Overview
- On Monday, Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen published a redacted screenshot of a message from someone claiming to be a plastic surgeon who offered to “correct” a spot on her nose and she publicly refused the offer.
- Frederiksen wrote she has long since lost count of messages about her looks, citing comments about teeth, thinning hair, a ‘wart’ on her nose and suggestions to get Botox.
- The screenshot shows the sender presenting themself as a surgeon but Frederiksen blacked out the name and reporters say the specific message and sender cannot be independently verified.
- Frederiksen said the message arrived after she returned from a visit to Kyiv where she had heard an air-raid alarm, a timing reporters noted as underlining the misplaced focus on her appearance.
- News outlets and commentators framed the post as a defence against routine gendered scrutiny of female politicians, with coverage praising her public rebuttal and reminding readers that women in politics regularly face personal attacks rather than issue-based criticism.