{"id":7579,"date":"2016-04-01T19:05:36","date_gmt":"2016-04-01T13:35:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=7579"},"modified":"2016-04-01T19:05:36","modified_gmt":"2016-04-01T13:35:36","slug":"how-my-hirsutism-made-me-son-my-father-did-not-have","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=7579","title":{"rendered":"How My Hirsutism Made Me The Son My Father Did Not Have"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\u201cT<\/span>ry bleaching.\u201d \u201cHave you tried XYZ face pack? It\u2019s herbal and it slows the growth.\u201d \u201cWhy don\u2019t you just scrub your face hard!\u201d \u2014 I\u2019ve got numerous suggestions on how to slow, reduce, or remove the facial hair that sprout across my face regularly. I have instead chosen to shave like my father. My shaving routine isn\u2019t welcomed in my household. It\u2019s a \u2018shave behind closed doors because obviously it\u2019s an embarrassing scene for some. Making your peace with body hair as a woman is one thing, but on the face, it invites a different form of scrutiny. From the nicks that I give myself, to the brand of razor I use, everything has been labelled and packaged \u2018for men\u2019. It\u2019s why it has taken me time to get used to shrugging stares cast in my direction.\n\n

Making your peace with body hair as a woman is one thing, but on the face, it invites a different form of scrutiny.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\nTo Indian aunties and cousins, facial hair is just another ruse to pull your leg, or at times, even bully you. Comments like \u201cMard jaise daadi aur mooch\u201d<\/em> and unsolicited home-remedies become currency in these relationships that are far from comforting spaces that they ought to serve as. I\u2019ve tried everything! I’ve gone from bleaching and waxing my face, enquired about a Rs 50,000 laser hair removal treatments to using prescription creams, that claims to “slow the hair growth” but really just burns your skin. Until I finally chose to give up and resorted to the least painful, and overcomplicated method of all, shaving.\n\nMy mother was obviously against it but little did I know support would come from an unanticipated source. I nicked myself while shaving one day. My father noticed the stream of blood gently flowing down my chin. He calmly went to bring me some alum from his shaving cabinet. In that little moment, we had a conversation about my peculiar grooming needs without really saying much. Turns out, my father was the person I\u2019d turn to cope with the daily grind of a process, most men execute as a matter of style. It was peculiar, even uncomfortable at first, but eventually we found it easier to discuss this common need of ours.\n\n

Hirsutism is defined as unwanted male-pattern hair growth (often thick and coarse) on a woman’s face, chest and back.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\nTruth be told, I\u2019ve always had fuzz on my face growing up. I ignored it thinking it was normal as I am from the Sindhi community, and well, we are a hairy bunch. It was only when I turned 19 and was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) that the male-pattern facial hair a.k.a. Hirsutism began to make sense. Hirsutism is defined as unwanted male-pattern hair growth (often thick and coarse) on a woman’s face, chest and back. It\u2019s caused due to an excess of male hormones. But PCOS is not the only cause of hirsutism. In fact, a quick Google search will tell you that the condition is quite common amongst Indian women, and other women of colour around the globe.\n\nWhile this research and a helpful shaving tip from my father have put me at ease, it hasn\u2019t been easy. Sure, it\u2019s a moment of bonding but it hasn\u2019t resulted in my father watching over my back, guiding each stroke and move I make with the razor; I imagine those one-on-one lessons would be reserved for his son, if he had one. But he does often come to my room, to try to tell me personally the many unique applications of devices from his kit. Things I can borrow, stuff that is smoother, razors that are just the right amount of sharp. Not many fathers have this conversation in this country, and many more possibly avoid doing it. I\u2019m just relieved my father isn\u2019t either, for he in his own reluctant, often mechanical way, wants to make sure his daughter doesn\u2019t hurt herself.\n\n

My father\u2019s reaction to it was understated but never dismissive. Even in his silence he probably threw me rope that most aunties and friends weren\u2019t prepared to.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\nMy father has even recommended growing the hair a little for a better shave. And, I\u2019ve listened! After I was isolated for 15 days during the heights of Covid-19, I proudly grew a patchy beard and a moustache that could be the envy of teenage boys struggling to hit puberty. My father\u2019s reaction to it was understated but never dismissive. Even in his silence he probably threw me rope that most aunties and friends weren\u2019t prepared to. My shaving routine is still a muffled conversation; the kind I still can\u2019t have in the drawing room in the presence of everyone\u2019s ears. But this unspoken bond that me and my father have developed has been an unlikely fallout of what is still a very hard aspect of life to deal with. He gets angry at people who comment on it, and for now, thanks to this undeclared endorsement, I am able to shave with the bathroom door open.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dealing with body hair as a woman is one thing, but my condition meant that hair grew in places that would make people scrutinise it. Incredibly, it\u2019s something that brought me closer to my father like never before.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":466,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[107],"tags":[11666,2592,10985,10095,2323],"class_list":["post-7579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pov","tag-facial-hair","tag-gender","tag-gender-stereotypes","tag-hair","tag-woman"],"yoast_head":"\nHow My Hirsutism Made Me The Son My Father Did Not Have<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dealing with body hair as a woman is one thing, but my condition meant that hair grew in places that would make people scrutinise it. 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