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 Balpreet Kaur responded to the reddit conversation about her facial hair.
September 27th, 2012
02:53 PM ET
Photo of woman with facial hair leads to conversation, understandingBy Stephanie Gallman, CNN (CNN) - A picture of a woman with facial hair wearing a turban posted to the social media site Reddit has garnered a firestorm of Internet reaction and has taught at least two Ohio college students lessons in graciousness, humanities and religious studies. The picture was posted five days ago with the caption, "I'm not sure what to conclude from this." A 20-year old college student, who asked to remain anonymous, says one of his friends took the photo at a library at The Ohio State University. He's "not really sure why," but after he and his friends shared the picture amongst themselves, he posted it to Reddit. "It was out of the ordinary," he said. "It's not something that you see everyday. I was thinking about it more as a picture, not about the people in the pictures." For several days after it was posted, the picture elicited responses from those who teased to those who were disgusted with the post. Some blasted the person who posted it online, defending the unnamed woman. "This post is in poor taste," one commenter said. "What you should conclude from this is that it's not ok to take photos of strangers and post them on the internet without permission," said another. "Don't do this. Don't take pictures of people you think look weird and post them online," another chimed in. Some commenters chose to joke with posts like, "Beards on women are now in!!! yes!!!" "So is this a transgendered Sikh? Explains why they haven't shaved and the Turban. One of those things has got to go," commented one Reddit user. One person said, "It's Pat," referring to the Saturday Night Live character whose gender was always a mystery. The woman in the photo is Balpreet Kaur, a neuroscience and psychology student at Ohio State. After a friend contacted her on Facebook and told her about the picture, she responded to the post on Reddit. "If the OP wanted a picture, they could have just asked and I could have smiled," she wrote. "Yes, I'm a baptized Sikh woman with facial hair," she wrote. "Yes, I realize that my gender is often confused and I look different than most women. However, baptized Sikhs believe in the sacredness of this body - it is a gift that has been given to us by the Divine Being." Kaur said her religion believes in focusing on actions instead of the physical beauty. "I'm not embarrassed or even humiliated by the attention [negative and positive] that this picture is getting because it's who I am," she wrote. She encourages anyone who sees her on campus to "come up and say hello," and notes that it's not her face that's important, but the smile and happiness that lie behind it. "My attitude and thoughts and actions have more value in them than my body because I recognized that this body is just going to become ash in the end, so why fuss about it?" Her response led to more discussion on Reddit. "Just want to thank Balpreet Kaur for serving as an example to me of the best way to deal with hostility and ignorance. Thank you, Balpreet, you are beautiful." "I wish I could hug this woman. She makes my heart happy." "As a hirsute woman, I one day hope to have the peace and acceptance of my body that you do. You are a true inspiration, and I thank you for replying to this thread." The original poster returned to Reddit to apologize to Kaur and anyone he might have offended. "I felt the need to apologize to the Sikhs, to Balpreet, and anyone else I offended when I posted that picture," he wrote. He said he has reached out to Kaur and calls her an "incredible person." The next time he is in Columbus, the two plan to meet. "I've read more about the Sikh faith, and it was actually really interesting," he said. "It makes a whole lot of sense to work on having a legacy and not worrying about what you look like. Kaur, who works closely with Interfaith Youth Core, an organization that empowers college students to be interfaith leaders, released a statement through the organization saying she accepts the original poster's "sincere apology." "I'm glad this situation has been positive and inspiring for many people," she said, "We need to cherish those moments that allow us to feel bigger than our own bodies," she said. Interfaith Core President Eboo Patel said, "By responding to a moment of religious prejudice with grace, Balpreet taught hundreds of thousands of people about her Sikh tradition and showed them that religion can be a source of strength and bridge of cooperation." Perhaps no one learned more than the original poster of the photograph. "I hate using clichés, but I've definitely learned to not judge a book by its cover," he said. "Some of the people who may not be the most beautiful on the outside are beautiful on the inside." |
  About this blog
The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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She has responded with grace and class. I would probably not do as well as she. I need to work on that.
Thoughtful. And you reflect the thoughts of many.........
Forget respecting your body, shave your mug!
She looks the fool and sounds it too.
You obviously don't hear yourself. I hope you have a mirror though
Say what you will but she still looks bad
Could you do us a favor and describe your looks in honest terms. Start with the weight........... I'm confident you look a mess because it's usually the guilty that casts boulders for stones.
She is a neuroscience and psychology student at Ohio State. What are you at fifty five? A liability to taxpayers I guess!!
She sounds the fool? You are someone who would have ridiculed Christ, because her response was as Christlike as one could have been. A lot of Chirstians would do well to learn from her example.
