Rose Geil, 39, first noticed her excess hair sprouting when she was just 13 years old and started shaving immediately. The teenager, from Oregon, soon realised that she would have to shave every day in order to keep her stubble at bay - a ritual that she kept up for more than 20 years.
今年39岁的罗斯·吉利在她13岁那年第一次发现了长出来的胡茬，当时她立即就将其剃掉了。这名来自俄勒冈的年轻人很快就认识到，为了不让人看出来，她每天都要剃胡子。自那以后，她在20年的时间里一直坚持这一习惯。But after years of shaving, plucking and expensive laser removal procedures, Rose has now decided to accept her 'whiskers' – and couldn't be happier.
但是经过多年的剃须、拔胡子和昂贵的激光去毛疗程后，罗斯现在决定接受自己的“大胡子”--她认为没有什么事能够令她更加开心了。She said: 'Growing my beard has made me more confident. I feel pretty with my beard, and I never felt pretty before. It feels amazing being me.'
她说道：“留胡子让我更加自信了。我觉得留着胡子的我很漂亮，而我以前从来没有觉得自己漂亮。这真是太神奇了。”
Rose first noticed hairs sprout in her sideburns when she reached puberty. Soon, hairs began appearing on her chin, upper lip and cheeks - and Rose would have to wake at the crack of dawn to remove the evidence.
罗斯在青春期的时候第一次发现自己的鬓角处长出了毛发。很快地，她的下巴、上唇和脸颊等地方也开始出现了毛发。自那以后，罗斯不得不每天一大早便起床，剃掉自己的胡须以防被人发现自己的秘密。Her condition took a toll on her confidence and her social life; Rose refused to attend sleepovers, as she would wake up with stubble on her face.
罗斯的情况给她的自信心和社交生活带来了严重的影响；她拒绝到其他小朋友家过夜，因为她必须要大清早就起床清理胡茬。She said: 'I was a little bit of an outcast at my school, I didn't fit in, I didn't wear the right clothes and makeup. My friends did not know, I hid it very well. It was exhausting trying to keep it hidden. I didn't realise the emotional impact until I was older. I just thought it was regular teen angst when I was young.'
她说道：“在学校里我好像有点被遗弃的感觉，我不太合群，我不穿漂亮衣服、也不化妆。我隐藏得非常好，我的朋友们都不知道我的秘密。为了隐藏这件事，我精疲力竭。后来直到我长大了，我才意识到这件事情带给我的精神上的影响。当我还小的时候，我一直认为这不过是正常的青春期焦虑。”While she tried to hide it from her friends and family eventually Rose's mother caught sight of her stubble one Saturday morning when she had forgotten to shave. But instead of getting the support she wanted, Rose's family decided not to discuss it.
尽管罗斯一直试图向家人和朋友们隐瞒这个秘密，但是在一个周六的早上，罗斯的妈妈最终还是看到了她长满胡茬的模样，当时她忘记了剃胡子。但是罗斯并没有得到她所渴望的支持，她的家庭决定对这件事缄口不谈。While she hasn't been officially diagnosed, Rose believes her hairiness is due to a combination of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and genetics.
尽管罗斯并没有被正式地诊断，但是她认为长胡子是因为多囊卵巢综合症和遗传等原因。Throughout her teenage years and twenties, Rose was so ashamed of her hair that she wore long sleeves and high turtlenecks to hide the fuzz on her chest and arms.
从青少年到20多岁这期间，罗斯一直都为自己的毛发感到羞愧，她穿着高领毛衣和长袖服装来隐藏自己脸颊和手臂上的细毛。Expensive laser hair removal procedures were ineffective – and painful. And in order to have relationships with men, Rose had to overcome the hurdle of showing her body hair to her partners. But while her partners, friends and family were accepting of her fuzziness, Rose soon realised her biggest enemy was herself.
昂贵的激光去毛疗程并没有什么用--而且很疼。为了搞对象，罗斯必须克服向男方漏出体毛的困难。尽管她的对象、朋友和家人都接受了她体毛，但是罗斯很快发现最大的问题在于她自己。But finally, eight months ago, Rose ditched the razors for good. She explained: 'I was emotionally drained from trying to hide my beard every day and feeling like I was failing miserably. Growing my beard was an incredible experience. It was very difficult, daily emotionally and physically in the beginning because it was very uncomfortable, itchy and crawly. I had to fight the urge to shave.'
终于，8个月前，罗斯决心放下剃须刀。她解释道：“我累了，每天都要把胡子藏起来，这让我感觉自己很失败、很可悲。长胡子是一件不可思议的经历。刚开始的时候每天都很困难，无论是从心理上还是生理上来说。长胡子的地方非常不舒服，很痒，好像有东西在挠一样。我不得不忍着不去刮掉它们。”And Rose has even had requests to sell her pictures – which she hasn't ruled out. She added: 'I have no shame with my body, I appreciate my decorations and it feels nice to make people feel good.'
此外，甚至还曾有人要求罗斯能够出售自己的照片--她并没有拒绝这一提议。她补充说道：“我并不对我的身体感到耻辱，我很感激我的胡子，让人们开心的感觉很棒。”She even claims she feels more feminine with her body hair, shunning turtlenecks for skirts and low-cut tops to show off her hairy cleavage.
罗斯甚至说这些体毛让她觉得自己更“女人”了，她脱下了高领毛衣，换上了裙子，她还穿着低领衣服以便于展示自己的胸毛。She said: 'I definitely feel womanly, sexy and sensuous. I feel more feminine and it has very little to do with my appearance; it comes from my attitude and giving myself the freedom to be who I am. I've finally accepted the real me.'
她说：“我觉得自己很'女人'、很性感、很漂亮。我觉得自己更加女性化了，而这和我的外貌无关；这来自于我的态度，使得我能够自由地作为原本的自己。我最终接受了这个真正的我。”