reddit - Balpreet Kaur, Baptized Sikh who refused to remove facial hair

[Blackwater]

A Sikh woman has defied an internet troll to eloquently explain why her religion means she will not remove her facial hair.
Balpreet Kaur, an aspiring neurosurgeon, said that she does not bend to society's whims about beauty - and has no regrets about how she looks.
She explained that as part of the Five Ks that Sikhs follow, one of the tenets is Kesh, which asks that she allows her hair to grow naturally and does not cut it.
Ms Kaur, a student at Ohio State University Student, explained her beliefs on the website Reddit after a user posted a picture of her in a queue at the airport.
The man, who taken the image without her consent, placed it in the 'funny' category with the tagline 'im (sic) not sure what to conclude from this'.
Ms Kaur became aware of the picture and pointed out that she is perfectly happy with her appearance as character is more important than looks.
Ms Kaur said: 'I'm not embarrassed or even humiliated by the attention [negative and positve] that this picture is getting because, it's who I am.
'Yes, I'm a baptized Sikh woman with facial hair. 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 [which is genderless, actually] and, must keep it intact as a submission to the divine will.'
The student, who is president of the Sikh Student Association, refused to attack the person who had posted the photo, which many viewers accused of being mean and deliberately trying to draw laughs at Ms Kaur's expense.
Instead she took to Reddit to say that she was trying to ignore society's view of beauty, and hoped she could concentrate on more important things.



Read more: Sikh student defends her facial hair after photo goes viral | Mail Online
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

 

[LurkerBaba]

Original link on reddit I'm not sure what to conclude from this : funny


--

Hey, guys. This is Balpreet Kaur, the girl from the picture. I actually didn't know about this until one of my friends told on facebook. If the OP wanted a picture, they could have just asked and I could have smiled However, I'm not embarrased or even humiliated by the attention [negative and positve] that this picture is getting because, it's who I am. Yes, I'm a baptized Sikh woman with facial hair.

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 [which is genderless, actually] and, must keep it intact as a submission to the divine will. Just as a child doesn't reject the gift of his/her parents, Sikhs do not reject the body that has been given to us. By crying 'mine, mine' and changing this body-tool, we are essentially living in ego and creating a seperateness between ourselves and the divinity within us.

By transcending societal views of beauty, I believe that I can focus more on my actions. My attitude and thoughts and actions have more value in them than my body because I recognize that this body is just going to become ash in the end, so why fuss about it? When I die, no one is going to remember what I looked like, heck, my kids will forget my voice, and slowly, all physical memory will fade away. However, my impact and legacy will remain: and, by not focusing on the physical beauty, I have time to cultivate those inner virtues and hopefully, focus my life on creating change and progress for this world in any way I can. So, to me, my face isn't important but the smile and the happiness that lie behind the face are.

So, if anyone sees me at OSU, please come up and say hello. I appreciate all of the comments here, both positive and less positive because I've gotten a better understanding of myself and others from this. Also, the yoga pants are quite comfortable and the Better Together tshirt is actually from Interfaith Youth Core, an organization that focuses on storytelling and engagement between different faiths. I hope this explains everything a bit more, and I apologize for causing such confusion and uttering anything that hurt anyone.

---

Also, wearing turbans for women is a sign of inner strength and empowerment because we too are equal to Sikh men. Sikhism advocates total equality for both genders [the only difference between them are the last names] and therefore, it is okay, however rare the occurrence, for a woman to adorn herself with the turban just like her male counterparts. I encourage everyone to go and google and expand their knowledge of the sheer diversity in this nation - as will I; and gain a better understanding of each other.

---

 

[Singh]

Whaaaaatttttt !!!
Lose the daari bhenay !

 

[rock127]

Religion .......

 

[Singh]

^^ orthodoxy

 

[rock127]

One classic example of following "Religion" blindly.

 

[The Messiah]

One classic example of following "Religion" blindly.

You have to be blind in the first place to follow religoin

 

[civfanatic]

What did I just see ?

 

[Razor]

I don't wanna live in this world.
Damn you OP.

