First lady’s triumph is a win for us all

[babylonsister]

First lady’s triumph is a win for us all

Sunday, April 05, 2009


First lady Michelle Obama’s easy charm is so infectious that she melted the famously stiff and formal Queen of England. During a G-20 reception last week, Elizabeth even embraced Mrs. Obama with a demure, hand-on-the-back gesture.

“It was a mutual and spontaneous display of affection,” a Buckingham Palace spokesman said, adding that he couldn’t remember the last time the queen had so publicly departed from the royals’ no-touching protocol.

Back on this side of the Atlantic, Michelle Obama has also won rave reviews from a once-skeptical public, with a recent Gallup poll giving her a 72 percent favorability rating, slightly higher than the president’s. Though detractors still occasionally pan her fashion choices or cluck prudishly over her athletic bare arms, Americans clearly have taken to their new first lady.

The triumph of Michelle Obama is a tale as surprising and as profound as the election of her husband, the nation’s first black president. The first lady is a national icon, a mirror for our changing mores, a symbol of our aspirations for wives and mothers, a role model for gracious hostesses and socially conscious volunteers.

Those never-clearly defined roles have been made all the more difficult of late because of the culture wars, with the first lady on the fault line between traditionalists (who loved the old-fashioned, behind-the scenes style of Barbara Bush) and progressives (who favored the ambitious and outspoken Hillary Clinton).

It’s hard to imagine how difficult it must be to step into that role as a tall and confident woman with brown skin and a no-nonsense manner. Not to mention two Ivy League degrees. Yet Michelle Obama has captivated a nation still ambivalent about high-achieving women, still adoring of the blond beauty standard, still capable of dredging up ugly stereotypes about its darker sisters. That’s progress.

more...

http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/tucker/stories/2009/04/05/tuckered_0405.html

[roughsatori]

1. I tremendously admire Michelle Obama.

I like her no-nonsense manner, accomplishments, and lively intelligence. It has been disconcerting to read the smears and falsehoods aimed at her - so I enjoyed reading that opinion piece.


The words you posted made me smile - and feel proud. Thanks.

[opihimoimoi]

2. She has CLASS......

[Cha]

3. The only reason the US was

"skeptical" of Michelle Obama was because the corporatemediawhores were playing republicon-fascist dronings over a quote that she was really proud of her country/first time(I don't really know the exact quote nor do I give a crap).

I knew how she felt..'cause I just started paying attention when bush stole the presidency.

[LeftishBrit]

4. She's very popular in the UK!