Bearded Woman

This afternoon Bruce and I sent Jason the charger from the main post office behind Madison Square Garden. It's good knowing that there is a post office open 24/7 in this city, even though all that does is get a few hours jump on the usual mail. But this time it may get a more major jump because of Labor Day.

Afterwards we went to the Village and walked around a bit. We ended up in Washington Square Park and followed our ears to find a small circus, known as "Circus Amok," performing. http://www.circusamok.org The show was political and satirical in nature, with digs at Bush and the war in Iraq. Persons of indeterminate gender (were they bearded guys in skirts? Were they women after all?) performed skits, did acrobatics and juggled. I recognized one person, but I was not sure if it was a male or a female. He/she had a full beard but the voice of a woman. It was puzzling.

Later, I googled the circus and found an article about the Bearded Woman. Her name is Jennifer Miller. It seems she is quite an accomplished person, a circus performer, a writer, and a university professor. And the beard is genuine. She wears it proudly and refuses to be ashamed of who and what she is, though of course she has endured plenty of taunting and stares.

Because I have a problem -- hm, is it a problem? -- with excessive body hair and hair on my face, I found myself very impressed with and drawn to this woman who has not tried to hide it like a defect but instead is who she is without apology. She reminds me of the fictional character Sissy Hankshaw, the woman from Even Cowgirls Get the Blues by Tom Robbins. Sissy was born with huge thumbs and rather than hide her "defect" or have them surgically removed, she becomes the world's greatest hitchhiker.

Now here's a woman who is very much like that, but she's a real person who has lived with an enormous difference, a gender-bending difference, since puberty or so, I would assume. If I had a hat, I would have to take it off to her. I feel a certain kinship with her although I have tried to hide the hair on my face, and I have been put through so many awful treatments to try and get rid of it. Now I remove it myself, knowing it will always grow back, but I'm going to give Ms. Miller's attitude some thought and plenty of respect. I am not a performer and I can't go around being completely unconventional in appearance so I will have to stick with the solution I have chosen. Yet, I admire Jennifer Miller for having the courage to be who and what she is. http://www.maryellenmark.com/text/magazines/nytimes/917M-000-012.html