Friday, November 14, 2008
Politics What, Exactly, Will Michelle Obama Do With Herself All Day?
Posted by PJ Tobia on Fri, Nov 14, 2008 at 3:00 PM
…With progress comes inevitable regress, and in our stouthearted dash to fit this family into a comfortably familiar tableau, we have fallen back into other, far too familiar, cultural traps: you know, like forgetting everything we've learned in recent decades about female achievement and identity. The majority of the coverage of Michelle Obama in the week since her husband was elected has centered on her clothes. Not just the firecracker of a dress she donned on Election Night, but on her personal style, and what she will wear to the Inaugural balls.A rejoinder to this piece appeared on Slate’s XX Factor blog, where Melinda Henneberger asks, “Can smart, strong women not choose traditional roles? Everything I know about Michelle Obama tells me that this really is her choice, not her consolation prize.” Perhaps. But Michelle Obama has always appeared slightly wary of her husband’s political ambitions and very dedicated to her own extremely successful career. It’s not so much that I think she’ll miss her career. I just can’t imagine how she wouldn’t resent having to be stuffed into some kind of Jackie O/Barbara Bush mold where she has to write books about the White House cat and hold fancy teas. At the same time, the negative reaction to Hillary’s forceful personality and agenda—which I’ll grant may have stemmed from retrograde gender stereotypes to begin with—straitjackets a woman like Michelle Obama. Remember the Hillary nutcracker? Obama has said that she has no political or policy aspirations. That’s a good thing for her and her husband—Hillarycare, anyone?—but what does that leave for a fantastically well educated, smart and capable person to do all day?
Comments (7)
Showing 1-7 of 7
If Tracy Moore is a feminist, I'm a Republican.
Anyway, I'm sure the hosting duties overseen by the First Lady (who is, interestingly enough, not always the wife of the President) and acting internationally as a goodwill Ambassador for the U.S. would be enough to keep anyone busy. She won't be sitting around all day.
like
dislike
Actually, I'm the resident feminist at the Scene. But what about the First Grandma? What's she gonna do?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_pl151
I'm hoping the First Grandma spends a lot of time baking cookies for various heads of state and slipping hard candies to the folks most likely to fidget during long meetings. You know, basic grandma stuff.
If Tracy Moore is a feminist, I'm a Republican.
Then your B must stand for Bush.
