“Shouldn’t we fix that little spot on her nose?”. On her return from the trip to Kyiv, where she was exposed to the air raid siren alerts of the Ukraine war, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen received that masked criticism of her appearance on her Instagram, offered by a plastic surgeon she did not identify. “I am happy with my body and do not need a male plastic surgeon to have an opinion about it,” the 48-year-old politician responded sharply.
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Tired of receiving unsolicited aesthetic comments, the social democratic leader and the second woman to hold the office of Prime Minister of Denmark since 2019, a mandate she renewed for the third time last March; shared a screenshot of the doctor’s message, along with a statement in which she criticized the aesthetic pressure she is subjected to, while advocating self-acceptance.
That I have ugly teeth and thin hair. That I have a horrible wart on my nose. Advice to get Botox…
Mette Frederiksen
Danish Prime Minister
“I have lost count of how many messages I have received over the years about my appearance,” Frederiksen wrote. “That I have ugly teeth and thin hair. That I have a horrible wart on my nose and well-intentioned advice to get Botox.”
The politician emphasized being “perfectly comfortable with my body as it is when you are a woman approaching 50.” And she sent “a loving message to all those who have to hear daily about the perfect imperfections we all carry.”
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Frederiksen, one of the European leaders with the most years of service and experience, has led Denmark, a member country of the European Union and NATO, with the composure that has allowed her a third term. Her popularity has been seen in recent months by showing a firm stance against the ambitions of U.S. President Donald Trump regarding Greenland, the semi-autonomous territory of the kingdom. A push that has so far been halted thanks to the collaboration she forged with other European partners. Likewise, she is also one of the strongest European voices in supporting Ukraine against Russian aggression. Achievements that have nothing to do with the leader’s physical appearance.
The Prime Minister emphasized that those unsolicited beauty tips and suggestions she receives recurrently “outrage” her, although she also took it with some humor: “If in the end you have to write to me (and you can do it without problem), I hope you dedicate your time to something more important. Not my nose,” she concluded.
In recent years, several studies have confirmed the differential treatment political leaders receive compared to their male counterparts. A 2022 study by the University of Copenhagen identified several gender biases among users commenting in forums about U.S. and Danish politics on the social network Reddit. “There is a clear tendency for female politicians to be mentioned more frequently only by their first name and described with language referring to their body, clothing, or family,” noted one of its authors, Professor Isabelle Augenstein, at the time.
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