I used to be too embarrased to go to the store if I hadn't waxed my face in a while. But now I really don't care. Since I finally got a diagnosis, I have felt better about my weight and my excess hair. I always referred to myself as a "hairy freak". But now I know that while I'm hairy, I am NOT a freak! I just have a medical condition that not only can be deadly in the long run, but it makes me grow excess hair. Doesn't mean I don't practice good hygeine. Doesn't mean I don't care about how I look. It means I can be happy about myself and still feel beautiful even though I see some black hairs sticking out on my neck that scream "it's time to wax again!".
Have you given up trying to take care of some or all of your hair? I still wax my face and neck and use Nair on my moustache. I still shave other parts of my body, pluck hairs, and use my hubby's clippers, but if I forgot or dont' have time, I don't stress and I'm not longer ashamed to go out in public.
One thing I've never tried and I will never do is my arm hair. I bleached it before my bleach allergy got real bad. But that's all. I'm no longer ashamed of it.
what hair have you given up taking care of?
I second that. I let my mustache grow (not until its comparable to a man) but its visible from a bit away. Whatever. I have sideburns. Whatever. I don't shave my legs everyday. Whatever. Stomach hair, happy trail....there's not an INCH on my body where I don't have hair. And since I'm really pale but have black hair, even the peach fuzz is visible. I SAY WHATEVER.
I thread, wax, and shave. But also....up yours hair removal. I'm comfortable not worrying all the time.
UP YOURS!
__________________ “You can climb a ladder up to the sun, or write a song nobody has sung. Or do something that's never been done...”
** I am proud of you ladies! I started getting hair when I was 12.. growing thick like a mans hair, and all over the place. Now I am 16.. and it took me 4 years to finally say I don't care.
I admit people called me a freak, and made fun of me, but honestly I don't care anymore. This post made me happy to know I am not alone and make me feel like I am not just making an excuse to give up looking amazing every second of the day.
As for people who I know will continue to make fun of me and look at me funny or those who say I don't take care of myself or do enough to keep myself presentable, I follow Marilyn Monroe's quote.
"When it comes down to it, I let them think what they want. If they care enough to bother with what I do, then I'm already better than them." ~MM
I know this was probably no help, but you were help to me! Thank you.
I used to be too embarrased to go to the store if I hadn't waxed my face in a while. But now I really don't care. Since I finally got a diagnosis, I have felt better about my weight and my excess hair. I always referred to myself as a "hairy freak". But now I know that while I'm hairy, I am NOT a freak! I just have a medical condition that not only can be deadly in the long run, but it makes me grow excess hair. Doesn't mean I don't practice good hygeine. Doesn't mean I don't care about how I look. It means I can be happy about myself and still feel beautiful even though I see some black hairs sticking out on my neck that scream "it's time to wax again!".
Have you given up trying to take care of some or all of your hair? I still wax my face and neck and use Nair on my moustache. I still shave other parts of my body, pluck hairs, and use my hubby's clippers, but if I forgot or dont' have time, I don't stress and I'm not longer ashamed to go out in public.
One thing I've never tried and I will never do is my arm hair. I bleached it before my bleach allergy got real bad. But that's all. I'm no longer ashamed of it.
what hair have you given up taking care of?
The way I look at it now is that I've got male-pattern hair, so in the course of everyday life I'll remove what men would normally remove and dress in a way that avoids any possible gender confusion (I'm also naturally flat-chested, though I've very prominent, obviously-female, nipples). So I shave my face every day, wear my hair long and tend to dress in long skirts. I know that if I don't, it will cause confusion and bring practical difficulties.
Within my own home, there's no need for such action because there's no confusion and I don't have any problem letting my beard stubble and other hair be seen in the late evening and in the morning before I shave.
Quite often, when we go on vacation to our cabin "in the middle of nowhere" I'll not shave at all and just let it grow in. Now, of course when we take a trip from there to go into a store in one of the neighboring communities, people will stare at me as a woman with two or three weeks' growth of beard -- as heavy as many guys would have in the same time. On vacation out there in the backwoods is about the only time I let my legs be seen, so of course people stare at the fact that they're as hairy as most guys' legs. And I'd never wear a bra in the backwoods, so they can see I'm obviously flat-chested. I'm sure that stray tourists in that area wonder just what I am, if they see me on my own. However DH and kids are not usually far away and if there are tourists around DH will sometimes wind them up a little bit by making a point of kissing me -- you can see the tourists looking puzzled. I guess the "locals" have kind of got used to us over the years and don't make life difficult, but I do realize that I'm breaking the general cultural norm. In everyday life in our home area, however, I really don't want to break the norms to that extent and shaving every day is expected of guys, so it's more than I'm prepared to do in my home area to go to the store unshaven -- in fact, even DH wouldn't do that! :-)
After taking trips to the electrolosis with my mother at age 15 and trying to bleach my neck to get rid of the "dirty" marks, I was finally diagonosised at 19 with PCOS. I went home and searched the internet to find out more about it. I found out that the weight, hair, skin tags, and "dirty" neck were all due to PCOS. I just cried. Cried that I finally knew that I wasn't a "freak". Understanding what I had and maturing with age allowed me to be less self concious about my neck. I might let my face hair grow longer than I used to when I was younger, but I usually try to keep it in check.
