Why Kate Winslet needed therapy to “feel sexy again”
Anyone who saw Titanic at the right age will have a very special connection to Kate Winslet. As Rose DeWitt Bukater, the rebellious heiress who serves as the film’s female lead, she entranced both Leonardo DiCaprio’s Jack Dawson and audiences around the world. The ‘Paint me like one of your French girls’ scene has lived particularly long in the memory of anyone who was a teeanger in 1997.
Rose isn’t the only Winslet role that captured the hearts of film fans. As Clementine Kruczynski in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, she set the mould for the ‘manic pixie dream girl’ trope that has both delighted and infuriated observers in subsequent years. She’s been Ophelia in Hamlet, Marianne in Sense and Sensibility, and, in her sexiest role ever, Rita in Flushed Away. But she hasn’t always felt like the sex symbol most people consider her to be.
Speaking with Elizabeth Day on her podcast How to Fail, the star outlined some of the issues she’s had with her own body as she got older. “Sometimes women have a real dip in libido because there might be stuff going on with their thyroid. There could also be stuff going on with your level of testosterone,” she revealed (via Showbiz Cheat Sheet). “A lot of people don’t know this, but women have testosterone in their body. When it runs out – like eggs – it’s gone. And once it’s gone, you have to replace it. And that is something that can be done, and you’ll feel sexy again…I know.”
Winslet revealed that she had undergone testosterone replacement therapy, also known as androgen replacement therapy or ART. In men, it can be used to treat hypogonadism and reduce the possibility of diabetes after the age of 45. In women, it can replenish sexual drive and can also be used to treat osteoporosis. However, owing to the relatively new nature of the therapy, its long-term safety remains a topic of debate.
According to Optimale, a men’s health service dedicated to ART, a number of other celebrities have partaken in the treatment. Robbie Williams has apparently been open about his use of the hormone, which has aided his “improvements in muscle mass, and loss of fat”. Other famous faces listed on the site include Alan Ritchson, the gargantuan star of Reacher, Hugh Jackman, Sylvester Stallone, Mel Gibson, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Winslet must feel pretty honoured to be part of such an, umm, ‘exclusive’ club.
As a young woman in the public eye, Winslet – who is soon to make her directorial debut – unfortunately came under the shameful scrutiny of the tabloid press during the early days of her fame. “There was a lot of bullying of me that went on in the media, and that did get to me,” she told Harper’s Bazaar. “I do feel a huge sense of relief that women are so much more accepting of themselves and refusing to be judged, because I don’t know a single contemporary of mine who grew up seeing her mother looking in the mirror and saying: ‘I look nice!’”
Body positivity is an important issue for all genders, but women have historically suffered the most from gross comments and unhelpful criticism. We just hope that Winslet has been able to find some peace of mind in a way that keeps her happy and healthy.
