Being Captain Kathryn Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager wasn't easy for Kate Mulgrew. It was the first time a woman had captained a Starfleet starship, and there was a lot of pressure to get it right. Along with that came the producers' uncertainty in how to present her as a captain. Perhaps that was why her hair was constantly changing in the first couple of seasons of the series. So much so that it was distracting at times. Even Mulgrew feels that way.
In the Star Trek: Voyager Anniversary Special Magazine which celebrated twenty-five years since the series debuted, Mulgrew was asked if she could change anything about the character she played for seven seasons. Her response was her character's physical look. She wanted that to have been stablished from the beginning. Much like Captain Picard and Captain Kirk were the same all the time, it should have been that way with Captain Janeway. But things were always changing with her, and Mulgrew resented it.
"I would establish the physical look of Janeway early on and maintain it. And it would have been very simple to do. It would have been what we came to in the end. The changes I had to go through physically in the first two seasons, I resented them. I felt it was distracting for the audience and very difficult for the male demographic. And I wanted to win the male demographic. "Kate Mulgrew
Over the coursse of the seasons, Voyager did establish Janeway's look, and slowly, the focus shifted from being about Mulgrew's looks to about her acting talent. She earned her place in the Starfleet array of captains, becoming a force to be reckoned with. And she paved the way for future women who played captains in the franchise, helping to transform them into strong, respected commanders who weren't admired for their looks but for their abilities as a commander.