“I’m The World’s Ugliest Woman”- Mary Ann Bevan

Women are also known as the synonyms of Beauty and Grace in us humans. Across time, women’s femininity implies that she is attractive and lovely. But it is also true that across time, women are also humiliated by the stereotypical ideals of Beauty by society.

If we search for “What Defines Beauty?” We get answers as a beautiful woman, a lovely woman, a woman of great physical beauty. But is beauty constrained by good looks? attractiveness? loveliness? The answer is definitely NO.

Today, we’re gonna tell you a story about a woman who has proved that beauty is skin deep. You can be proud of yourself as you are. It’s a heartbreaking story of a wife/mother named “Mary Ann Bevan” who was tagged as the ‘Ugliest woman in the world’. She was born on 1874 December 20 in Plaistow, Newham, London, England.

Mary Ann Bevan’s Early Age

Mary Ann Webster (Bevan Before Marriage) belonged to a large middle-class family; she was one of eight children born in a working middle-class family. She was a bright student since her childhood. By looking at her keen interest in studying, her parents never let her off from getting an education.

Mary was very attractive and charming, along with being a bright student. Her politeness and compassionate nature led her to become a nurse. She started taking care of her family from an early age.

Likewise, any other woman, Mary, also has a dream of getting married one day, wearing a wedding dress, to looking beautiful. Also, to build a family and to live a joyful & victorious life. Her dream came true soon, she got married to a handsome hunk, Thoman Bevan, at the age of 29.

Thomas was a very benevolent spouse, always encouraging her whenever she needed. Thomas and Mary had 4 children and lived their lives divinely. But upon her marriage, soon Mary was surrounded by many diseases like Migraine, eyesight weakness, muscle pain, and various problems, deteriorating her health.

But her life took a new turn when she became a widow after 11 years of marriage, and her husband left her alone with 4 children. Worse still, she left with no money to feed her children, and she turned into a breadwinner for her family.

Mary’s Journey To Be The Ugliest Woman In The World

After the death of her spouse, she faced many problems like no job, food, etc., but she kept herself motivated to uplift the morale of the family. But destiny wanted something else; her body started deteriorating, and her facial expression started changing inappropriately. She was turning more masculine day by day.

Her entire body changed with large limbs and a big torso, which gave her a ‘homely’ appearance.

She was afflicted with the rare disease named “Acromegaly”. Acromegaly is a neuroendocrine disorder that results in an excess amount of hormones in the human body. It is usually caused by a non-cancerous tumor, adults of middle age are mostly affected by this.

In the 21st century, it can be cured, but it was not possible in the 20th century. That is one of the reasons doctors have no clue about Mary’s disease.

Mary Ann Bevan looked for many jobs that would pay her enough to sustain the family. But wherever she went for a job interview, she got rejected and mocked by using uncivilised words such as ‘freak’ and ‘ugly’.

The going was getting tougher for her with every passing day. She was responsible for feeding and caring for her children, and every day was a challenge for her.

Then one day she found a contest titled ‘The Ugliest Woman’, and contrary to her dreams to look beautiful, she participated in it. Luckily, she won the title and received a lot of money to feed her children and support her family for a while. But that was not enough to run a family for a lifetime.

Labelled Herself as ‘The World’s Ugliest Woman’ to Have a Stable Job

She knows that a one-time prize would not be going to be enough for her family’s survival. So, she started joining Circus shows to have a stable path of earning. She joined Coney Island’s Dreamland Show, where she found many people of different characters, and she was one of them.

The circus displays the people labelled as freaks, for instance, Bearded women, Siamese twins, Giant men, Dwarfs, and so on, weird terms used for a human being.

She slowly became a matter of entertainment for people, and they started making jokes about her. Gradually, she became popular and started appearing on postcards and greeting cards as a joke. No one would ever like to be a matter of joke about his/her appearance. But that was the only way she could feed her family.

There was a huge demand for Mary’s after she started in the circus. As a result, she barely returned to Europe; she once returned to Paris in 1925 to take part in an exhibition. Mary’s life was changed, and she can now give a better life to her children.

She worked for many years in the circus to entertain the audience, but from inside she was dying every day from the disease.

We know her as the ‘Ugliest Woman in the world’, but she was the proud mother who cared for her family despite mockery and becoming a matter of fun. A mother is the biggest form of a human being, and Mary was the golden example of it.

Mary Ann Bevan’s Last Days

After the ‘successful’ or a ‘matter of laugh’ in the circus, Mary’s health deteriorated as she suffered from acromegaly disease. A few days later, the disease snatched her life at the age of 59 in 1933.

We can say that Mary had a true love for her family and her country, as she wished her children to bury her in England after she died. As per her mother’s wish, her children buried her at Brockley Cemetery in England.

Mary is not with us anymore, but she always remains an inspiration to all of us. Even though people haven’t forgotten her, since late 2006, people have made cards of her, and even publishers have used it as a hallmark card. She accepted the way she was. Her flaws became her power. People mocked her, but that’s what people always do.

Don’t ever let somebody’s opinion dominate your inner self.

She established an example that, despite making an excuse, you can accept yourself as you are.

We cannot rely on resources given by others for survival; rather, we can make resources from what we have. We have to stay positive and always look for a better future, “Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder “. Just be proud of what you are and what great things you can do.

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Discover More Unsung Heroes:

• The Man Who Owns Everest – Kami Rita Sherpa
• James Harrison – The Man With the Golden Arm
• Alexandra Scott – Squeezing Life’s Lemon Into a Sweet Legacy
• Irena Sendler – The Angle of Warsaw
• Kamala Lochan Baliarsingh – A Hero for Stray Dogs
• Sergeant Stubby – A Military Dog’s Tale

Know any Unsung Heroes? Then, do let us know.

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