Woman Struggling With Excess Facial Hair Now Loves Her Beard

Aug 11, 2022 by apost team

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, they say. However, for one Las Vegas woman, she has taken her beauty and confidence into her own hands after years of being insecure. According to MyClevelandClinic.org, over 40% of women are impacted by Hirsutism in their lifetime. Hirsutism is described as a common condition that causes excessive hair growth. It primarily affects women and people assigned female at birth (AFAB). Women may develop coarse, dark hair growth on their upper lip, chin, chest, abdomen, or back instead of the fine hair sometimes referred to as “peach fuzz” that commonly grows in those areas. Hirsutism can cause distress for many women, but it is treatable. 

Dakota Cooke has been dealing with facial hair since she started puberty around the age of 13. After having a family member point it out, her family decided to take her to the doctor to get answers to her extra facial hair. Going through several tests, Cooke’s doctors believed that her excess facial hair was due to extra testosterone being produced by her adrenal glands. 

Despite having a medical condition, Cooke spent hours waxing and shaving a week to prevent people from seeing her excess facial hair. Eventually, this caused Cooke to have anxiety and major insecurity issues. It even impacted her first job. She said that she spent the mornings and even her work break shaving her face to prevent her facial hair from being noticeable to work and customers. 

After years of dealing with insecurity and constant worry about her appearance, in 2015, Cooke decided she wanted to embrace everything that she had been trying to hide for decades. 

In an interview with The Sun, Cooke recalled growing up with excess facial hair. “I grew up in a period where women with facial hair were so stigmatized that the women at the salon were telling me how girls aren’t supposed to grow facial hair," she remembered. 

“It was super uncomfortable, and at the time, I was just about learning how to shave my legs," she said. Cooke admitted that having this excess facial hair sent her into a world of insecurity over her looks and appearance. 

“I guess that stuck with me, because for the next ten years, I kind of just sunk into this shame spiral where I’d try and hide my face in photos and be attending waxing sessions every week," she said.

She admitted that it impacted even her work. “It got to a point, when I worked one of my first jobs in retail, that I was shaving my face twice a day, once in the morning and then on my break because the hairs were just so visible,” Cooke said. However, one day Cooke decided to change her narrative and take her confidence back into her own hands. She decided to let her facial hair grow and embrace it. 

“Growing my beard out was quite uncomfortable at first. It took a lot of effort not to just cut and shave it off again," she said. “I had a lot of anxiety about the staring at first, but it got to a point where I just decided not to care anymore,” she added. She now works as a bearded lady and couldn’t be happier. 

“My family and friends have been super supportive throughout my journey of self-acceptance and have even bought me a ‘Don’t f*** with the bearded lady’ sign, which I love.”

apost.com

Do you know anyone who has Hirsutism? We think Dakota is beautiful inside and out! If you found this article inspiring, make sure to pass it on!