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The bearded woman has 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 beard. 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.
Some contemporary feminist women, wishing to question the boundaries of social norms, have not removed visible facial hair as a political statement. Notable examples include artist Frida Kahlo and professor Jennifer Miller.
In some rare cases, female beard growth is the result of an hormonal imbalance known as hirsutism, or an even rarer genetic disorder known as hypertrichosis.
In fiction
In the chapters 40 and 41 of the second part of Don Quixote, the Dueña Dolorida and other ladies wear fake beards. They tell Don Quixote that the beards are the result of an evil charmer, and the knight has to ride Clavileño to the skies to undo the charm.
In Monty Python's Life of Brian, some Jewish women wear fake beards to pass for men and stone a blasphemer who had pronounced the name of Jehovah.
Women in the fictional country of Elbonia and the female dwarves of both J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth and Terry Pratchett's Discworld series have beards.
The Kids in the Hall featured an Irish bearded lady as the best friend of Chicken Lady, a popular recurring character on the series.
The HBO series Carnivale featured a bearded lady as a performer in the carnival.
See also
Facial hair | Sideshow attractions | Feminism | Women | Bearded women
"Bearded woman"