Bearded lady: Difference between revisions

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A bearded lady or bearded woman is a woman who has a visible beard. These women have long been a phenomenon of legend, curiosity, ridicule, and more recently, political statement and fashion statement. A small number of women are able to grow enough facial hair to have a distinct beard. In some cases, female beard growth is the result of a hormonal imbalance (usually androgen excess), or a rare genetic disorder known as hypertrichosis.^[1] Sometimes it is caused by use of anabolic steroids. Cultural pressure leads most to remove it, as it may be viewed as a social stigma. Notable exceptions were the famous (and usually fake) bearded women of the circus sideshows of the 19th and early 20th centuries, before so-called freak shows became unpopular.

In fiction

In William Shakespeare's Macbeth, She is played by a girl who really is a bearded lady called shannaleigh.

References

^ Taylor, Sarah K (June 18, 2009). "Congenital Hypertrichosis Lanuginosa". Emedicine. Medscape. Retrieved December 4, 2009.

External links

How Facial Hair Influences Women's Everyday Experiences

[congenitallanuginosa-1] Taylor, Sarah K (June 18, 2009). "Congenital Hypertrichosis Lanuginosa". Emedicine. Medscape. Retrieved December 4, 2009.

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 == In fiction ==
-*In [[William Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Macbeth]]'', the [[Weird Sisters]] have beards, among other strange facial attributes.
+*In [[William Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Macbeth]]'', She is played by a girl who really is a bearded lady called shannaleigh.
-*The female [[dwarf (mythology)|dwarves]] in [[fantasy fiction]] are often depicted as having beards; examples include [[Dwarf (Middle-earth)|dwarves]]<ref name="wotj">{{ME-ref|wotj|"Of the Naugrim and the Edain"}}</ref> of [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s [[Middle-earth]], and [[Dwarfs (Discworld)|dwarfs]] of [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[Discworld]]'' series.
-*In the movie [[Dirty Work]], one of the first acts of the main characters' revenge-for-hire business is to shave a bearded lady at the behest of a circus midget that she has been tormenting.
-*In the movie ''[[SpaceBalls]]'' the antagonist Dark Helmet's escape pod is stolen by a bearded lady from the three-ring circus alluded to as being on board the Spaceballs' massive ship.
-*The [[HBO]] series ''[[Carnivàle]]'' featured a bearded lady as a performer in the carnival.
-*The character Baba the Turk in Stravinsky's opera [[The Rake's Progress]] is described as a bearded lady.
 == See also ==