“OMG KATHLEEN, PUT ON SOME MAKE-UP! SCARY.”
Kathleen Wynne
The grainy Richmond Hill High School Yearbook picture is my Grade 9 picture taken when I was 13 years old. I’m showing it to you because it was that year that I decided that I was not pretty. (I’ll admit my hair was a bit weird! But I was 13 with wavy hair in a straight-hair world.)
Recently, I taped a podcast with Laura Babcock of the OShow in which we had a great conversation about the vagaries and deceits of the Doug Ford government on the Greenbelt. Of course, whenever I offer comment on the politics of the day, there is a chorus of negativity that ensues but there are also people who want to hear what I think. I take it as part of my responsibility as one of the few people who has enjoyed the privilege of sitting in the Premier’s chair, to lend my perspective when asked. And so I spoke to Laura.
So why am I writing about such a non-event? The reaction of one embittered, angry former journalist has triggered this response. This person has always hated me for some unknown reason. We come from opposite ends of the political spectrum but that does not explain the vitriol. Her reaction to the way I looked on the podcast—who knows what she thought of what I was saying about the mess Doug Ford has created—was characteristically mean.
Here’s why this is important.
I am a 70-year-old woman who has been in the public eye for nearly 30 years. I am aging. I have not been well. After spending my entire life working on staying thin, fit and as well-turned-out as I could manage, I am dealing with an inflammatory condition called Polymyalgia Rheumatica. In order to deal with the pain and reduce the inflammation, I have been taking a steroid called Prednisone for over a year in various doses, attempting to taper it down and stop taking it all together but recently I have had a flare-up and have had to increase my dosage again.
Prednisone causes lots of side effects but the most common and telling one is that one’s face gets rounder which accompanies general weight gain. There are millions of Canadians who are taking this medication and others that change the way they look, thin their hair, change the tone of their muscles and skin, affect their moods and generally change their lives for the good and for the not-so-good.
Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful for the medical system that is helping me to manage through this condition and I am acutely aware that people are dealing with so much worse.
But here’s the thing. The same social regulation and standards that made me believe that I was not good enough in 1967 are at play today nearly 60 years later.
“OMG Kathleen, put on some make-up. Scary.”
That’s the same voice that is talking to beautiful, healthy young girls as they scroll TikTok and decide that they don’t measure up. That’s the same voice that convinces so many women, of all ages, that they are less than they should be. That is the tape that plays in my head every time I have to decide whether to accept an interview where I will be on screen. I know I look different than I did. I’m not happy with the changes that this condition and the medication have wrought. I know that I am going to be judged by a different standard than an aging man.
On that Friday before I went on screen to tape the pod, I had gotten up at 5:30 to help my daughter with her 3-month-old twins and her toddler for the morning. The taping was at 2pm. It wasn’t a great day in the pain department so I did my best to pull it together. The fact is that I have never really worn make-up except in the years when I was Premier when I accepted that the constant possibility of a television camera made make-up the wisest defence. But before and after those five years, it didn’t and doesn’t occur to me to put on make-up. My life does not take place in front of a camera now. I am much more likely to be splashing with a grandchild in a baby pool, baking muffins as I listen to the Curse of Politics or walking a dog.
I also decided during COVID that I would stop colouring my hair and leave it long because it is easier and cheaper that way.
So to the former journalist who was so offended by how I looked on the podcast. Your bile and judgment will not silence me. Some days I may take your advice if I have time or if the spirit moves me. But most days I will be getting through my day, trying to make sense of our world, responding to requests when I am asked, supporting the people I love who don’t seem to notice that my face is round and I’m wearing looser clothes. If I can shed a bit of light on bad government decisions or clarify what it’s like to be in public office along the way, that’s great. If you can’t take me seriously because I don’t conform to your standard of female presentation, too bad.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Kathleen Wynne - Kathleen Wynne was first elected to the Ontario legislature in 2003 as the MPP for Don Valley West. She was Ontario’s 25th Premier and leader of the Ontario Liberal Party from January 2013 to June 2018. Kathleen has dedicated her professional life to building a better province for the people of Ontario. She is guided by the values and principles that knit the province of Ontario together: fairness, diversity, collaboration and creativity.
The views and opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Air Quotes Media. Read more opinion contributions via QUOTES from Air Quotes Media.