Magda Szubanski appears downcast during a solo walk on her 60th birthday

A glum-looking Magda Szubanski celebrated her 60th birthday on Monday by taking a solo stroll in Melbourne, after being criticised by female politicians for comparing Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s wife, Jenny, to a character from The Handmaid’s Tale.

The left-leaning comedian had retweeted a photo of Mrs Morrison in a high-neck black dress as she watched her husband sign a condolence book for the late Prince Philip.

Szubanski captioned the image: ‘I genuinely thought this was a photoshopped Handmaid’s Tale meme. But no. It’s 21st century Aussie life.’

Based on the novel by Margaret Atwood, HBO series The Handmaid’s Tale is set in a totalitarian society in which women are treated as property of the state.

Szubanski had retweeted the photo with a message from a left-wing Twitter account, which read: ‘Good morning to everyone else to whom this feels creepy, chilling, terrifying, ominous, enraging, despairing and utterly, completely f**king depressing.’

After facing widespread backlash for her commentary – which suggested Ms Morrison was subservient to her husband and part of the machinery of a misogynist society – Szubanski failed to raise a smile on Monday while going for an afternoon birthday walk. 

She wrapped up against the chilly weather in a winter coat, red sweater and patterned leggings, and listened to music via headphones. 

She climbed into her car and picked up lunch. Meanwhile, bouquets of flowers were seen at her front door to mark her milestone birthday. 

It will be a bittersweet celebration for the actress – who played loveable misfit Sharon Strzelecki in ABC sitcom  Kath & Kim – as she faces backlash from a growing number of conservative female politicians over her controversial tweet which compared Mrs Morrison to a character from The Handmaid’s Tale.

NSW Liberal Senator Hollie Hughes told The Daily Telegraph: ‘Ms Szubanski has herself been the target of obscene trolls, yet the hypocritical nature of the Left is here on display.’

Liberal MP Nicolle Flint also launched a scathing attack on Magda, saying her tweet represents a ‘double standard’ in the way female politicians are perceived.

‘I cannot believe the appalling personal attacks on Mrs Morrison, especially by Ms Szubanski, a woman who has received one of our nation’s highest honours,’ she said.

‘Ms Szubanski’s completely disrespectful comments are yet another example of the double standards demonstrated towards women on the centre-right of politics.

‘The sisterhood need to stop picking and choosing which sisters to protect; all women deserve to be treated with respect.’

Szubanski had also re-tweeted an image of the Morrison family posing with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, zooming in on Mrs Morrison’s hand which showed her forefinger and thumb joined.

While many understand the symbol to be a benign sign for ‘OK’, darker corners of the Internet allege it’s been appropriated as a way to signify ‘white supremacy’. 

‘What’s this little hand signal thingy??’ Szubanski tweeted.

While her question may have been innocent, it prompted a string of replies questioning if the hand gesture was somehow sinister – which it wasn’t.

Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting Jenny Morrison’s hand gesture was in any way signifying ‘white supremacy’.

On Tuesday afternoon, Szubanski took to her social media platform again to speak out on the backlash against her controversial Handmaid’s Tale post.

‘Let me be clear…’ she wrote, ‘I’m not actually making a disparaging comment about Jenny. I just genuinely thought it was a meme!’

After one follower called her ‘bitter and twisted’, she replied: ‘I know, right?! I’m terrible Muriel. A bitter twisted wreck of a once talented (debatable) funny gal.

‘Sigh. So do yourself a favor and spare yourself the awful spectacle and don’t follow me or read my tweets. Actually, I’ll save you the effort and just block you.’