By MARTHA CLIFF
A woman has told how after two decades of shaving to hide her beard, she has finally learnt to embrace it – and even styles it with ribbons.
Since she was just 14, Little Bear Schwarz – who legally changed her name from Renee – has been shaving, waxing and undergoing laser treatment to get rid of her unwanted fuzz.
For years, Little Bear, 33, from Seattle, would get up early to shave before her partners woke up, ensuring they wouldn’t see her stubble.
Little Bear Schwarz spent two decades shaving her beard but has finally learnt to embrace her natural hair. Pictured: Little Bear when she still shaved
Then two years ago she finally learnt to embrace her facial hair after winning a beard competition.
Since then, Little Bear has had people stare at her and even question whether she’s a woman. But despite the cruel comments, she refuses to go back to her old life of daily shaving.
‘I’ve had a taste of being myself and I can’t go back to how I was,’ she said.
The 33-year-old says that after having a taste of her true self she never wants to go back to shaving
Little Bear’s beard began growing when she was 14 as she suffers from polycystic ovaries
‘I’m proud of my beard and work hard to keep it soft. I put ribbons in it and make it in to spikes or shape it to look like tentacles.’
Little Bear was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) when she was 31 years old. She’d suffered with excessive hair growth – a major symptom of the condition – for 17 years prior.
However, as doctors couldn’t find any cysts when they ran ultrasound scans, the diagnosis wasn’t immediately obvious. Then, at 14, she started growing hair on her upper lip, chin and chest.
‘I began shaving on a regular basis,’ she said. ‘Keeping it wasn’t an option. I would shave in the shower as I didn’t want to see myself doing it.
Little Bear first began embracing her beard after moving to Seattle to live with her ex-boyfriend who she says was very accepting of her facial hair
‘I was very secretive about it – women shouldn’t have facial hair.’
Little Bear told how she would end up with a shaving rash, which she’d cover with make-up.
She considered the option of laser treatment or waxing – but lasers were too expensive, and she didn’t want to leave her hair to grow out until it was long enough to wax.
Therefore, she always went back to shaving, even waking up early if she was staying at a boyfriend’s house to rid herself of stubble before he saw.
‘I did a lot of dating,’ she said. ‘I played a game of, “Let’s make sure they never see my stubble.”‘
Before she learnt how to embrace her facial hair Little Bear would wake up early to shave her hair so that her previous boyfriends wouldn’t find out about her beard
Little Bear’s beard has now seen her find a career with her working as a full time performer with sideshow Wreckless Freaks. Pictured: Little Bear withe fellow performer The Mighty Lurch
In September 2013, Miss Schwarz met her now-ex boyfriend via a Facebook page about open relationships, and he accepted her for who she was, facial hair and all.
After six months, she moved 3,000 miles from Florida to Seattle to live with him, and felt like she was in a place – mentally and physically – where she could start growing her beard.
She said: ‘In Seattle, I was working from home, so didn’t need to shave for work. I felt like I was safe to try growing my hair.
She incorporates burlesque and opera into her unique performances with the company. Pictured: Little Bear performing
Although the performer still endures some cruel taunts from the public she says she has learnt to just ‘stare back’
‘Seattle seemed more progressive and welcoming than Florida too. My ex accepted me. I even joked with him that he couldn’t grow a good beard.’
At first, Little Bear feared she’d made a terrible mistake by ditching the razor, terrified of being harassed for having a beard.
She’d seen a TV show called Whisker Wars a couple of years earlier about people competing to grow the longest beard.
And after researching it further, she learned of a local competition for bearded ladies called Whiskerinas.
However, what she didn’t realise was that the competition was actually for false beards crafted from things like wool as opposed to actual hair.
Source: Mail Online
