AFP via Yahoo:
US First Lady Michelle Obama is not a "great beauty," but will "just get better with age," Iman, one of the first black supermodels, says in a magazine interview.
"Mrs Obama is not a great beauty," the Somali-born model and wife of rocker David Bowie tells Parade magazine's Sunday issue, reflecting on the first black US first lady, who is a lawyer by training and a former executive.
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
Michelle's features highlights her West African Roots. Iman's, her Somali (East African) roots (BTW Iman looks better than most of the Somali women I have seen here, I know she has made comments to the contrary, beauty is in the eye of the beholder). I think they each have good points.
I bet Iman will be so happy when the focus is off of the interview she gave Parade Magazine.
Folks, this is much ado about nothing. If you have followed Iman and read or watched many of her interviews, she has said the same thing about herself.
So what?
Iman looks like a white lady with a deep tan. Michelle looks like a black woman.
Beauty is very subjective. I think both are beautiful in their own way.
You wish. Go and look in the mirror, & see caspar.
you need to calm yourself down.
Which white person has high cheek bones, and a large forehead. And Angelina Jolie and Scarlette Johansen looks like a blk woman w/out a tan
The reason why you guys love Angelina Jolie and Scarlet Johansen is b/c they have African features.
Why does Ms. Carolina don't show her true complexion b/c darker looks better. Keanu Reeves is cute b/c he has Asian features. There's just a whole bunch of mixing.
Scarlet looks white?! Ha, Ha , Ha.
You whine about racism and yet imply white is not attractive?
Go home hypocrite. You on this subject have been all stereotypes and ignorance.
Imam looks Somalian - very light. If you knew anything at all about Africa you would know that Ethiopia and Somalia are often called "Africa Light' for this reason - what is your point?
Iman is BEAUTIFUL african woman..
Michelle is NOT! Beautiful no class..ang
Feel better?
LOL!! Thanks for the laugh. Michelle Obama is well-educated, elegant, obviously comfortable with her own body, and has won accolades everywhere as First Lady of the United States.
Iman is......uh
what EVER!
I read the article and I don't find Iman attractive at all....
I agree. I have never thought Iman was a particularly beautiful woman. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Iman is right. I'm sick of all the propaganda and publicity stunts on the Obama's. "Get Michelle Obama's Arms" please, her arms are too long. their thin but nothing to brag about. "Get in Shape and Get a Body like the First Lady Michelle Obama" please. "Michelle Obama Makes the to Hundred Hot People," "Michelle Obama is the Hottest First Lady in the History of U.S." Come on people, it is ridicuous. NO ONE seeing her walk down the street with her slouch and langy self who didn't know who she was would say, "Wow, she is Hot." That is the truth. Her face is not beautiful its just average.
Recently in People's 100 Most Beautiful People issue, a ton of Obama's staff made the list, including the including Tim Gietner. Tim Gietner???? Please. Michelle made it of course. Later we found out that Tim Gietner's brother is the co owner of People magazine. HMMMM. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why Obama picked him for the job....so his brother could churn out all these ridiculous "beauty" articles about how hot Michelle and get her huge teeth on all the magazine covers. Wake up America it's all a sham to make us believe that people really do think Michelle is a Goddess and her husband is the savior of the world. It's like the principal's daughter "winning" the ASB at a house school when his wife is tallying up the votes.
Thank you! ihaveavoic
Both Tim _Geithner_ and Michelle Obama probably look better than you.
Geithner deserves to make that list, too. You have no taste.
By the negative comments against Iman, i'm guessing that none of you actually read the article. Should I be surprised??
I'm so sick of this talk about white features and black features. What has to happen to or country so that we can get beyond this?
I look at MO and I see a strikingly attractive woman. I don't care if she was green, she'd still be a head-turner.
Are here features "black"? I don't see it, but then I don't register those things. I grew up with a mother who was very active in unions and civil rights, and started taking me to political and union meetings when I was a little over a month old. If you think people pitch a fit now at women nursing, you should have seen what it was like back then.
