The world is far from perfect. Take, for example, the endless debates about what can be considered beauty. Every nation, generation, person sees everything in their own way, their own opinion about what can be considered beautiful and what is not. Mary Ann Bevan, born in the United Kingdom, was once awarded the terrible title: “The ugliest woman in the world.” Whether she deserved it – decide for yourself.

The girl was born on December 20, 1874 in the capital of England. She worked as a nurse and at 29 she became a married lady, taking florist Thomas Bevan as her husband. But some time after this event, Ann’s body suddenly began to change.

It turned out that she had a disease called acromegaly – associated with increased synthesis of growth hormone. When she turned 32, she began to have terrible headaches and muscle pain, and certain parts of her body suddenly began to grow. In 1914, another misfortune befell her. Her husband died and the girl had to raise four children on her own.

She was forced to work as hard as she could, regardless of her condition. She needed to earn money to raise her children. Passersby turned around, laughed, and pointed.

And then she decided that if she was destined to endure ridicule, she should make the most of it for her family. She became a participant in the now incomprehensible contest “The Most Mannish Woman” and became the winner. The media immediately labeled her the ugliest woman. Poor Anne had to endure so much humiliation. The only thing that kept her from losing heart was the fact that she received a substantial sum as a prize.

After the contest, she received an offer to perform in a circus so that the public could “admire” her appearance. She agreed, because people were then ready to pay decent money for the right to gawk at her. She turned out to be quite popular. She was able to move to the States and get a job there at the Dreamland park in Coney Island. She worked there until her death. She passed away in 1933.

Perhaps the heroine of this story was able to turn her problematic appearance into a good source of income. It was stable and that’s the main thing. Of course, I want to believe that after many decades, people have begun to treat a person’s appearance differently. To put their human qualities first. But it seems that nothing has changed.

Not long ago, an American company, Hallmark, printed cards that depicted Ann as a participant in a dating show. At the bottom, there was a rather unpleasant inscription. They were sold all over the world. One of them fell into the hands of a German doctor. He recognized Ann. In his practice, he met people suffering from acromegaly.

What he saw greatly outraged the doctor. He wrote a letter to the company that issued the cards. He also posted a letter online asking them to stop mocking the woman who once worked as a nurse. And despite all the humiliation from people, she was able to provide a decent future for children. Hallmark stopped issuing the cards and publicly apologized.

It’s a shame that society constantly forgets that dignity and humanity are above all else.