South Asian mom praised for helping daughter remove facial hair in TikTok video
By Bryan Ke
October 11, 2023
A South Asian mom went viral after posting a video in which she helped her daughter remove her facial hair, a gesture that garnered much support from other users.
Viral post: TikTok user Vidya Gopalan’s video has amassed over 22.9 million views since its upload on Sept. 29. The video shows Gopalan helping her daughter, Sahana, who is now in middle school, remove her facial hair.
“I tried doing this myself secretly at her age since I wasn’t allowed to do this until HS and it didn’t end well,” the mother wrote in the video’s description.
Full support: Speaking to Parents, Gopalan recalled a time in middle school when her mother turned her down after she asked about removing some of the facial hair around her eyebrows. She noted that her mother told her she was not old enough for it.
Gopalan, who also goes by the online moniker Queen City Trends, now wants to change that for her daughter Sahana, noting that when she “wants something taken off, facial hair-wise, I will 100% support her.”
Why it matters: Gopalan aims to normalize facial hair removal so that it is seen in the same way applying make-up or brushing hair is.
“It’s a normal thing. [I’m just] creating normalcy around it,” she said, according to Parents.
Drawing a line: While Gopalan expressed full support for her daughter, she noted that parents still need to make judgment calls and set a line.
“Age is an important thing. She’s in middle school – if she had asked me when she was 3 or 4 years old, I would have probably said no,” Gopalan said, adding that parents should be supportive in a way that “makes sense [and] is age-appropriate.”
Reactions: Several TikTok users shared how their mothers or guardians never let them experience what Sahana has with her mother, with one TikTok user sharing, “[I] was raised by my grandma and she wouldn’t let me shave my facial hair and unibrow [because] she said it will grow back thicker like a man’s.”
“You’re like the best mom. My grandmother made me go to school with hairy legs and armpits because it’s for ‘grown’ people,” another TikTok user commented.
Receiving support: Gopala told Parents that since she posted her video, people have reached out and told her, “This has really helped me,” “This has spurred a conversation with my mom” and even “This is really helpful, my daughter has asked me about doing this and I said no, but I think I’m going to do it.”
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