Before the Obama’s moved into The White House we knew that The First Lady was going to be a target for haters. But the reaction to Michelle Obama’s arms is downright mind-boggling and dare I say ridiculous. (It is bad enough that her posterior was a topic of discussion a few months back.) Depending upon who you ask, her well-sculpted biceps are either awe-inspiring or very scary—and not because one has to be dedicated to a gym routine to get results like hers.
This weekend, New York Times Op-Ed Columnist Maureen Dowd, took on this very subject in her piece “Should Michelle Cover Up?” Thankfully, she sees the foolishness of this discussion given our country’s real problems.
She writes:
“Let’s face it: The only bracing symbol of American strength right now is the image of Michelle Obama’s sculpted biceps. Her husband urges bold action, but it is Michelle who looks as though she could easily wind up and punch out Rush Limbaugh, Bernie Madoff and all the corporate creeps who ripped off America.”
Dowd then mentions that conservative political commentator David Brooks called her arms “Thunder” and ‘Lightening” and suggested she put them away. He wouldn’t get any argument from Sandra McElwaine who wrote a piece last week on dailybeast.com on “The History of Michelle Obama’s Arms .” But she merely suggested that the First Lady vary her wardrobe to cover up those arms more often.
Tell me this: can you recall a body part of any First Lady’s being discussed, criticized and vilified so intently? Sure, their looks have come under critical scrutiny but that was perhaps a hairstyle or a particular dress, here we’re talking about her actual anatomical makeup. We already know that a smart, strong and confident black woman has to battle a lot of assumptions about her supposed “attitude” and “anger”. Now we need to add our physical presence and a well-toned body to the possible threatening list. Give me a freaking break. I hope Michelle doesn’t give all this hoopla a second thought. Because maybe if she ignores all these critics they’ll finally listen to what is coming out of their mouths and see how ludicrous this all is.
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March 13th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
Eloquently spoken!
May 14th, 2009 at 8:24 pm
I would argue that it is not racism but more the fact that this wasn’t much of an issue with previous First Ladies, as they all dressed pretty frumpily. Clinton was panned for her terrible fashion sense, and Jackie O. may have been the last First Lady universally considered fashionable. First Ladies have generally worn jackets for official occasions, and I hadn’t really thought about it but a sleeveless dress does seem a little informal for anything other than a party or ball.