of my friends decided to take matters into her own hands one night and deal with it for me. As she was dealing, she noticed a hair on my chin and I FREAKED THE F OUT. How long had that been there?! Had other people seen it? OMG gross me out. I died a thousand deaths.

Then I invested in tweezers and everything was fine. I don’t know how I would have handled plucking an entire BEARD full of face-hairs every day though. That sounds traumatic. But that is what Mariam from Germany did for many, many years — Until she decided to face (pun intended) and embrace her facial fears. After Mariam, now 49, gave birth to her son almost three decades ago, she began sprouting a starter’s beard. But in August 2008, she decided to just let it grow and, as a single working woman, has “never felt sexier” in her life.

She’s even started a blog to help console other women with the same issue, and travels the world as a professional bearded lady in a circus.

And even though she’s faced (I didn’t even mean to do it that time, but it’s staying) criticism from people who are appalled by her appearance, Mariam is happy with her decision to quit plucking and is even ready to start dating again.

I mean, she’s right. I just feel like personally, I’d rather lose a finger than have to deal with a beard for the rest of my life. But Mariam’s confidence is super-inspiring and it seems like she’s finally found her professional calling! What would you guys do if you started sprouting a beard?!

Featured image courtesy of Dailymail.co.uk