Summary
- Janeway's ever-changing hairstyles on Star Trek: Voyager reflected the creative team's anxieties about the show's first female captain.
- Her most iconic hairstyle, the bun, was not always flattering, and more casual looks suited her better.
- Janeway's natural bob haircut in season 4 was the most flattering and gave her a windblown appearance that complemented her well.
Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) had an impressive array of hairstyles throughout Star Trek: Voyager, and some of them were better than others. Janeway was Star Trek's first female lead while she captained the USS Voyager from 1995 to 2001. As such, the character faced unique challenges that other Star Trek captains hadn't had to deal with, especially regarding how she was written, portrayed, and styled. One of these challenges was how Voyager's creative team dealt with Janeway's appearance, which manifested most strongly in her hair.
While Janeway did eventually settle on a distinct hairdo for Voyager's final three seasons, early episodes of the show saw her sport a dizzying progression of styles, many of them variations on a similar theme like an updo or a bob haircut. Janeway's ever-changing appearance seemed to be a manifestation of the creative team's anxieties about Star Trek's first female Captain, but once Voyager had hit its stride in later seasons and Janeway was fast becoming a fan-favorite, her rotating hairdos seemed to calm down as well. Nevertheless, the hairstyles Janeway did go through during Voyager's run certainly had some hits and misses.
