The Woman and the Beard

In primary school
She discovered her moustache
Looked back at her pictures
And realised for long she had had
This moustache
Barely seen
But there
Short and almost unnoticeable
Tiny whiskers

A confidence had sprung in me
Ahead of the pack, natural leader of the team
Definitely not authority supreme
They were fearfully up there
I was approachably down here
Ensuring compliance
Pursuing excellence
But not in the realm of the Queen Bees

As she grew older
Her upper lip hairs became longer
Accepted even
And learnt shaving them would worsen
She left them as they were
Odd but rather unnoticeable but still there
She told herself, 'Leave them be
They're not meant to hurt me
Luckily I have no beard'

A natural leader I seemed to be
At least that's what some called me
Getting better at my work
Learning to overcome my demons that lurked
Noticed more women in dreadful high places
Glad I needn't aspire to their graces
Ugly life it mostly seemed
Lonely, hostile those Queen Bees

She asked an 'aunt' why she had a beard
Luckily this aunt was not related to her
The lesson on genetics made it quite clear
Inheritted by many but dormant in few
From which these ugly beards grew
Eeeeewwwwww
Those beards made her cringe
Those scattered curly things
At a woman's chin

Those Queen Bees I'm told
Are hags and old
Climbing up on high ladders
Stepping on faces of others
So they can reach the top
And be there alone
Those Queen Bees I was told

She looked in the mirror and saw a strand
'O God would you permit this?
I don't understand!'
Yes it was, not one but two
Two black curly strands
Sticking out too
She wish she could deny it
But they were there
She was beginning to grow
You guessed right
An ugly beard!!

So I worked hard
And forgot about promotions
After all those high positions
Could also mean demotions
In love and life and family and fun
Bosses were often left with nothing when they had won
And who really wants to be a Queen Bee
Despised and ridiculed
Judged and laid bare?

Some more years down the line
Before the mirror again
She found more strands
All over her chin like they were insane
A moustache untouched
But still easy to keep in order
A beard now all over
In single strands that made her shudder
She now had what made her sad
What in her eyes made women look bad
What made women look mean
Whether they were nice, harsh or unseen
Her standard of beauty now shattered
But harder than when she had discovered
Her moustache young and free
Unaffected by steorotypes and prejudices
She looked harder and saw more
Smaller and longer strands than before
She seemed to have come of age
But why now and why this way
How was she going to live with this beard?

Promotions were granted
And with that came fights
Battles to ensure
What was done was right
Proving that I was worthy of my name
Playing the politics right
Without falling out of the game
Cat calls and name tags
Started to reach my ears
Compromises that affected
My loved ones and all I hold dear
Life could be tough, sometimes lonely
Sometimes fun, sometimes won
Sometimes full of long hours
When others had gone
One day I looked mirror
And took a long hard look at me
Thought about my life
Oh no!!! I had become one of those Queen bees
Not sure how to move forward
With this discovery
I looked at my chin and stared
Oh my goodness!!! Is that a beard????!!