When Princess Kate dyed her hair blonde — online commentators went wild: from "wig" to "dishwater blonde" and even speculating about her gray hair. The fact that Kate survived cancer just a year ago almost got lost in the commotion. Annalena Baerbock was not spared either. A short Instagram video shows the former German foreign minister, who took office as president of the UN General Assembly this week, hailing a taxi in New York wearing jeans, a jacket and high heels. The comments floodgates soon opened, accusing her of being a "wannabe Carrie Bradshaw" — the main character in the series "Sex And the City" — or "a second-rank influencer." Show additional content? This content is part of the text you are currently reading. The provider Instagram provides this content and may collect your usage data directly when you click “Show content”. Always show content from Instagram. As for pop singer Nelly Furtado, despite gaining weight, she stood confidently on stage in a tight-fitting dress. But the comments under her latest concert videos are not about the songs. They're about her body. These three cases show that whether you're in politics, pop music or royalty, being a woman in the public eye still means you'll get mercilessly judged on your appearance. 'That's called sexism' Margreth Lünenborg is a professor of media studies at the Free University of Berlin. "That's called sexism!" she says unequivocally. "Women experience far more aggressive hostility, body-centering, and shaming on social media than men," she tells DW. Lünenborg sees an interplay between the high degree of public attention to women's bodies and the resulting trend of self-optimization — pushing more and more women to pursue surgical procedures. "Being constantly observed online leads to massive visual optimization, meaning ever greater changes and alterations to bodies." Power structures with an early impact "No matter what position women are in, they are always referred to first by their appearance, and always with the subtext: ‘A strong woman looks great.' Girls learn this as early as kindergarten, when they are praised for a pretty dress, while boys are not commented on for their clothing," Maya Götz, director of the International Central Institute for Youth and Educational Television, tells DW. Behind this fixation lies a power structure: "This causes major problems for young girls and women — and opens up opportunities for others to exert power over them." Media as amplifiers The media and tech platforms also play a role. Lünenborg explains: "Algorithms rank certain body images at the top, while others disappear into the periphery. The media intensify what is considered attractive — and label others as freaks or ugly, so that beauty shines all the brighter by contrast." Author Rabea Weihser.Author Rabea Weihser.