I have to wonder… if their roles were reversed and Michelle was president instead of Barack, would the same amount of attention be put on Barack’s appearance? Those who would answer with a “yes” are perhaps kidding themselves.
For a woman who was educated at Princeton University, Harvard, and was once our president’s boss, one would think the press and media would focus on things other than appearance. Michelle is obviously a very intelligent and gifted individual and her performance in interviews has impressed me much more than her husband’s.
I understand the way the media works, how politics work, and why Michelle chose the role that she did as First Lady, however, as a young woman who is pursuing a future in the political world of environmental law, it’s rather discouraging to see that even the most educated women will still be judged by superficial things, as if they have any impact on what’s inside or what one is able to contribute to our world. During the 2008 presidential campaign she was labeled as an “angry Black woman” for saying uncontroversial things. She’s continuously compared to Jackie Kennedy for nothing more than having what some deem to be a similar fashion sense. Jackie Kennedy was no where near as accomplished as Michelle Obama and yet we still seem to group the two together. Michelle is only the third First Lady who has obtained a Master’s Degree (after Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush) and despite comparisons to Hillary being perhaps more appropriate, we don’t really see them often.
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