Y'all can try to foolyourselves but she still looks pretty bad and no matter what you say,she needs a shave
What most of you add to this discussion is disgusting, besides the point and stupid. I second the notion of "Don't take pictues of strangers and post them for the world to see". It's just rude. Why can't we be just all Americans and humans and leave people alone? For crying out loud, this nation of "In God We Trust" is becoming a big disgrace. Honey Boo Boo's and Real Housewifes, that's what we are. At leaste these people decided for themselves to be on air, unlike Balpreet.
All of mankind's problems can be traced to our inability to leave each other be.
This whole thing was caused by that ding whacker taking her picture and putting it up to be mocked. Let see a picture of HIM next.
its possibly polycystic ovarian syndrome causing masculization. see your GYN
Thanks Dr. Josh. You really nailed that one. It was the missing piece that none of us could figure out. By the way, plenty other conditions cause hirsutism. Also many women of certain racial groups have more facial hair than most. The difference between them and this lady is that they shave or treat theirs.
She is totally calm in appearance.her appearance may be odd for a moderen lady.but her priority is to live naturaly,i.e as made by god.god is errorless.she is just accepting the order of god.those who are shaving thier face or other parts of the body are doing it again and again.but the result is again the appearance of the same hairs.the shaven hairs are like thorns after few hours.and uncut hairs are silky.one can test.she does not want to waste her energy and time daily for these hairs and accepting the order of god.if hairs and beard are problem for some people then how can they worship holy lord christ or socrate or other great personalties on planet earth.in my view she belongs to the class of great people.
Couldn't one argue that laser hair removal, which is permanent, is also a gift from God?
If she truly respected her body, she would use BOTH straps for her backpack. Using just one strap is terrible for your back.
What she said was that the body becomes ash some day. I'm very sure you eat the right amount of veggies everyday and exercise alot like the healthy Brat you are, right?
I exercise at least one hour per day. I eat 1 pound of leafy greens every evening as well as fresh, raw vegetables, and 5 fresh fruits every day, and 15 ounces of freshly made vegetable juice every day. I drink 64 ounces of water every day. I avoid processed foods, alcohol, and any other such unhealthy ingestibles. I see this humble woman standing in line to buy food. Could be a line for a salad bar. But, I'm willing to question it. Are you?
"the body becomes ash some day" Mine has a head start.
I have a calendar. What's your point?
Sorry, there is no way I could kiss that harry mug! I save every day and it would freak me out! Hate me if you will.
Something tells me the average woman wouldn't want to kiss you either. She seems pretty content and it sounds like you're the one that needs to go kiss-hunting
If I had hair like that I would try to do something about it
no, coexit. I was just stating a point of view. Do you know what that is? Or do you always make judgements about people you don't know and can't see? I think we know who the shallow person is here. And I know I got your handle wrong.
Sorry Bob I hurt your feelings. I do know what a point of view is – that's why I stated one. Remember you ended by saying "hate me if you will". Well, I don't hate you; I Just don't like your point of view so I stated mine. Peace!!!
" I think we know who the shallow person is here." Just a guess, but I'd say the one who said the girl had a "harry face" and he wouldn't kiss her.
On this comment board there is alot of conversation, but not much understanding. Rightfully so though. If you're in the US, you're gonna be judged by our standards of normalcy and beauty, no matter whether thats right or wrong.
You're also passing judgment on an entire culture based on a comment thread on the internet. That's like evaluating the public school system by going to Chuck-E-Cheese.
Our standards? Who made you speaker for the group? I'm American too but I don't agree or subscribe to those standards so who wrote them, you?
@ coexist: BRAVO! Well said!
Too bad, when she dies, she won't figure out that there is nothing after that and she could have just shaved her face all those years.
Exactly!
The flip side of that argument applies to you. She enjoys everything you do plus more (like attention that you obviously don't get) and when you die, you might realize that you SHOULD have aligned yourself with something greater than you. When you think of it, she's in a better position playing it safe and if there's nothing there after death, then oh well. If there is, you lived your temporary existence wasting it.
@coexist she has a fuzzy face. having facial hair isnt enjoyable, especially if it's unkempt. it's also terrible looking and going through that for something that makes no sense past what we were brainwashed with as children leave me to question your rationality.
I hate having to shave for work.... lame business world.
"not really sure why" you posted the picture, ORLY and "I was thinking about it more as a picture, not about the people in the pictures" , c'mon you posted it specifically because of the person in the picture.
that's just gross
Lot of comments seem to be confused that having hair (specifically beard) is unhygienic.
Most if not all founders of monotheist religions supported beards.
Does it mean they were unhygienic?
Secondly – where is it written that women must remove facial/body hair.
Is it not a matter or personal choice?
why does the society have to force people into a so called "norm", and otherwise treat a person as an outcast.
So much for a civilized society.
