Michelle Obama: Democrats Roll Out the OS X Leopard of First Ladies
Last night I thought sleepily: If Michelle Obama is going to speak to the women of America, she better darn well do it before 10 pm [ET]. As 10 p.m. came and went, I grappled for the remote and was about to turn off the television when her bio video began to air. Okay, maybe I could last a few more minutes, see the top of the speech, get the feel of it, and go to sleep -- because really, how interesting ever are these canned, cynical speeches by candidates wives? (The eccentric Teresa Heinz Kerry aside: I thought our country missed out on a highly entertaining First Lady by rejecting her husband).
But from the moment Michelle Obama began to speak, I realized we were witnessing something historic -- and unrelated to the fact she is an African American. Michelle Obama is the first woman to embrace/embody a post-feminist view of a presidential spouse.
Think of it this way: When was the last time a nominee's wife stepped forward to assert her children and her marriage were more important and satisfying to her than her career? Indeed, to speak of the necessity of putting her career aside for her husband's political ambition--and to do so without a whiff of resentment? Heck, when was the last time you saw a candidate's wife- -any politician's wife! -- proclaim her love for her husband without that husband having been caught cheating on her first? And to do all this without driving the media into a hissy fit: "OMG she's setting women's rights back a generation!"
For neither is Michelle Obama some retro caricature of a "desperate housewife." How could she be, with her pumped figure, her confident, outspoken manner, and the way she sometimes looks, when goaded, like she's chewing on marbles? This is not a woman to be messed with. This is not a woman who feels inferior to her husband. This is not a woman without ambition or dreams. But she seems to possess the modern understanding that women's ambitions and dreams aren't always realized on a straight trajectory; that marriage and family are as much a part of those ambitions and dreams as a promotion or job title; and that when a husband succeeds politically, it does not negate her importance but amplifies it.
It was refreshing, too, to see a woman on the convention's stage wearing a soft, sexy dress. This is more post-feminism. Call it the "Sex and the City" effect. I've been struck by how many young career women today eschew the boxy suits and sensible heels of their female bosses for fitted dresses, high heels, and low necklines. There seems to be no contradiction in their minds that they can be effective at what they do in their public lives, but still be feminine and unabashedly open about attracting male attention.
Thus one of the most striking aspects of Michelle Obama is seemingly the most superficial: the sundresses she's worn throughout the campaign. I was simply transfixed by the sight of her in that girlish, black-and-white number she wore on "The View" -- girlish except for the powerful, trim triceps poking through the armholes. It was like looking at a lioness wearing something Paris Hilton would put on her chihuahua.
We hear often of women shattering glass ceilings, but Michelle Obama has shattered a plaster mold: the mold that casts all female public figures -- and potential First Ladies -- into either/or figures. You are EITHER an independent career woman in your own right (Hillary Clinton) OR a traditionally minded woman in the background of an ambitious man, the shadow in pearls (Cindy McCain; Laura Bush). You are NOT this hot, buff mother at a lectern moving a crowd to tears with your force and passion.
I'm not trying to idealize Michelle Obama. The speech was carefully crafted. It of course had a political agenda. And as with any political family, we have no idea what goes on in the Obama household or private life. We have no idea what she's really thinking when she closes her eyes at night.
Still, it's the public image that interests me. And Michelle Obama has just upgraded that image into one we GenExers can identify with and admire.
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Great post. Well stated. To define MO in one word: modern. She is not so special necessarily but she is special for us because she is a more accurate representation of the modern American woman.
This notion of "post-feminism" intrigues me insofar as I've long viewed myself as an unrepentant male feminist, albeit in the traditional mold of purportedly angry women who want to vindictively enact their independence from men and smash the glass ceilings wherever they find them. Rarely did I ever meet a young woman who expressed the least appreciation for my very unmasculine support for women's rights, rather than viewing them as sex objects as did most of my male school peers. I suspect another classic example of "post-feminism" as Danielle herein describes it would be Linda Hamilton's depiction of Sara Connor in the film "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" in which Sara was a muscular heroine who would save the world with her military son with no apologies, after she'd initially seen herself as an uncoordinated waitress who could barely balance her checkbook. Michelle impresses me as a powerful, yet empathic loving mother and brilliantly educated and selfless attorney who clearly prioritizes her nation, community and family before herself. Her natural assertiveness should never be confused with anger at white people or any other right-wing distortion with which McCain's campaign will predictably slander her. The American people simply need to think for themselves and not take MSM spin at face value as our culture is wont to do in most past elections of recent decades. Perhaps this trend would be more aptly described as "post-modern feminism."
she's a lot better than leopard osx. she can run ms office without tech help.
Huh? Have you heard of MS Office for the Mac? I've never had the slightest problem with it.