It's amazing that knowing what you have brings such relief!
Fortunately I didn't have 100% male pattern hair growth, probably 60-75%. When I was about 24 I found an OBGYN that did laser hair removal cheaper for women with PCOS. I still have my before picture and showed my husband, he hadn't realized how bad it was. It took about 6 treatments to get rid of 95% and was probably about $1000 in the end, but oh so worth it. I'm a prime canidate with dark brown hair and light skin.
__________________ Kari (33), DH (31); TTC#1 3/09 Dx PCOS-'96;Hypothyrodism 7/09 10/09-Clomid1 50mg(3-7), O CD15, P4 6DPO-8.41, BFN 11/09-Clomid2 100mg(3-7), P4 .8, No to weak O. 12/09-On to IVF!! Meds: Met 2k mg, Lev 88MCG, prenatal. >O, baby asprin & Omega 3
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I found out that the weight, hair, skin tags, and "dirty" neck were all due to PCOS. I just cried. Cried that I finally knew that I wasn't a "freak". Understanding what I had and maturing with age allowed me to be less self concious about my neck. I might let my face hair grow longer than I used to when I was younger, but I usually try to keep it in check.
It's amazing that knowing what you have brings such relief!
Fortunately I didn't have 100% male pattern hair growth, probably 60-75%.
I think you're absolutely right that just knowing the cause is the most enormous relief and help. What really clicked with me was when I realized that women with ring fingers longer than index fingers had been programed long before they were born with regard to response to testosterone and that nothing I could have done would have altered that programing.
While as a teenager I had a moustache that most males my age would have been jealous of, my beard didn't really grow in until I reached 40, but now it's probably 90% of what the average male could grow. However, since I've been shaving since I was 13 and every day since i was 15, shaving is just part of my everyday routine, as much as cleaning my teeth is.
What really clicked with me was when I realized that women with ring fingers longer than index fingers had been programed long before they were born with regard to response to testosterone
I hadn't read that. My index is a hair longer than my ring finger. Is there a gallery of photos? That could be interesting! I'll have to google that!
I'm with you. I've been teased about excess hair for years. One day my sis invited me to her house for lunch and it turns out she really just wanted to show me some hair removal contraption and suggested I use it and I decided then and there that it was my business and if people didn't like it they didn't have to look at me. It was a relief. Seriously, if people don't want to hang out with me because I'm hairy then they're not the kind of people that I want to hang out with.
Google on "digit ratio" (with the quotes) and you'll find plenty. I've read John Manning's book Digit Ratio which is the classic study on the subject. In your own case you've clearly got fairly neutral pattern fingers.
It's not an exact predictor of anything, but to my way of thinking is a helpful model of explanation and does give a reasonable indication of statistical probabilities.
GOOD FOR YOU! Just recently I have dropped the b.s of caring what other people think. Its to much. It put so much pressure on me, I was depressed, I hid, I never wanted to go outside in the warmer months because I couldnt hide my face with a scarf. ITS NO GOOD FOR YOU! You can actually make yourself physically sick worrying so much. People that make fun of you are people that NEED to put others down to feel good about themselves. No one should care what you look like... after all, it isn't their body, it doesn't affect them. It has just been this past year that I have started telling people what is wrong with me, and I was blown away by the acceptance I recieved. Even my aunt... who is a bit of a snob in many ways, just doesnt care. And is not embarrassed to have me around like I thought she would. LOL. So silly. Its just hair guys.
I grow a real beard.. yes I wish I didnt. I shave every other day to keep my face as clean as I can. (I wish the growth was faster actually so I could get a good shave every day) I leave the chest hair alone unless I want to wear tank tops and such. I use creams for that. I just try to do the best I can with what I have been given. Thats all we can do.
i don't quite have the heavy hair growth that some women with pcos do (i couldn't really grow a full beard, but i do have a lot of obvious, dark hair under my chin) my mustache is a lot lighter now than when i was younger (i'm guessing because i waxed it so much for so long?) the stache gets a wax/nair about once a month. i have pretty much given up on my sideburns. they are just tooooo much to pluck, and grow back really fast if i wax them. i'm not married or sexually active, so i don't worry about the hair on my stomach or lower back at all.
the only places i REALLY stress over are my chin and the 10 or so hairs on my chest (just because they're a recent development and i HATE THEM)
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Have you ever said "I don't care anymore" 
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