Balpreet kaur- your courage and conviction is admirable, just like your priorities.
I see a calm and composed person behind those hair on her face.
Inner beauty is far more important than how we may look.
It is all about love and tolerance, and our world will be a much better place.
All these perpetual haters only know one thing best, and that is hate.
They will always find some flimsy reason and try to humiliate others.
They are perhaps disgusted with their own lives, and spew hatred.
GOD give them sense and peace. GOD bless
You are absolutely right!
Yep.....what "jat" said!
Having facial hair isn't in and of itself unhygenic. However, hair does tend to increase the amount of time needed to maintain personal hygene (regardless of where that hair is located). The more hair you have, the longer it takes to clean it.
Hair, like any other part of our bodies, serves a purpose. Allowing it to grow long does not increase its effectiveness, so it really comes down to it being a personal choice. Allowing it to grow because you "don't care what people think and you don't feel it's worth fussing about your appearance" is just being lazy. Either she takes the extra time to shave or she takes the extra time to clean her beard. One way or another, completely ignoring personal grooming is not an option if you want to maintain good hygene.
I agree 100% with you. People so often define "normal" and dicate it to others. If you appear as this > beautiful, if you appear as this > not. If you have this or this or this and display it in your home, on your body, etc > you are rich.. if you do not > you do not. People live beyond their means and get themselves into considerable amount of debt – simply because they press very hard to live within what others deem ... normal. When you can stand on your own two feet and have the conviction to walk to your own pace or a pace you fully believe in > then kudos to you.
@TX Red,
Having facial hair isn't in and of itself unhygenic. However, hair does tend to increase the amount of time needed to maintain personal hygene (regardless of where that hair is located). The more hair you have, the longer it takes to clean it.
My hair comes down to the middle of my back. I wash it, condition it, brush it and go. Five minutes, tops. When it is shorter, I also have to style it, which means product and blow dryers and curling irons, etc. So no, more hair doesn't necessarily require more time to clean.
Hair, like any other part of our bodies, serves a purpose.
Purpose? What purpose does facial hair serve? Or back hair? If it serves the same purpose for everyone, why doesn't everyone have the same hair?
Allowing it to grow long does not increase its effectiveness, so it really comes down to it being a personal choice.
Exactly. A choice you can only make for you.
Allowing it to grow because you "don't care what people think and you don't feel it's worth fussing about your appearance" is just being lazy.
No, it's making a choice that other things are more important. Nothing to do with laziness at all.
Either she takes the extra time to shave or she takes the extra time to clean her beard. One way or another, completely ignoring personal grooming is not an option if you want to maintain good hygene.
She looks pretty clean to me, so I'm still not seeing where the problem is.
"My hair comes down to the middle of my back. I wash it, condition it, brush it and go. Five minutes, tops. When it is shorter, I also have to style it, which means product and blow dryers and curling irons, etc. So no, more hair doesn't necessarily require more time to clean."
I really don't care how much time you like to spend blow drying and curling your short hair. Not only does that have nothing to do with hygene, it also has nothing to do with what I'm talking about. You do realize that the longer your hair is the more surface area it has, right? If you get it wet, it will take longer to dry than it would take if it was shorter. It also takes more time to clean it when it's longer becasue (surprise!) there's more of it there. Maybe your technique for cleaning your long hair is more efficient. Doesn't matter. If you have more of something, it takes longer to clean.
"Purpose? What purpose does facial hair serve? Or back hair? If it serves the same purpose for everyone, why doesn't everyone have the same hair?"
Even though body hair in general (see class mammalia) serves several purposes including insulation, facial hair on humans is pretty useless. Growing it out is essentially a choice, and there's nothing wrong with that. However, when she says "this body is just going to become ash in the end, so why fuss about it?" it doesn't suggest that she's making a concious decision to grow her hair out. Rather, it suggests that she simply doesn't want to be bothered with it one way or another.
"No, it's making a choice that other things are more important. Nothing to do with laziness at all. She looks pretty clean to me, so I'm still not seeing where the problem is"
She does look pretty clean, which seems to contradict her whole "this body is just going to become ash in the end, so why fuss about it?" mentality. Like I said before, either she takes the extra time to shave or she takes the extra time to clean. And since I'm assuming your a woman, I will tell you that yes, it is easier to clean your face when there isn't any hari on it, just as it would be easier to clean your scalp if there wasn't any hair on it there either. Clearly there's a difference of degrees, but the idea is still the same. More hair? More time to clean.
@TX Red – Part 1
In general I agree with your point of view that
longer hair would need (I would say somewhat) extra effort
to clean, and that if not shaved should be cleaned.
Then shaving/threading/waxing etc all need extra time as well.
By your own admission "She does look pretty clean",
and that does not seem to be an issue.