 

[KS]

How does it matter ?. It's her personal choice.


But I would not want to go out with her...

 

[Known_Unknown]

Thank god we won't live in a world where every girl is a baptized Sikh! I shudder at the mere thought! :shocked:

 

[pmaitra]

She can always use fire to get rid of her hair. Many Sikhs do that. Now, that brings me to laser hair removal. It is also like a fire, and would not violate any religious rules. I am saying this because ever morning I hear in the radio about laser hair removal.

 

[KS]

Read the comments on Reddit.

This gurl is spreading such a positive image about herself and Sikhism.

And this is the guy who posted the link apologising :

I posted this link a few days ago: http://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/109cnf/im_not_sure_what_to_conclude_from_this/
I know that this post ISN'T a funny post but I felt the need to apologize to the Sikhs, Balpreet, and anyone else I offended when I posted that picture. Put simply it was stupid. Making fun of people is funny to some but incredibly degrading to the people you're making fun of. It was an incredibly rude, judgmental, and ignorant thing to post.
/r/Funny wasn't the proper place to post this. Maybe /r/racism or /r/douchebagsofreddit or /r/intolerance would have been more appropriate. Reddit shouldn't be about putting people down, but a group of people sending cool, interesting, or funny things. Reddit's been in the news alot lately about a lot of cool things we've done, like a freaking AMA by the president. I'm sorry for being the part of reddit that is intolerant and douchebaggy. This isn't 4chan, or 9gag, or some other stupid website where people post things like I did. It's ----ing reddit. Where some pretty amazing stuff has happened.
I've read more about the Sikh faith and it was actually really interesting. It makes a whole lot of sense to work on having a legacy and not worrying about what you look like. I made that post for stupid internet points and I was ignorant.
So reddit I'm sorry for being an asshole and for giving you negative publicity.
Balpreet, I'm sorry for being a closed minded individual. You are a much better person than I am
Sikhs, I'm sorry for insulting your culture and way of life.
Balpreet's faith in what she believes is astounding.

Alls well that ends well...:thumb:

 

[Singh]

She can always use fire to get rid of her hair. Many Sikhs do that. Now, that brings me to laser hair removal. It is also like a fire, and would not violate any religious rules. I am saying this because ever morning I hear in the radio about laser hair removal.

Cutting, Burning its just a difference in method and its against the principle ie to keep the Body natural.

However, some people take to the extreme. From my limited understanding, God didn't intend women to have a beard.

 

[Ray]

Very well the girl has replied and very very dignified and with panache.

 

[Ray]

Cutting, Burning its just a difference in method and its against the principle ie to keep the Body natural.

However, some people take to the extreme. From my limited understanding, God didn't intend women to have a beard.

I presume the Creator did not also want men to be hairless!

Jacob from Twilight on the movie poster – looking very hairless
http://www.mamamia.com.au/health-wellbeing/male-body-image/

 

[Blackwater]

Religion .......

true i agree,

 

[LurkerBaba]

Did a majority of Sikh females at the time of the Sikh Empire wear Turbans ?

 

[Aayush]

Reddit link-> I'm not sure what to conclude from this : funny
It is posted by a guy named european_douchebag
EDIT: OP apologized here-> european_douchebag comments on I'm not sure what to conclude from this

 

[rock127]

Thank god we won't live in a world where every girl is a baptized Sikh! I shudder at the mere thought! :shocked:

It's unfortunate that Sikhism is highlighted only in unwanted examples.Whether this example or attacks on Sikhs.

Cutting, Burning its just a difference in method and its against the principle ie to keep the Body natural.

However, some people take to the extreme. From my limited understanding, God didn't intend women to have a beard.

When "God" said not to cut hairs he didn't want to make certain conditions/exceptions.He thought "humans" would be intelligent enough to understand but guess what humans do show ignorance and blind faith.

In this example "God" must be doing a ----->

Very well the girl has replied and very very dignified and with panache.

Even though she blindly follows her so called "Religion" but the way she reacted is much appreciated.At least she didn't go violent stabbing people by her kirpan or demanded any apology.