Michelle Obama's Arms Analyzed By Robin Givhan: They Represent "Vanity And Power"

In the New Yorker's Style issue, Pulitzer Prize-winning fashion reporter Robin Givhan writes about the same thing Maureen Dowd defended in The New York Times on Sunday: Michelle Obama's arms.

They are not outlandishly sinewy Madonnaesque limbs. Obama's athletic arms are achievable--in between the kids' soccer practice, the executive suite, and the grocery store. Those arms represent personal time. They are evidence of a forty-five-year-old woman's refusal to give up every free moment in service to husband, kids, and all the nagging distractions that could have filled her days and left her tuning in to "Oprah," trying to figure out how she'd lost herself along the way. The arms imply vanity and power: two things that make many women uncomfortable and yet are fundamental to self-confidence.

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Comments

[naschkatze]

03:56 PM on 03/12/2009

Strength, not power.

[Kit]

07:44 PM on 03/11/2009

it is a ridiculous article.

[roxy09]

01:56 PM on 03/11/2009

I don't care who or what Michele wears her posture is just horrible & in my opinion that just takes away from her apperance.

[hilaritee]

05:59 PM on 03/11/2009

she is a very tall woman and i think her posture is a result of that...she probably slouches to compensate for her height

[benne]

10:23 PM on 03/10/2009

Interesting that our strength, power, and vanity comes from using our free moments to sculpt our body. What was often seen as tyranny has now become freedom.

[MOSPDC]

01:43 PM on 03/10/2009

I am still trying to figure out Robin Givhan won a Pulitzer! For a fashion writer she always looks a hot holy mess!

[huffnpuff147]

12:46 PM on 03/10/2009

President Obama's love of basketball and the First Lady's physique finally gives the Presdient's Council on Fitness the ability to say the White House is ready to lead by example - and what a fine example they are for our children to see (and for the sake of our children, we need to forget about politics when citing examples of a health presidential lifestyle)..

[littlepuffycloud]

11:33 AM on 03/10/2009

"Vanity"? Don't see it that way. She works out and takes care of herself so she can take care of her family. Haven't we women finally realized we must take care of ourselves in order to care for those around us. This lady seems a little jealous of First Lady Michelle.

[Dustee]

12:02 PM on 03/10/2009

I don't know. Maybe 'vanity' in a way that most women want to look good. I think the word itself does have negative connotations.

[Urbanbarbie943]

12:57 AM on 03/11/2009

You are so right....take care of yourself so that you can take care of others near you.

[ultrabop]

09:17 AM on 03/10/2009

so now it's vain to have arms that don't look like sponges? gimme a break.

[ultrabop]

09:10 AM on 03/10/2009

Wow. Analyzing the first lady's arms must be right up there in the Oscar World of celebrity journalism. Gee...why does she deserve to actually have a body that's not obese? Must be something wrong with the girl. Not enough TV and pizza?

[CalverH]

02:35 PM on 03/12/2009

Average Jane?

[arvay]

08:36 AM on 03/10/2009

Michelle Obama is a living example of the kind of creative "vanity" and athletic excellence made famous by the ancient Greeks and so celebrated in their art -- part of the cultural heritage of our culture.

Like Athena and Diana, she represents female strength, mental focus and ferocity. If men want to be heroes, they need women like these, not weak and squeaky Barbies.

[Baudacious Buccaneer]

09:04 AM on 03/10/2009

it is entirely believable that the national election won by Obama-Biden was gifted with the presence of two wonderfully feminine wives, both with style, charm, and personal power. Each may have in her own way influenced the voting choice enought to sway more than a million votes to the task of reclaiming and restoring American government and restoring the middle class.

[arvay]

12:18 PM on 03/10/2009

For sure they helped, especially Michelle, who was much more in the limelight. She's one of those people redefining "feminine" to embrace strength and pluck as well as compassion. In the popular mind, that is, those qualities have always been feminine.

[Adrienne Williams]

12:04 AM on 03/10/2009

What? How tall is this woman? Again, I will say this. many people are afraid of tall powerful black women, nothing more, I have a website all about this issue - She's 5' 11 inches tall. Degree, powerful, strong, beautiful, got her act together, This in itself is scary -- to weak men and women who can't see how great Michelle Obama is; add the fact that her Husband is the leader of the free world, and she has a great family, great bother, mother, and again, has her act together, is the reason folks are running scared about her arms. Tall+Black+women+power= scared! It's the way of the land.

[Mayan2000]

12:00 PM on 03/10/2009

But why are they scared? Because they are too lazy to go to the gym? Or are they jealous because even if they go to the gym they still can't get the same results? This was a bizarre article...I still don't get it. I just hope Michelle keeps wearing sleeveless dresses and looking as great and staying as healthy as she does for as long as she can.

[marysandra]

07:52 PM on 03/10/2009

Personally, I hope Michelle stays fit, powerful and beautiful for many years to come..But please let's remember that Michelle had one thing that many young women today do not.. That is a father, who was married to her mother and lived with the family. There are possibly thousands more like her who could achieve much, with a more stable family. That is why I wish with all my heart that our wonderful First Lady would take on the issue of teen pregnancy.Think how many more tall beautiful girls could live to their fullest potential, if they had more time to be free of adult responsibilities. I know many young mothers are accomplishing much, but so many will not achieve all they could..

[allthisandbrainstoo]

11:50 PM on 03/09/2009

Remember when everyone went gaga over Matt Laur's toned physique?
How come when a man exercises it's admirable but a women with toned muscles it's merely vain?

[Promise]

10:55 PM on 03/09/2009

I have seen enough of Michelle Obama's arms for the next four years and have read enough about them for a lifetime. Could we get on to something of substance, already?! People are dying in Iraq, losing their homes in this country and we are fussing about these stupid arms!!

[chronic]

11:20 PM on 03/09/2009

You are stupid if you can't find news on Iraq and people losing their homes.

The internet is BIG enough for it all.

[ultrabop]

09:16 AM on 03/10/2009

They are nice arms. There is substance in those arms. They are a great example for the rest of us who may not have arms like that. Some of us may even be out of shape. Not good.

Those arms may get us out of Iraq. Those arms are wrapped around the greatest President this country has ever known.

[fictioneer]

09:49 PM on 03/09/2009

I hate everything this woman writes. She's so annoying.

[blimie]

11:33 PM on 03/09/2009

She's doing a put down but trying to make it sound like a compliment. She's either confused or passive aggressive.

[Mayan2000]

11:50 AM on 03/10/2009

I've never read anything before by her and I agree with you -- so negative. Michelle's arms are great -- since when is Beauty a negative thing. And also this is another African American women making this statement -- she shouldn't be such a "playa' hater".

[gdaerin]

08:23 PM on 03/09/2009

what? "The arms imply vanity and power: two things that make many women uncomfortable and yet are fundamental to self-confidence. "

This lady needs a dictionary. "Vanity" implies that Michelle exercises for some reason that does not have to do with her health, her strength, her life. I think Ms. Givhan is projecting, maybe she exercises out of vanity, but that's not why Most people exercise.

A lot of people take care of themselves, it's a really really good thing to do, and I'd argue that it's a sign of health, not just psychically but also emotionally and psychologically.

And, a lot of women, Ms. Givhan, don't care at all about being "sexy" they care first and foremost about their health and well being.