You cannot say that
a person is clean, and it takes more time/effort to do that
AND
the person is lazy
at the same time.
I think the thing is that I'm taking more issue with what she says than with her hair.
I feel like she is saying one thing while clearly presenting another. Either she cares enough about her body to keep it clean, yet does not want to take a few moments to shave (which is what her appearance suggests). Or she doesn't fuss about her body at all (which is what she says).
I don't take issue with her facial hair, she can do whatever she likes with it. However, there's a difference between not caring what other people think of your appearance and not caring about your appearance at all. The latter, which is suggested by her words, is apathetic, borders on laziness, and not something to admire.
"What you should conclude from this is that it's not ok to take photos of strangers and post them on the internet without permission."
So we should take down The People of Walmart site? I dont think so..
Yes, we should be more thoughtful about posting photos of anyone with the goal of exposing them to ridicule. Everyone has moments when they wish no one had seen them. I hope you are not ever caught by a snap happy person who wants to ridicule your unfortunate moment...or maybe you look that unfortunate all the time and might be completely humiliated. Get a life of your own and quit making fun of others to make yourself feel bigger.
" take down The People of Walmart site?" If I owned that site, I wouldn't exactly brag about it. It's cruel and basically picks on mentally subnormal people for laughs. Go pick on them face to face if that amuses you.
People need to keep up with the times, its 2012..
As we say in Italian, MAAAAAAAAA PLEASE invest in a shaving blade!
Why?
Because personal hygene is important regardless of whether or not you care what other people think. If she just likes the way she looks with facial hair, so be it. More power to her for going against social norms. However, that doesn't really jive with her whole "I don't care about my body because it will eventually turn to dust" thing. Basically, she's just being lazy.
Why is having facial hair being lazy?
Why is it okay for men to let their facial hair grow and no one calls them lazy?
Why is having facial hair unhygienic?
Is it unhygienic when men do it?
If her body is normally and naturally producing facial hair, why should she be pressured to remove it if she believes in letting her body do as it was designed to do?
Since when is facial hair unhygenic?
Seems to me that every time we have "religions" in the middle of any situation, somehow, things tend to get bad; and it gets bad because in every religion we have the "extremists". I think she is one more extremist trying to provoke the system. Wether you like it or not, we are the US and we are exposed to the result of capitalism where beauty, and strength, and wealth is part of our daily journey. Here in the US women and facial hair don't go together... and because of terrorism threats and security reasons, I think all women should show their faces. While we are in the subject, talking about the extremists muslims, you religion, your religion.... but I need to see everyone's faces when I am in a public place. Power to the people!!!
There is nothing extreme about not removing facial hair. Unusual? Maybe. Extreme? Not hardly.
If this is how she is comfortable with her body, who are we to tell her she must conform for our comfort?
"Wether you like it or not, we are the US and we are exposed to the result of capitalism where beauty, and strength, and wealth is part of our daily journey."
Don't travel outside of the red states much?
1. She is not a Muslim, so I don't know why 'Muslims' are even mentioned in your post.
2. She is not covering her face. What you see is he face. Don't understand your issue here, either....unless you have issues with a hairy woman. If so.....then I'd say that's your problem.
3. Don't understand how the peaceful and rightous exercise of her religion makes her an 'extremist'......
4. What? You mad.....or just ignorant?
Narrowmindedness and a provincial worldview is what makes a person sound like you. The norms of the majority are not a microcosm of the rest of the population. Too bad you're preoccupied with looks (that's your problem); this lady puts value to more and does so with grace. Religion in this case brought nothing but a positive outcome. Accept others and for once, tuck away your selfish ideas of how you think others must act to be accepted by you.
Old FAR Ts like Renato are making this country stink, it's time to bring some smart hard working people from outside to make this country a great place to live again.
" Power to the people!!!" Right on, my Socialist comrade! Overthrow all religions and tear down the capitalist pig society they shelter. Occupy Wall Street and Eat the Rich! We will unionize and create a workers' paradise on Earth.
IT S 2012..GOD???
Do you really think that anyone's GOD gives two hoots about an arbitrary date as 2012? Do you think God said, "Thank me, its finally day 00/00/000."? Someday humans will be bald and maybe moving around on all fours again. If someone than has a child that has a genetic throwback eyebrow do you think the would kill the child?
" Someday humans will be bald and maybe moving around on all fours again." It's called a "rave." These kids today, all furked up on X and crawling on the floor with glowsticks up their noses. And the so-called music they listen to is just noise.
I am personally offended to see those women who let it all hang out. I simply turn the other side. Am sure there are men who drool at that site 😉
There is a fine line between modesty and nudity.Why does society take offense to someone who has facial hair and just plain ignore all the nudity and indecent exposure in public?