If you read the article, it's pretty clear Iman didn't mean to slam MO. Taken in context, it's part of a dscussion about how inner beauty sustains our decline in physical beauty (or what our youth culture tells us is physical beauty) as we age.
Still, there was no reason for her to say that MO is no real beauty. It was unnecessary, and shirtly, with her experience with the media, she knew they would seize that phrase, take it out of context, and blowi it ino something it is not.
Which HuffPost has done, much to their shame.
Are you the same person that has been slamming FLOTUS all over the blogs?
No one has to. This statement alone:
"Mrs Obama is not a great beauty,"
is so shallow and stupid that you don't have to read any further.
your bookshelf must be awfully empty or dusty or both.
Iman came to prominence during a time when black women who had white features were accepted as beautiful by the mainstream press, finally. At this point we've gone much further than that.
What the heck to you know? Blk women w/ white features. Blk people are not a monolithic group. Ppple like you are always trying to divide blks. If we have a perm. It's white. Straight nose. It's white. light skin. it's white. long hair. it's white. The problem is you don't know what's black b/c pple like you think we are so much different. Don't comment on issues you know nothing about.
I agree with this, although I'm not completely sure that that was the offense this poster was committing.
what is your problem? !
You imply on top that people find Scarlet and Angelina attractive because they have black features? You try to make things monolithic then attack someone for doing the exact same thing.
Don't comment when you don't even have a sense of rationality.
Just worry about white pple and their racism instead of trying to tackle issues you are an outsider about. Seriously don't you pple have your own issues to tackle. If you guys spent more time fixing your own issues, minorities wouldn't have to deal with as much ignorance.
Pardon? I'll speak out against racism, I don't care who is spouting it.
Your use of "you people" shows your own racism.
You are the one that need to deal with their racism.
mairs, several self-identified Black posters on here have written the same, so ignore the attacks.
She has a point... While I would never ridicule Michelle's appearance, and she is attractive, but she is not a "great beauty". She is above average in looks and better looking than most of the recent First Ladies, but she has a few flaws and a bit of awkwardness in appearance.
Al in all, she is an attractive woman, but some in the media have over-estimated her beauty and placed her on a pedestal.
and Michelle gets right off of the pedestal and mingles...
every time I look up its an obama would people leave them http://who
I guess like a lot of people here, this comentary from Iman really irritates me. It brings us back to "what is true beauty"? Is it the anorexic, plastic, 2-dimensional appearance women are sold in the media? Iman is one of the many perpetrator's of this image. Or, is it the process of using and taking care of what attributes you've been given to live your life, dreams and destiny with. What you are given should be taken care of with proper pride: hygiene, healthy eating, complementary dress, etc. That's what real , truly beautiful women do and what real women struggle to do in the face of the media driven messages we are given. Above that, who is the person, the spirit inside the body --- and are we taking more responsibility to take of her than the visage around her? The inner beauty is the glow that finishes off the physical beauty. Let's face it, real women use Iman's make-up not to look like her, but to enhance what they have. Most women relate to MO's beauty --- real, lived in daily, the center from which the soul-light shines --- beauty that is individual from everyone elses. Iman has tried to make the point but, MO is living the point.
So, you agree.
I personally think Michelle is a beauty. I'm still not clear on what Iman thinks. But, I think Iman has poor judgement and influence on healthy, real beauty. She's NOT a good role model for the rest of us or our daughters.
Has anybody opened their Sunday paper and read the article? I don't get Parade Magazine in my Sunday paper, but someone out there must have it. Does it read just like what we read at the Parade website yesterday? Or is it a longer article with more context?
here is a question recently asked of Anna Wintour:
Q: What went into putting Michelle Obama on the cover?
A. She emerged during the campaign as this enigmatic and strong woman with such great personal style.
just like Iman said. Big compliments.
Iman: no great intellect.
I'm curious about the question that prompted Iman's response. While she's definitely not wrong is her description of Michelle (great, she doesn't look like a supermodel, unlike all those other first ladies before her...), it wasn't the wisest way of saying it.
Great, let's move on.
Loading comments…
Posted: 05-15-09 02:22 PM