The role that Michelle Obama plays today did not come out of the stratosphere. As she said in her speech last night, she has a lot of people who paved the way for her in the civil rights movement and the women's movement. We witnessed what Rosalind Carter and Hillary Clinton faced and how difficult it was for these extremely intelligent and capable women to carve out a role for themselves as First Lady. (Or should we now say First Spouse to pave the way for the first female president?)
Michelle Obama hit all the right notes last night. She's a lovely women and her love for her family was the most endearing part of her speech.
And since this article is about the postfeminist perioud, whatever that means, keep in mind, that if Michelle Obama wanted to run for president, she would have to wait for her children to grow up. There is no way that the people in this country would accept a woman president with two young children. We can accept a father with young children, but not a mother. She would have to wait until she's much older, and we all know that that will make it harder as well. There may be cracks in the glass ceiling, but these cracks haven't become holes yet. The representation of women at all levels of government is pathetically small compared to other developed countries, and the situation is not improving at warp speed....more like turtle speed.
"a woman president with two young children":
It is not that we won't accept it for being sexist. It's just that God had made women the nursing partner by nature. In the olden days, of course men were supposed to be stronger and were the ones who went out to fight to feed the family. Nowadays, we already saw First Ladies with small children having nannies, cooks, chauffeurs,... It's doubtful whether First Ladies do any housework so it wouldn't be a problem for female presidents in the future for sure.
I would vote for Michelle if she were the one running and Barrack wanted to stay home with the kids. I've always thought of strong women as equal to if not superior to their male counterparts throughout my life. Too many men are macho and feel threatened, and many liberated women seem to think the only way to show strength is be more macho than the men they compete with. This has been my prospective of Hillary during this campaign season. Men need to learn to follow their heart, not women loose touch with theirs.
...been waiting for the Mac vs. PC analogy...good use of it! Having lived through the stay-at-home vs. work wars; dress-for-success like a man or woman wars; the emergence of Michelle Obama as a role model is a striking triumph for the idea that women should just be themselves and that we can succeed just being ourselves. Good article.
I agree totally. As a woman who wanted to work and still be available when my children needed me, I put in close to 30 years of part-time work and consulting jobs. And, thanks to a generous bequest of an uncle, I was able to stay home until my children were in school.
I have stopped beating myself up for what some women would call a lack of tangible achievements. I made my own choices and I am happy with them. Of course, it helped that my husband earned an adequate if not lavish living, and we learned to live very simply and cheaply.
It didn't hurt either that both my husband and I have advanced degrees that we earned when it was still possible to work one's way through college without accumulating loans big enough to support a 3rd world country.
My feeling was that Michelle Obama was emphasizing the need to get our country back to the days when people WERE able to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. Good for her.
She is making some of the same choices I made, only she is doing it more confidently than i was able to.
spot on.
For all the hoopla about people not knowing the Obamas, them being elitist and eccentric, I've found them to be the most relatable politicians in my lifetime. Michelle reflects the equal parts strength and beauty that I've seen in my mother and hope to possess for myself. I've grown up believing that I don't have to act/dress like a man to be respected like one; my talents can stand alone. And just like Michelle, I have the honor of going further with my education than anyone else in my family, without ever sacrificing the idea that I too can be a great mother one day, if I so choose to be.
I could not agree with you more.
Michelle did a fantastic job; I would love to see her reperent America on the world stage as First Lady; this girl from the south side of Chicago.
Great article. I enjoyed the analysis. Truth be told, the Obamas are simply an exceptional family. I was not only floored by Michelle and her speech, watching her and her daughters interact with their Mr. Obama was simply priceless.
Agree. Her relationship with her brother, mother, and father; in addition to her marriage are all exceptional. She is a woman everyone can understand and still admire.
I just love the East Coasters insisting on dominating a country that goes for many many time zones to the West. If the speech had been at 9 p.m. it would have been 7 p.m. in Denver and only 6 p.m. for the entire, populous, very important West Coast. The East Coast needs to become part of the country and schedule accordingly.
Well, I live on the East Coast and nobody consulted with me about the start time. Sorry...
Seriously though, 7 PM is on the West Coast is a more likely time for people to be tuning in than dinner time.
I'm pretty sure it was all scheduled with MDT in mind - and incase anyone cared to notice it was on several hours before Michelle took the stage. I certainly was tuned into the whole thing (admittedly while working on other stuff).
I understand your concern but the major battleground states of Indiana, Ohio and Virginia are in the eastern and central time zones. Not to take the West Coast for granted, but we need to win this thing badly. Then we can argue stuff like: Why is Obama scheduling his inaguration so late :-).
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I'm sure that you can find a link to the speech. Actually, the west coast got the best parts ...the ones that came on when a lot of people were already in bed. It was past midnight in Eastern Daylight time when the speeches and the commentary finally wound down a bit. I went to bed at almost two and they were still talking about it.
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